Properly Manage Your Weight Transfer in the Golf Swing (Video) - by Pete Styles
Properly Manage Your Weight Transfer in the Golf Swing (Video) - by Pete Styles

So during this next little mini series, we’re going to be talking about a big fundamental aspect of everybody’s golf swing, which is weight transfer and how the weight transfer can affect and does affect everything from shot accuracy, shot distance, consistency of strike. Basically your entire ability to play this game to a high level can come down to how you can control your bodyweight transfer. Now every time you move any aspect of your body during the golf swing, that will affect where the bodyweight goes to. So if my initial address position, we’re probably going to be pretty close to 50/50 here but as soon as the club moves back this way, that’s taking weight that side of my swing as I’m winding up and turning my body. That can be taking weight to this side of my swing. Then as I try and generate power and turn through the other way, the bodyweight is going to be moving back to the other side.

Now like I said, this can change the distance we hit the golf ball, but it also can change the strike, the quality of strike because generally speaking we’ll actually strike the ground under the center of gravity. Easy way to explain that is if I make a few little swings and I’m clipping the ground in a similar spot on the floor, but if I lean back I’m now clipping the ground in a different spot. Move forwards, clipping the ground in a different spot again. So moving my bodyweight during the swing is integral to making a good strike. Now the other way of thinking about this is well if I move my bodyweight back and swing, by the time the club gets back to the ball, the club face is aiming very far left. If I make my swing move to the left and swing, the club face is aiming very far right. So that shows you the lateral movement of the bodyweight during the swing can change the position of the golf club from left to right, therefore changing the direction of the golf shots left to right. One more way the bodyweight could move is forwards and backwards, toes and heels. And clearly if my bodyweight is doing this during the swing, that’s going to change the lateral positioning of the strike as well, be that on the heel or be that on the toe. So shifting and controlling your bodyweight is a fundamental part of how well you can play as a golfer. So during this mini series, we’re going to discuss why that bodyweight is important and how your shots can be affected. 2015-08-12

So during this next little mini series, we’re going to be talking about a big fundamental aspect of everybody’s golf swing, which is weight transfer and how the weight transfer can affect and does affect everything from shot accuracy, shot distance, consistency of strike. Basically your entire ability to play this game to a high level can come down to how you can control your bodyweight transfer. Now every time you move any aspect of your body during the golf swing, that will affect where the bodyweight goes to. So if my initial address position, we’re probably going to be pretty close to 50/50 here but as soon as the club moves back this way, that’s taking weight that side of my swing as I’m winding up and turning my body. That can be taking weight to this side of my swing. Then as I try and generate power and turn through the other way, the bodyweight is going to be moving back to the other side.

Now like I said, this can change the distance we hit the golf ball, but it also can change the strike, the quality of strike because generally speaking we’ll actually strike the ground under the center of gravity. Easy way to explain that is if I make a few little swings and I’m clipping the ground in a similar spot on the floor, but if I lean back I’m now clipping the ground in a different spot. Move forwards, clipping the ground in a different spot again. So moving my bodyweight during the swing is integral to making a good strike. Now the other way of thinking about this is well if I move my bodyweight back and swing, by the time the club gets back to the ball, the club face is aiming very far left. If I make my swing move to the left and swing, the club face is aiming very far right. So that shows you the lateral movement of the bodyweight during the swing can change the position of the golf club from left to right, therefore changing the direction of the golf shots left to right.

One more way the bodyweight could move is forwards and backwards, toes and heels. And clearly if my bodyweight is doing this during the swing, that’s going to change the lateral positioning of the strike as well, be that on the heel or be that on the toe. So shifting and controlling your bodyweight is a fundamental part of how well you can play as a golfer. So during this mini series, we’re going to discuss why that bodyweight is important and how your shots can be affected.