Hello lovely people, I hope you’re all safe and well.
What have you been up to over the last few weeks? I would love to hear your thoughts about my tips & tricks and would love to know what you want to read every week. I really love helping you with your golf and would like to know how you’re getting on in lockdown and how I could help you even further.
This week I would like to help you understand how to balance and transfer your weight in your golf swing. It’s very important to use the ground correctly when you swing a golf club . Understanding where the pressure goes through your feet can really change the movements of your swing. Lots of people struggle with rotation and early extension (hips thrusting forward) as well as the good old “over the top” move through the downswing. People then try to fix this with their hands or arms but a lot of it comes from the movements in the lower body. The pressure through the feet will likely move towards the balls of the feet or the toes through the downswing if you struggle with the faults mentioned, therefore we’re going to try and shift that weight back towards the heels a little more through transition onwards.
I’m going to guide you through another indoor drill that can help fix these problems and you can do it without swinging the club with lots of speed and therefore reducing the risk of smashing walls and ceilings.
The camera has not been kind on some of these photos so please don’t laugh too much! I haven’t put on any weight during lockdown it’s just the baggy t-shirt!
1)
Firstly take a towel and roll it up. Make sure that it’s long enough to take a normal golf stance and rolled up enough to fit under the middle of the feet with both heels and toes touching the floor.
2)
Take a neutral set up with the feet shoulder width apart. Hold the golf club under the grip to shorten it (so you don’t hit the ceiling or lights). Feel the weight evenly distributed between the right and left foot and evenly distributed between the heels and toes. Set up the towel so when you take a stance your bottom almost touches something behind you. I’m using the bannister but you can use anywhere with enough room.
3)
Start to slowly push the clubhead away to get the shaft parallel with the target line (or towel). At this point you should start to feel a little bit of weight shift into the right foot.
4)
When you turn to get to the top of your backswing you should be able to feel your weight turn into your right heel. You should feel your right bum cheek turn to hit the barrier behind you which suggests you have rotated your hips away from the target. Feel the weight pushing down into the floor through the middle of the heel, if the inside of your right foot has lifted you have likely swayed and need to keep the pressure more centred through the middle of the right heel.
5)
To start your downswing feel the weight shift into your left foot. Push the inside of your right foot towards your left. Try to make sure that you’re holding posture and keeping your bum back. Your weight should stay through your heels as you rotate. This is like a squatting motion and well help generate lots of force through the floor. Naturally the shaft should get back to parallel or “in the slot” without having to drop the hands or consciously “shallow the club”.
6)
As you get to an impact position feel your left hip turning over your left heel to really push against the barrier behind you. Try to hold posture through your spine and rotate around it. This will give you a strong and powerful impact position with lots of speed coming from the ground.
7)
To finish fully turn up against the outside of the left foot. Finish with the hips and chest facing the target with the right heel off the floor. Obviously don’t do a big follow through with the club, remember we’re trying to miss the walls and ceilings!
Example
This image should help guide you though the drill we just covered from the top of the backswing. Notice where the red marks are for the pressure.
I really hope you get a chance to try this because you’ll understand how to use the floor a lot better when you get back to the golf course or driving range. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me on the social media pages and I’ll be more than happy to help.
