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This video we're going to do a review of the Down Under Board.

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So one of our members was asking about the Down Under Board.

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And so we got one here at the Academy.

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I thought I'd talk through where I find it helpful and what you want to be careful with

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if you get one and start using it when you practice.

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So the Down Under Board is really simple.

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It's a piece of plastic that's a standard width.

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And basically the whole concept here is you're going to squeeze to try to help engage some

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of your inner thigh muscles.

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So by squeezing the board, you're going to engage your adductors.

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Your adductors are on a similar neurological loop with your deep ad muscles.

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So by squeezing your adductors together, you can get your abs on that combination helps

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create a little bit better rotational pivot.

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So if you're prone to a lot of sway, slide, if you're prone to kind of moving into

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your toes, the board can be really helpful.

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Now when you're using it, when you're getting set up, you'll notice when I set up here,

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I'm squeezing my heels into the board.

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One common issue that I see is golfers will get set up and try to get their feet totally

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square to the board, which would be perpendicular to the target line.

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Now very few golfers have enough hip flexibility that they could have their foot perpendicular

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to the target line and still get into a full finish.

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So you'll see when I get set up, there's a little bit of space between the toe of my

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right foot, but there's a lot of space between the toe of my left foot.

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My left foot is turned out.

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Some 20 to 30 degrees.

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So I'm going to be squeezing between my heels.

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Now that's kind of doubly important because the adductors actually connect closer to

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the, some of the adductors run deep and posterior, close to the hamstring muscles.

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A lot of golfers are too to dominant, which puts their activation in their quads.

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By squeezing the heels, that actually helps take away some of that quad-dependent.

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So that's one main reason that I like this board.

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I think it's a pretty cool tool for getting more of the backside muscles and the

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inner thigh muscles activated, which helps shut off the quads.

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One of the other things you have to be careful of is how hard you squeeze.

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So if I squeeze my heels a little bit, that's all I need in order to activate the inner thigh muscles.

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If I squeeze them a ton and if I keep them squeezed during the whole backswing,

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unfortunately, that's going to shut off my glute muscle on this right side.

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So similar to like when you contract your bicep, it sends a signal to relax your tricep.

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When you contract your inner thigh, it sends a signal to relax your glute medius,

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one of the glute muscles on the side of your body.

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And so that could limit what I'm going to feel at the top of the swing and how well I'm going to be

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able to push off during transition.

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If I run through how I'm actually using the board, I want a low level of activation, like on a

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scale of 1 to 10, maybe 10 or 20%. Just enough to kind of squeeze the board and get it there.

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Now I'm going to use that right up until about here, in which case,

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I don't actually have to think of shutting it off. I just have to think of not increasing or not

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squeezing because as I turn into the glute, I'm naturally going to lose some of that activation

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unless I were to forcefully try to keep it. So I've got it a little active here at setup

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and then I'm going to let it wane a little bit during the backswing, especially at the top of the swing.

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Now the other thing I like about the board is just having something to help standardize your setup

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is a good thing. And so this can help with getting a consistent stance with. Now

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the stance with with this board is typically a little bit wider than I personally would set up with

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most of my irons. So it does take a little bit of adjustment that way. But I can also use the sticker

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or I'll put a piece of tape to indicate where the ball position is going to be. So I'm going to

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just off the logo just forward of center, something like that. I can also use this line on the

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board to help with my alignment and getting used to seeing what my feet look like when they're square

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with the amount of my natural kind of foot flare turnout. So that's kind of some of the nuts and

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bolts. Now a couple of the situations where I like to use the board. I like to use the board

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for golfers who tend to have a sway more from the ankle where they really tend to roll into the

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outside of the heel. By squeezing it often it will make them feel very stuck at first. But if you're

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used to kind of going out here it gives you a new awareness of feeling the inside of the foot.

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So sway from the ankle. I like it for helping with sway from from the hip. And I also like it

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for golfers who tend to kind of thrust that foot in towards the golf ball. When I'm squeezing

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my inner thigh it's going to tend to keep me a little bit more centered and it will

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require a lot less of this quad or ankle push. And I'll have to get more of this down swing release

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movement happening from my hips. But because my ad doctors are on and my deep core is on it's actually

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easier to get my my hip muscles involved. So I do like it. As with any training aid I would alternate

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between let's say I do five balls with it and then I'm just going to step back and I'm going to try

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and recreate that same feel with or without the board. So going back and forth between

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little squeeze of the heel and then just kind of feeling my ad doctor's squeeze with my deep ad.

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So make sure you don't squeeze too hard. Make sure you let the squeeze relax at the top of the swing

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and make sure you don't have your toes totally flush along the sides. If you do that I think this

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can be a really good tool for helping develop a little bit more consistent or stable lower body

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part this body. It's out of little squeeze.