Golf Swing Weight Transfer

 

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A good golf swing involves transferring the weight of the body from one leg to another, as in many sports. The transfer of weight must be done gradually and with good balance.

The motion of throwing a ball at high speed requires a complete transfer of weight from the back leg to the forward leg. Consider pitching a baseball at high speed.

Try out my Distance Calculator.  You can input different conditions to see how they affect your tee shots.

Note in the sequence of a baseball pitcher, the weight starts at 100% on the back leg and then transfers completely to the front leg. A major difference between throwing a ball and the golf swing, however, is the weight transfer is not 100% in golf, and there is very little, if any, lateral movement of the head and body.

Here is a photo of the great Ben Hogan demonstrating how to throw a ball simulating the motion of a good golf swing, transferring weight from the back leg to the forward leg.

The golf swing involves mainly rotation of the body. In the rotation, however, the weight of the body does shift from one leg to the other.

As the shoulders rotate in the backswing, the weight of body changes from being 50% on both legs at address, to 70-80% on the rear leg at the top of the backswing, to 70-90% on the front leg by impact. Note the position of the upper body of Tiger in different stages of the swing.

Try the Step Drill:

•  Step Drill -- Weight Transfer

The purpose of this drill is to give the correct feeling of weight transfer from the rear leg to the forward leg.

•  Take your normal stance, addressing the ball.

•  Begin your takeaway, swinging the club into your backswing. As you do, lift your front foot and leg completely off the ground. To do so, will require a complete transfer of weight your rear leg.

•  Alternatively, before you begin your swing, you can move your front leg back so it's beside your rear left, with feet together. Then, swing back and lift the front leg off the ground.

•  Keeping the rear knee flexed, complete the backswing.

•  Initiate the downswing by planting the front foot back to its address position, thus beginning the transfer of weight back to the front leg (you're basically simulating the weight transfer that also occurs when throwing a ball).

•  The correct move in the golf swing, is to initiate the weight transfer before completing the backswing. So, plant the front leg back to its address position just as the club is reaching its highest point.

•  After swinging through impact, allow the weight to transfer to the outside of your front foot as the body continues to rotate. If necessary, you can lift the rear leg completely off the ground.

•  You can practice this drill with or without hitting a golf ball.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jCX-8s6_XU

 

It's important, however, that the weight transfer does not involve the upper body laterally shifting towards the target. The head should remain slightly back, as it was at address.

Go to this page to learn a method of aligning using an intermediate target. CLICK HERE

To learn more about Intermediate Focus Golf, CLICK HERE

 

Want to view other lessons in this series thus far. Click on the link below.

Lesson #1: Golf Grip -- The Connection

Lesson #2: Golf Stance & Set-up -- The Foundation

Lesson #3: Golf Swing Plane -- The Swing Slot

Lesson #4: Golf Swing Weight Transfer -- The Athletic Move

Lesson #5: Golf Swing BackSwing -- The Takeaway & Coil

Lesson #6: Golf Swing DownSwing -- Maintain Angles & Transition Period

Lesson #7: Tempo Timing Rhythm -- Backswing/Downswing Ratio