PGA Features

If a golfer's balance is off his putting will suffer. Once he learns balance, so much else about the mechanics of putting just falls into place.

Biomechanics expert Dr Paul Hurrion who works closely with the likes of Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington believes balance is pivotal to good putting. McGinley has credited Hurrion with helping his putting stroke reflected in his strong showing at Wentworth during the BMW PGA Championship. Here Dr Hurrion reflects on just why he thinks balance is so important.

One of the most naturally gifted golfers I ever coached owed his considerable ability to a childhood spent playing table tennis. To most, there would be no link here, but because I was encountering him in a biomechanical context I understood just how much he owed to his table-tennis playing and how much it informed his golf.

And it was all down to balance.

If an athlete can achieve equilibrium he or she has an inordinate advantage over every competitor that does not. And the likelihood is around 90% of children don't have it. But they can learn, and quickly too.

For goalkeepers or cricketers in the slips and wicketkeepers static balance is key. Dynamic balance comes into play during the bowling action, for instance, where the bowler needs to have all forces in the same plane and moving in the same direction.

David Beckham's missed penalty in the World Cup was due purely to lack of balance. To kick accurately, you have to have a stable left foot as the right foot impacts the ball. Beckham's foot clearly slipped as he made ball contact and it missed by a mile. Immediately afterwards, you could see him looking down at the ground to see what had gone awry.

But you'd never see Jonny Wilkinson making the same error. Part of his pre-kicking drill is to check where his left foot is planted when he kicks, and if there is uneven ground or another type of irregularity he addresses it first, because he understands how being off -balance would affect the kick.

I give all my Tour golfers extensive balance testing more than anything else because it is really the beginning and end of good putting. If a golfer's balance is off his putting will suffer. Conversely, once he learns balance, so much else about the mechanics of putting just falls into place.

It is similar for the full swing off the tee. When you watch pro golfers on TV, they hold their finish for what seems like an age, even until after the ball has landed. It's a conscious finish to ensure they are balanced. If they couldn't hold the posture it would be due to lack of balance, and they need to be aware of it to correct it for the next drive - or even the next stroke.

Now translate this to the more frequently encountered athletic disciplines in most schools. Gymnastics, basketball, football, cricket, rugby... they all have balance at their core.

Video capture and analysis of body movement can rapidly identify if this is a problem and make it quick to rectify.

Olympic javelin silver medalist Steve Backley made huge progress through addressing his balance: where his back foot landed for the throw - how his forces worked in unison through correct alignment - the motion of his own centre of gravity. Through drills and conditioning, Steve superbly exemplified what we say to encapsulate this crucial aspect of biomechanical performance - effortless power over powerless effort.

Here's an outstanding exercise I use with elite golfers, athletes from all sports can benefit hugely from this too... stand on one leg for three minutes. It's hard. Your ankles know all about it very quickly. It's about the stability, strength and muscular awareness. Specifically, though, this rapidly develops an awareness of balance through pro-perception, the ability to react to subtle changes in the position of the body's centre of gravity.

I use pressure platforms and the Quintic video analysis system to show equilibrium and balance transfer during the golf stroke, but what works very well to show this aspect as well as make people more aware of their balance (or lack of it) during a physical movement, is to have them stand on balance cushions... the immediate action is to make movement feel awkward, but balance and stability follow on very quickly.

If you never used Biomechanics software for anything other than to improve balance in athletes, I would say you'd have recouped your investment. That's how crucial it is.

For information about Paul Hurrion see quintic.com