A slide is defined as any excessive lower body lateral movement towards the target during your downswing. This swing fault makes it difficult to stabilize your lower body during the downswing, which will eventually rob the golfer of power and speed from the upper body through impact. Your upper body needs a stable lower body to accelerate around during the downswing. Once the lower body starts its forward shift into the downswing its job is to transfer energy to the upper body and stabilize the rotary forces that are created in the upper body, arms and club. If there is no stable platform to rotate around, players will lose power and try to develop speed in an inefficient sequence.

In order to coil around your lead hip during the downswing several physical characteristics must be developed. First and foremost, lead hip internal rotation is necessary for full rotation into the lead hip without any lateral sway. If the body is unable to rotate around the lead hip due to joint or muscular restrictions then lateral movements will occur. Secondly, the ability to separate your upper body from your lower body allows the lower body to laterally stabilize while rotating your shoulders through a full range of motion and into a full finish. Limited trunk to pelvis separation is usually caused by reduced spinal mobility and shortened lat flexibility. Finally, the ability to laterally stabilize your lead leg during the downswing is directly proportional to the strength and stability of your gluteal musculature. When it comes to lower body stabilization the glute medius is of utmost importance. This muscle helps prevent the lead hip from elevating and shifting lateral during an aggressive downswing rotation.

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