Weight Distribution???

[shankopotamus]

In a "correct" golf swing, what is the proper weight distribution throughout the swing? As a life time baseball player, I am used to keeping most of my weight on my back foot. This unfortunately transfers to my golf swing. Is this causing my slice with my driver, or my push shots with my irons???

Thanks for any advice!

[DavidFehertysBike]

I came to golf from baseball myself, and I used to have the indentical problem. I used to spin right off my back leg. But it golf its called a reverse pivot. I experimented with differnt things, but i found the most success with keeping my weight nuetral over the ball and just feeling my the instep of my back foot load as my hands got hip high. Never let it creep onto your back hip or the outside of your feet.

Keeping the weight on the inside of my back leg just made it feel like it had to realse naturally. If i tried to swing from there with the inside loaded, id probably fall over backwards. Maybe some more of the swing savvy guys on here can explain the process better, but thats how i made the process to letting off that back leg.

[shankopotamus]

Thanks for the tip! Ima give it a try at the range.

[Ill St. golfer]

60% front leg
40% back leg

[iacas]

60% front leg

When?

Or did you get them backwards (at setup)? Or are you a stack-and-tilt swinger?

[Ill St. golfer]

Sorry I forgot to mention stack and tilt

[microcrayfish]

I'm having a similar problem though for me it's cricket that's led to my tendency to reverse pivot. It's frustratingly hard to break those 15 year habits of doing something one way in a different sport. I'll often find I creep back into a reverse pivot when my swing's not going so well.

[jambalaya]

A good way to get the feel of the weight settling on the inside of the back foot is to try and screw your back leg into the ground as you start the backswing. Don't let your knee move back as you do this. You should be able to feel a really solid plant of the inside of the back foot. Shifting weight correctly is in my opinion the result of a technically sound backswing and how your start your downswing. You are probably coming over the top which is common for most amateurs and not helped by your baseball background. Over the top moves hinder proper weight shift.

[shankopotamus]

You are probably coming over the top which is common for most amateurs and not helped by your baseball background. Over the top moves hinder proper weight shift.

you hit the nail on the head! exactly what im doing, and i have no idea how to fix it!!!

[jambalaya]

you hit the nail on the head! exactly what im doing, and i have no idea how to fix it!!!

I'll tell you what has helped me lately. Not sure if I can explain it properly. You don't want to take the club inside to soon in your back swing but you have to position yourself from the top to come from the inside at the ball. You've probably heard people say this: Divide the ball into quarters and attack the inside quarter of the ball on the downswing. You've probably also heard people say try and hit the ball to right field or first base. Simply trying that often works for some golfers. What I had to do in addition to that thinking was to loop the club a bit to the inside near the top so I could drop down to attack that inside quadrant. I start the club back pretty straight, avoiding coming inside to soon, and loop back inside at the top. Has done wonders for me lately. I didn't figure this out on my own exactly. I was watching the Haney Project on the Golf Channel and this was what Haney was getting Charles Barkely to do. Haney actually took hold of the club while it was in Charles hand and guided it that way. He would bring the club straight back and then have him loop and flatten the plane out a bit at the top. I tried it at the range and it was an eye opener for me. My downswing had become way too steep and I was coming over the top and pulling the hell out of my shots. Now I am launching the ball much higher and straighter.

[osean79]

For Driver and wood I put more weight on the back foot. 30% front, 70% back.

For Irons, the opposite. 70% front 30% back.
However... it works up to 5 iron, but 4 & 3 iron i haven't quite figured out yet.
I put 50/50 for 4 & 3 iron right now, and it sort of works but not up to my liking.
It could be that i'm not too competant with the long irons yet...

I hope that helps.

[shankopotamus]

For Driver and wood I put more weight on the back foot. 30% front, 70% back.

Thanks, ill give it a try!

[William Le Wolf]

In a "correct" golf swing, what is the proper weight distribution throughout the swing? As a life time baseball player, I am used to keeping most of my weight on my back foot. This unfortunately transfers to my golf swing. Is this causing my slice with my driver, or my push shots with my irons???

My Weight Distribution for All Full Swing Shots from a flat surface (Right Handed Player) . Starting position 50% Left Leg / 50% Right Leg. Top of the back swing 10% L.Leg / 90% Right Leg After hitting the shot 100% Left Leg / 0% Right Leg For short game i am 90% Left Leg all the time.

[William Le Wolf]

For Irons, the opposite. 70% front 30% back.

How far do you hit your irons? With this setup you are missing out on a lot of distance.

[osean79]

Hi William, before I get to my iron distances, let me mention I'm not a S&T as my setup may indicate for the irons...

My "setup" weight distribution was what I mentioned before. During the back swing, I weight shift to the right foot to about 70-80% at the top of the swing, and then 90% to the left foot for the follow through and finish.

My typical iron distances, under normal conditions is as follows.

PW - 130
9 - 140
8 - 155
7 - 165
6 - 175
5 - 190
4 - 205
3 - 220

3 wood - 250 off tee, 235-240 off fairway
Driver - 280

[William Le Wolf]

With the 70/30 setup do you find that you sway your body from one side to the other?

If you do the ratio's like you mentioned then it sounds just fine but starting 50/50 is more of a balanced place to start the swing. And possibly you will gain some extra distance with more weight on the right foot at the top of the swing.

I didn't get my extra ball height and distance until i actually changed my weight ratio like i mentioned in the previous post. Along with ensuring that i turn my hips.

[osean79]

hmmmm well i don't think i sway, and at this point in my golf I'd like to think i have a proper stance width and hip turn. =)

I do see your point in setting up more even, as possibly it is a more natural weight distribution and will help me load up on the right foot more. I will definitely give it a go at my next range session.

My 70/30 setup for irons, prepares me mentally to hit down on the ball and take a divot. I developed it sometime during last summer when i was shooting low 90s. It really helped my game and I stuck with it ever since.

My questions to you is, you said you use the same weight distribution for all full swings. I'm guessing for the driver and 3wood as well? I found it hard to hit the driver consistantly if i don't keep my weight consentrated on the back foot throughout the swing. It may be just me from some swing fault, but if i start out 50/50, or even 60/40 like some instructions say... my driver will come out hooking, slicing, even topping quite many times. My usual driver ball flight is a high draw. My irons are mid flight draw.

I also keep 90% on my left foot for all chip shots and putting. =)

[William Le Wolf]

My questions to you is, you said you use the same weight distribution for all full swings. I'm guessing for the driver and 3wood as well?

Yes i use exactly the same swing and weight distribution for all full swing shots from semi flat surfaces. I try to golf as simple as possible and as consistant as possible. Swing thoughts and so on tend to lead to all kinds of problems.

I only use a Driver, I did have a 4 wood in my bag but i never have a chance to use it along with 90% of my irons... 98% of Par 4's im hitting Driver sw/pw and even one par 5 the other day i was hitting driver + pw. At most im hitting 6 iron into the longer par 5's. I like my bag to be nice and low weight so i just removed my 4 wood.