when does your lower body weight shift begin

[doublesuited77]

four options here and something I have been thinking about

[klaymon]

Based on feel alone (I should take some video), I would say my weight shift is the first thing that happens once I reach the top of my back swing. My club reaches the top, I make a lateral move left with my hips and start to uncoil.

[worbos]

The weight shift starts right after you begin your
backswing.

You can actually feel it in your quad without a club in your hand

The key factors here are the stablity of the leg to provide balance
and the strength of the leg to provide power

[Pimpslap]

four options here and something I have been thinking about

It can begin exactly once you reach the top, but for a more powerful move try shifting your weight before the club has completed the backswing. Some of the more modern instruction books will devote a chapter to the 'transition move', or starting the downswing with the lower body/hips while the club is still completing the backswing. You might also hear some refer to this as lag-loading, or causing a lag load. There are many different swing thoughts on how to accomplish this: As the club reaches the top of the swing-Greg Norman has said he pushes off his right foot, Tiger writes in his book of a lateral knee shift, depending on your swing type Jim Hardy would suggest two different moves, Harmon writes about a 'bump' or lateral shift of the hips, and Robert Baker(the O-factor guy) would insist on an upward turning motion of the left hip. I won't tell you exactly how to go about it, but if you can learn the timing of the motion, it will add power to your swing that simply wasn't there before. I apologize for my long-winded response but there is 6 inches of snow on the ground

and I'm itching to hit some new spin-milled ......later

[tm22721]

Good topic, judging by the diverse answers.

I am currently trying to learn to push off of the instep of my right foot just as the club approaches the top of the backswing.

I have engrained this move into my practice swings, on a perfect lie. But you need an exquisite sense of balance on the uneven lies of a typical course.

[Golf Yokel]

I voted for "before the start of your downswing." For a week straight at Parmaster, I spent the first hour of my time over-exaggerating the pre- and post-swing hip movements.

I'm not sure if it has added any distance to my swings (I average around 200y on a drive, with 236y being my longest to date), and as a new player, I still don't really care much about my distance (well, I mean, compared to my accuracy... everyone cares about distance )... but...

By learning a smoother transition... I've all but eliminated my hard slice

Hey, I'll take what I get... heh.

[Crafty]

Many of the greatest golfers in the world (Nicklaus for one) started their weight shift foward before they had come to the top in their golf swing. THis is a very tough move to time, but it can be a great source of power because it causes the shaft to lag behind more and then explode into the impact point.

[shortgame85]

I had to vote other. You see, you all have it wrong. It has nothing to do with your swing.

It happens when you turn 50.

[jcrew]

i'm pretty sure my lower body starts shifting right before my backswing starts. but i voted for exactly the same because that's the feeling i try to go for. i read all that stuff about lag and letting your lower body lead etc but when i did it, i overdid it and my hands/arms got way behind and ended up hitting lots of pushes/blocks...

[ganjagolfer]

Many of the greatest golfers in the world (Nicklaus for one) started their weight shift foward before they had come to the top in their golf swing. THis is a very tough move to time, but it can be a great source of power because it causes the shaft to lag behind more and then explode into the impact point.

beautiful, goo goo ga ga, drool

[PGHDC5]

i practice the theory of the 40% (left reg) 60% (right leg) when you adress the ball. In my back swing, I may transfer 5% of my weight (if that) to my back leg, and then shift it forward at the top of my backswing. remember start the downswing from the ground up (weight, hips, shoulders)

[Matt10]

I had never tried to start my downswing before my backswing - but the first time I tried it out on the course, I had the longest drive of my life of 280 yards (lasered with SkyCaddie), before my longest was 250.

Now I try to start my downswing before my backswing is complete, it makes the swing effortless and lets me just remained focus on the target and not what I'm doing in my swing.

Bad shots occur when I start the downswing too fast, it has to be nice and easy - then let the momentum of the hips to let the arms through.

[Ben]

I say "a", with a little "other".

I agree that this move should all start at the point where you reach the end of your backswing.

The "other" part: I'd like you to think of it as a "twist" as opposed to "shift" of the lower body. You twist that left hip as hard as you can to start your downswing and everything behind it can only "shift". The arms follow those hips and will go flying through the impact zone. Which in turn will drag your body through impact with everything finishing on the left in no time.

Watch Tiger's hips when he reaches the top of his backswing.

In this swing tips section, more often than not I am taking cues from Ben Hogan's Five Lessons book. I can't recommend it more. More details on this subject would be found in Lesson 4: The Second Part of the Swing . So easy to read and comprehend something as intricate as the golf swing. Everyone must own this book!

[ganjagolfer]

for me, the lower body weight shift began at about age 38

[geezer]

I say "a", with a little "other".

You'll get alot of disagreance with that statement.

Its known as a 'slicers twist' (I had it(still have to a certain degree))

[Richie3Jack]

Shouldn't really shift, it should just turn. Ideally you want to start turning before you start the downswing. But most golfers don't have the hip flexibility to do so, so they wind up shifting/bumping their hips instead of turning them. Regardless whether you bump or rotate the hips, you should start that before the swing.




3JACK

[Richie3Jack]

You'll get alot of disagreance with that statement.

A "slicer's twist" or a "spinout" is usually caused by the golfer not having the correct amount of hip flexibility. Thus they are rotating their hips, but they are not rotating around the lead leg (left leg for right handed golfers). So what happens is that they rotate, they lose the rigidness of their left leg, they completely lose their spine angle and come way over the top with the clubface wide open.

Look at most pro players swings, like Fred Couples and you'll see a guy that starts to rotate his hips before the downswing begins. Freddy is incredibly flexible and doesn't lose the rigidness in his left leg and keeps his spine angle so everything else falls into place. If you look at stills at Couples' swing you would think it's crap because he takes some odd planes here and there. But, his magnificent hip rotation while keeping his spine angle is a reason why he hits the ball a country mile. 3JACK

[tm22721]

Go to youtube.com and watch Ringer's videos he is a teaching pro in Arizona who helps people here.

The reason I mention it is because his video on hip action is the best I have seen in explaining what works, and why.