Keeping Weight on Lead Side Throughout the Swing - Thoughts?

[RyanG94]

Hi all!
 

Basically I play with my dad every week and he has a bad back and shoulder so he doesn’t have much rotation to his swing. His problem is he ends up keeping his weight on his back foot through impact and “helping” the ball up in the air. When we played last week he was really struggling and I suggested to keep the weight on his left, purely to help him with contact and it immediately helped. Just to give him an idea of what I meant I showed him and the contact was so pure it shocked me, I hit a 5 iron with a tight draw - just one of those shots that makes you want to come back and play again next week.  For reference, I’m not amazing by any means, I play off 10, play blades even though I shouldn’t but I love the feel of them and have “good enough” ball striking - and have always transferred my weight traditionally and have never had a problem with my ball striking.

 

I have played 18 and 9 since, and played keeping my weight on the lead side throughout the entire swing and rotating hard round my left leg at impact. I’ve had a 75 and a 37 over the 18 and 9 and I’ve never found the game so simple in my life. I haven’t lost difference either any of my clubs except my driver (only 10-15 yards shorter. The upside is I’m now able to hit my 2 and 3 iron consistently, all my irons have a more piercing trajectory and my wedges are far more accurate.

 

The point of this post is basically - has anyone else been using this technique and how have you found it long term? I feel like if I keep playing this way I could get back below 7 (my lowest hcp ever) pretty quickly and I’m excited to see if it continues.

 

cheers

 

EDIT - just to clarify, I mentioned I play blades not cos I think that makes me cool or great etc, just incase it reads that way - but rather as a pointer that I generally have always had fairly

solid ball contact and can play to a decent hcp with them. So was amazed at how much improvement I made even though I always “thought” anyway that I was putting a decent swing on it.

Edited September 9, 2021 by RyanG94

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, RyanG94 said:

Hi all!
 

Basically I play with my dad every week and he has a bad back and shoulder so he doesn’t have much rotation to his swing. His problem is he ends up keeping his weight on his back foot through impact and “helping” the ball up in the air. When we played last week he was really struggling and I suggested to keep the weight on his left, purely to help him with contact and it immediately helped. Just to give him an idea of what I meant I showed him and the contact was so pure it shocked me, I hit a 5 iron with a tight draw - just one of those shots that makes you want to come back and play again next week.  For reference, I’m not amazing by any means, I play off 10, play blades even though I shouldn’t but I love the feel of them and have “good enough” ball striking - and have always transferred my weight traditionally and have never had a problem with my ball striking.

 

I have played 18 and 9 since, and played keeping my weight on the lead side throughout the entire swing and rotating hard round my left leg at impact. I’ve had a 75 and a 37 over the 18 and 9 and I’ve never found the game so simple in my life. I haven’t lost difference either any of my clubs except my driver (only 10-15 yards shorter. The upside is I’m now able to hit my 2 and 3 iron consistently, all my irons have a more piercing trajectory and my wedges are far more accurate.

 

The point of this post is basically - has anyone else been using this technique and how have you found it long term? I feel like if I keep playing this way I could get back below 7 (my lowest hcp ever) pretty quickly and I’m excited to see if it continues.

 

cheers

 

EDIT - just to clarify, I mentioned I play blades not cos I think that makes me cool or great etc, just incase it reads that way - but rather as a pointer that I generally have always had fairly

solid ball contact and can play to a decent hcp with them. So was amazed at how much improvement I made even though I always “thought” anyway that I was putting a decent swing on it.

I would be curious to see your swing. There are swing methods that load the front leg like Stack & Tilt and Venetos. But feel is not necessary real. You may feel like you are keeping weight on the front side, but may actually just be shifting your weight more effectively. 

[iacas]

It’s going to set a lower ceiling but if you flip currently or something it can be an okay band-aid.

Stop conning yourself too: if you’re a 10 your ballstriking is not good.

[jmanbooyaa]

@iacas can you reply with where you have weight transfer on site?

[Vinsk]

2 hours ago, RyanG94 said:

Hi all!
 

Basically I play with my dad every week and he has a bad back and shoulder so he doesn’t have much rotation to his swing. His problem is he ends up keeping his weight on his back foot through impact and “helping” the ball up in the air. When we played last week he was really struggling and I suggested to keep the weight on his left, purely to help him with contact and it immediately helped. Just to give him an idea of what I meant I showed him and the contact was so pure it shocked me, I hit a 5 iron with a tight draw - just one of those shots that makes you want to come back and play again next week.  For reference, I’m not amazing by any means, I play off 10, play blades even though I shouldn’t but I love the feel of them and have “good enough” ball striking - and have always transferred my weight traditionally and have never had a problem with my ball striking.

 

I have played 18 and 9 since, and played keeping my weight on the lead side throughout the entire swing and rotating hard round my left leg at impact. I’ve had a 75 and a 37 over the 18 and 9 and I’ve never found the game so simple in my life. I haven’t lost difference either any of my clubs except my driver (only 10-15 yards shorter. The upside is I’m now able to hit my 2 and 3 iron consistently, all my irons have a more piercing trajectory and my wedges are far more accurate.

 

The point of this post is basically - has anyone else been using this technique and how have you found it long term? I feel like if I keep playing this way I could get back below 7 (my lowest hcp ever) pretty quickly and I’m excited to see if it continues.

 

cheers

 

EDIT - just to clarify, I mentioned I play blades not cos I think that makes me cool or great etc, just incase it reads that way - but rather as a pointer that I generally have always had fairly

solid ball contact and can play to a decent hcp with them. So was amazed at how much improvement I made even though I always “thought” anyway that I was putting a decent swing on it.

I play this way and have for about 2 years now, maybe more. It started with Jim Venetos but now I follow Tom Saguto. Definitely with the Venetos style there is a cap as @iacas mentioned. Maybe not as much with Saguto as there is still good rotation of the body but not a weight shift as traditionally done.
 

I can imagine you initially are seeing what feels like much better ball striking. But it’s still golf. All the factors that make this game hard are still there. None of this is meant to insult you. The ‘not conning yourself’ is actually good advice and an important thing to realize.

I’d like to see your swing as @boogielicious mentioned. But if you continue to enjoy golf playing this way, then have it.

[iacas]

8 minutes ago, jmanbooyaa said:

@iacas can you reply with where you have weight transfer on site?

I'm not sure what you mean, exactly. We have a bunch of videos, topics, etc. on this.

Just now, Vinsk said:

I’d like to see your swing as @boogielicious mentioned. But if you continue to enjoy golf playing this way, then have it.

Yeah, at the end of the day, if people are enjoying their golf, good for them. I'm happy if they're happy.

[GolfLug]

@RyanG94, you must be doing bunch of other things right in addition that you are not aware of. 'Keeping weight on left' or any one singular thing can't be a 'method' - just one of the aspects. Glad you are hitting well though.  

[Bucki1968]

I do like getting the "shoulder down" to the ball part of stack and tilt.  I think some of those stack and tilt fundamentals can work (straight arms, left shoulder down, turning in a circle). If the shoes fits.....

[jmanbooyaa]

13 minutes ago, iacas said:

I'm not sure what you mean, exactly. We have a bunch of videos, topics, etc. on this.

Do you have a personal favorite that you think gets right to the issue and drill to overcome? I searched and there was so many that came up. 

[ChetlovesMer]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

I would be curious to see your swing. There are swing methods that load the front leg like Stack & Tilt and Venetos. But feel is not necessary real. You may feel like you are keeping weight on the front side, but may actually just be shifting your weight more effectively. 

This is really good advice. Get good video, you may be amazed at what you find. You may "think" you are playing leaning on the left, but you may also just be centered for the first time in a while. 

I recently had a coach take video of my swing and I was amazed at how out of alignment everything was. My hips pointing one way, my feet another, shoulders another, arms another. It was a mess. Before that if somebody would have asked me I would have swore up and down my alignment was fine. I mean it "felt" right. 

53 minutes ago, iacas said:

it can be an okay band-aid

Don't be insulted by the band-aid comment. Trust me, I have been playing golf for a long time and I often think "I find something" on the course. But very often it's really just an adjustment made because something seemingly unrelated is out of whack. Then after a while the band-aid stops working and a little later on "I find something" else and start hitting it well again. Pretty soon I have adjustments to adjustments to adjustments ... well, you get the idea. I look up and find that my whole swing is a mess. Sometimes its even functional. But it's just one mishit away from falling apart. 

Best advice I can give is get good video. Here's a big old thread on it.

 

[RyanG94]

58 minutes ago, iacas said:

It’s going to set a lower ceiling but if you flip currently or something it can be an okay band-aid.

Stop conning yourself too: if you’re a 10 your ballstriking is not good.

Yeah fair point,as I said I know I probably “shouldn’t” be playing blades being off a 10. But my ballstriking is probably the most consistent and strongest part of my

game. I’m a 10 largely due to not being arsed about practicing putting/chipping and that’s where I waste a lot of shots. I would probably be a couple lower if I played CB though, granted. Worded poorly on my

part, it’s the strongest of a very average set of skills but it seems to have jumped a level. Maybe it’s the feel vs real scenario, who knows haha!

[iacas]

10 minutes ago, jmanbooyaa said:

Do you have a personal favorite that you think gets right to the issue and drill to overcome? I searched and there was so many that came up. 

Look, I mean this the right way… "the weight shift" in the golf swing is pretty intricate. The arms go back, the body turns… etc.

Combine that with the fact that weight isn't really often measured in the golf swing, we measure pressure or really even more correctly overall force in the golf swing.

There are hundreds of subtle variations here, but in general, the weight and pressure and force shifts back slightly, and then forward a lot.

8 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Don't be insulted by the band-aid comment. Trust me, I have been playing golf for a long time and I often think "I find something" on the course. But very often it's really just an adjustment made because something seemingly unrelated is out of whack. Then after a while the band-aid stops working and a little later on "I find something" else and start hitting it well again.

Band-aids fall off after a few days, yeah.

7 minutes ago, RyanG94 said:

Yeah fair point,as I said I know I probably “shouldn’t” be playing blades being off a 10. But my ballstriking is probably the most consistent and strongest part of my game. I’m a 10 largely due to not being arsed about practicing putting/chipping and that’s where I waste a lot of shots.

I also mean this well: you're not a good ballstriker.

I don't care that you play blades. I play them too. Go us! But I've yet to meet a 10 handicap who wasn't like 80 years old who I'd consider even close to a "good ballstriker." It may be the "best" part of your game (probably still not true), but I think you're defining "ballstriking" quite differently than I would.

Stop conning yourself. It's likely holding you back from what you actually need to work on.

Heck, just by making this change, you improved your ballstriking, according to you, no? So if you improved it with something that simple, you probably weren't all that great at it before, right?

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, RyanG94 said:

Yeah fair point,as I said I know I probably “shouldn’t” be playing blades being off a 10. But my ballstriking is probably the most consistent and strongest part of my

game. I’m a 10 largely due to not being arsed about practicing putting/chipping and that’s where I waste a lot of shots. I would probably be a couple lower if I played CB though, granted. Worded poorly on my

part, it’s the strongest of a very average set of skills but it seems to have jumped a level. Maybe it’s the feel vs real scenario, who knows haha!

At our level, 5-12 handicap, we are better ball strikers than high handicap players, but we can certainly improve. To be a ‘good’ ball striker with irons, we shouldn’t hit heavy shots more than 2-3 a round and hit the center of the face the majority of the time. I’m an 8-10 HC player now and I think I hit the center of the face maybe 5 times a round tops. I still hit it heavy, but miss a bit less than I did when I was a 14. It hit maybe 1-2 pure shots a round on a good round.

You seem like the type that has fun playing and wants to improve. Getting better off the tee and on approach shots will save a ton more strokes. Filming your swing and doing some focused practice weekly can really help. Short game and putting can help too, but I get tired of having to make up and downs to make par instead of giving myself birdie chances with a GIR.

[RyanG94]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Look, I mean this the right way… "the weight shift" in the golf swing is pretty intricate. The arms go back, the body turns… etc.

Combine that with the fact that weight isn't really often measured in the golf swing, we measure pressure or really even more correctly overall force in the golf swing.

There are hundreds of subtle variations here, but in general, the weight and pressure and force shifts back slightly, and then forward a lot.

Band-aids fall off after a few days, yeah.

I also mean this well: you're not a good ballstriker.

I don't care that you play blades. I play them too. Go us! But I've yet to meet a 10 handicap who wasn't like 80 years old who I'd consider even close to a "good ballstriker." It may be the "best" part of your game (probably still not true), but I think you're defining "ballstriking" quite differently than I would.

Stop conning yourself. It's likely holding you back from what you actually need to work on.

Heck, just by making this change, you improved your ballstriking, according to you, no? So if you improved it with something that simple, you probably weren't all that great at it before, right?

Yeah man I totally agree with what you are saying, as I’ve said, I have probably worded it poorly by saying I’m a “good” ball striker. I’m not offended by it, I mean I’m aware I’m by no means a solid player, and I’m also very aware that a new feel or something you do different might only last a couple days/rounds before it stops working/having a positive effect. Part of the frustrating of the game we all love. Maybe I should rephrase it to say, my ballstriking has improved from a level I previously felt “comfortable” with it overall, and it’s due to the “feeling” of keeping weight on me lead side throughout the swing and “feeling” like I’m rotating hard through my lead leg through impact. Maybe I’m stacking and tilting unintentionally - I’ve seen Tom Sagutos videos and while I like some of what he says, there’s also plenty of it I’m not doing - or doesn’t feel like I’m doing anyway so I’m not convinced I’m stack and tilt. But I was just quite shocked at how giving my dad this tip worked - note - I didn’t give. My dad this tip because I feel I’m in any position to offer guidance on anyone’s games, just became extremely obvious his weight transfer was all wrong and it was getting him down, given he doesnt hit the ball far anyway, if it made it more enjoyable to have solid contact and actually have some fun I thought it was worth offering him it and I was just quite surprised at how well it translated into my own game. Probably didn’t word that great as well, just find it interesting as I know it’s very unconventional and wondered what others thoughts are 

[billchao]

Feel ain’t real, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t help. I strike the ball better with a weight forward feel, or what I like to describe as pivoting around my left foot.

What it actually does for me is help me to recenter earlier in my backswing so I don’t have to make an aggressive lateral shift in transition.

[Darkfrog]

3 minutes ago, billchao said:

Feel ain’t real, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t help. I strike the ball better with a weight forward feel

Same for me, almost feels like I might be reverse pivoting, but on video it looks totally normal.

4 hours ago, RyanG94 said:

But my ballstriking is probably the most consistent and strongest part of my game.

I play at around a 10 handicap index right now (10.2). Compared to my friends (most don't keep official handicap, but I would guess 20-30 index players) I am a "good" ballstriker, but looking at strokes gained versus a lower handicap (5), I lose strokes with full swing (-0.73 off the tee, -5.18 approach), lose strokes in short game (-0.95), and gain strokes putting (+0.95). So this indicates that ballstriking (especially approach) is a weakness of mine if I want to improve. I think this is what others are getting at here.

[jmanbooyaa]

@iacas your response was helpful. Right to the point. Thanks. The a lot forward makes sense. 

[billchao]

1 hour ago, Darkfrog said:

but on video it looks totally normal

That’s an important point. You and I aren’t blindly trying feels and seeing what works. I know what different feels produce in my swing.