This is part 2 of a 3-part series on building a powerful and consistent golf swing:
Part 1 – How To Load The Club During The Backswing
Part 2 – [You Are Here] Foot Pressure In The Golf Swing & How To Feel It
Part 3 – Golf Swing Side Tilting & Extending | Weight & Pressure Data
One of the big topics in the world of golf at the moment is the discussion on how much pressure each foot should generate into the ground at a given point in the swing.
Fortunately, like pretty much everything else in golf nowadays there’s a way of quantifying the data. This is awesome for golf teachers around the world because it takes a lot of the guesswork out it.
Let’s Start With The Basics
As I described in part 1 of this series, there is a difference between weight shift and pressure shift.
“We See Shift In Weight, We Feel Shift In Pressure”
Where Do We Want To Be at Impact?
Let’s start by talking about the mass (weight).
We want the majority of the weight over the forward foot at impact. This combined with the correct angles in the wrists coming down produce a downward blow onto the ball.
If the weight (mass) is towards the rear foot at impact the low point of the swing arc tends to fall behind the ball instead of past it.
We always want the low point past the ball (about 4 inches according to Bobby Clampett) so that the club strikes the ball with a downward blow.
This produces the compression on the ball which produces spin and viola..
“Tour Pro’s have around 80-95% of their weight over their front foot at impact”
Obviously different swings produce different results but an absolute definite is that the majority of their weight is forward by the time they get back to impact.
Some of them start with the weight 50-50. Some of them start with the weight 60-40 on the left side. Some of them start with the weight 40-60 on the right side, the point is they all get back to impact with their weight on the forward foot.
The problem we have as golf teachers is that there are many amateur golfers out there who don’t get their weight forward at impact. They don’t slide their hips enough on the downswing.
Many of these amateurs also sway to the right during the backswing, moving either their head, hips or right knee laterally away from the target.
This swaying with the body shifts the center of mass (the weight).
With the emergence of technology such as the ‘Boditrak Pressure Mat’ we can detect exactly where the pressure is shifting under the feet and use this info in diagnosing problems.
Here’s my take on it..
There aren’t many Pro’s on tour who are actually shifting their weight going back. Most make a centered backswing.
Meaning, they keep their mass (weight) centered.
What they are actually doing is shifting the pressure.
And for many of them, that pressure is moving from their trail foot to their lead foot before the club starts its downswing.
I’ll say that again..
The pressure starts to move into their lead foot before the backswing is completed.
COP (Center Of Pressure) Peak Velocity
Peak Velocity generally occurs at around P5 in the downswing (lead arm parallel with ground or shaft vertical) when pressure is transferred quickly to the lead foot.Â
Here’s a pressure model to follow:
From Setup to club vertical on backswing: Increase pressure under your trail foot.
From club vertical to the top: As the backswing is ending, start to shift the pressure back towards the lead foot to prepare to help drive the lead side upwards through impact.
From the top to club vertical on downswing: As the club starts down the pressure into the lead foot reaches its maximum amount. i.e crush a coke can under your lead foot.. At This point the longest hitters can generate a force two times their body weight into the ground.
That’s 400lb’s of force being applied to the ground (assuming a static weight of 200lb).
This is why so many Long Drive Champions and the longest hitters on tour jump of the ground through impact!
Notice when the shaft is vertical on the downswing the vertical force has peaked.
In a nutshell..
“Settle into the lead foot at the top to prepare for the start of the downswing”
Here’s Andy and Piers from Me and My Golf Who do a great job explaining it.
Of course everyone is different. And everyone has their own patterns they have grooved over time and I won’t ask everyone to do the same thing to start hitting the ball better.
However, it’s interesting to note some of the tendencies that are consistent among the majority of elite players.
Initiating the downswing with the lower body is probably not a new concept for most golfers, but being able to see when/how players load and transfer pressure might be.
Drill
Instead of trying to load into the right thigh going back – as per old fashioned teaching, with a flexed right leg. Try and think about the pressure under the feet instead, it’s a lot easier to understand.
As soon as you start moving the club in the backswing allow the pressure to build up under your trail foot.
Understanding that the best players straighten their trail leg a little also helps you understand that your trail knee is in fact moving back over your heel. So the pressure between your heel and toes should have a slight bias towards the heel also.
As long as your right foot is turned out about 20 degrees or so, that will enable your right hip to move back behind you and in an upwards direction. Which in turn enables your tailbone to move forward (closer to the target).
This then facilitates the extension needed in the spine.
I found a great video from the guys at Medicus golf who explain the pressure under the feet. It includes one of my favorite swings to watch and learn from, Grant Waite. A true artist if there ever was one. Stick around and watch it. It’s worth a few minutes of your time.
To dive deeper into this subject I highly recommend taking a look at the blog at: Boditrakperformance.com
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them below.
This was part 2 of a 3-part series on building a powerful and consistent golf swing:
Part 1 – How To Load The Club During The Backswing
Part 2 – [You Are Here] Foot Pressure In The Golf Swing & How To Feel It
Part 3 – Golf Swing Side Tilting & Extending | Weight & Pressure Data
Since each arm and hand account for about 5% of your total body weight or 10% when the two are combined; isn’t it likely that a significant part of your weight transfer in the back swing is due to the weight these members moving to the right?
I totally agree. Plus there’s the weight of the club head and the momentum of the movement to the right. That’s the idea behind a counterbalanced movement. A little more pressure into the left foot to stay centered. Grant wait in the video above is a big believer in a left sided movement but the force plate reading clearly states he still has more pressure under his right foot on his backswing.. What you feel isn’t always real..
I love the way you introduce these “modern swing” techniques James. Looking forward to building counterbalancing into my swing and puring more shots!
Thanks Dave, appreciate it!
Great stuff I’m one of the golfers that do not get on to the front foot all of the time,should we practice getting over the front foot with a club
yes. Start with a little weight forward and keep it there. Think about sitting into your left leg as your right leg straightens..
[…] wrote an article a while ago about ‘Foot Pressure in The Golf Swing and the Difference Between Feel and Real’ the guys at Medicus Golf (who include Chuck Evans – who trained under Ben Doyle, first […]
So in the backswing, the feet are pushing into the ground while the body is coiling. That seems to be a more connected feeling that having the arms just start turning back in my typical backswing. Is that a good thought/feeling?
Hi Jeff, Yes!
You’ve got to try and pull the energy out of the ground (with both feet). Watch Rory at the beginning of his swing. As the club head moves first during his takeaway – he pushes down into the ground. Try and straighten your right leg (trail leg) a little, which will push down under the foot, and use the left leg as your anchor – flexing the knee a little and pushing down under that foot.
The momentum going back (backswing) is always moving to the right so there will be more pressure under the right foot to start the backswing. But by tilting and extending your spine TOWARDS the target – you’ll stay centered and can also push down under your left foot.
Hope this helps.
72 yrs old, arthritis , stiff neck. Went out just yesterday Feb. 25. Weather was nice for Mich. All I can say is THANK YOU.
I need to practice this but what a blessing, I can see impact again, take divots after ball again. Thank you very much
You’re welcome Thomas
Sorry for so many questions but I feel like this a natural move I used to do then was taught that it was not a correct pivot. To me it feels like the left foot starts to drive moving the tailbone back target wards. When at top, weight on both heels and inside leg, right knee over right heel and right glute active. Best way I can describe feeling is like the hips carry the club to the top. This sound right?
I hear you Rodney. There’s still so many Pros out there teaching “a bent right knee” and “release the hands” and “get behind the ball”.. I was taught all that growing up in England. It’s not the most efficient way! Your explanation sounds good. The hips and shoulders are the axis points in the swing and they have to try and stay over one another. As soon as the upper half moves too far away from the target during backswing it’s going to difficult to turn in a circle (extending, turning, rotating) and stay centered. Don’t forget it’s all about impact! The more your body moves laterally going back – the more difficult it will be to get to a left sided impact position.
Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the images on thjs
blog loading? I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on mmy end or if
it’s tthe blog. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Lukas
It’s the Blog, not your browser. I’ve recently changed the theme and the images aren’t loading properly. I have my programmer working on the issue..
Thanks for stopping by..
James
Oh my goodness! Amazing rticle dude! Many thanks, Howevdr I am
going through difficulties with your RSS.
I don�t know the reason why I cannot join it.
Is there anybody getting the same RSS problems? Anyone who knows the
answer will you kindy respond? Thanks!!
This design is spectacular! You definitely know how to keep a reader entertained.
Between your wit andd your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Fantastic job.
I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
Too cool!
Great article, as a natural swayer, courtesy of Ballard,( a great book but a dangerous one) I have spent a couple of frustrating years trying to resist in the right leg whilst still coiling,I then improved by pressing into the ground with my right leg (rather than resisting laterally) and pressing into the ground with my left leg to start the throughswing, this has got me down to 5 at 55 after 5 years, the last 3 working hard at it. But I thought id found a “new golf secret” by starting the swing by pressing both feet into the ground, but as usual when put into google someones beat me to it!
Haha! Thanks for the comment Graham. Think of pressure as a vertical force and weight as lateral force.
Great explanation of pressure shift James – thank you. Perhaps you would clear up one point for me. In Tiger Woods book ‘How I Play Golf’ p.103 he states that (at the top of the backswing) his weight is gathered onto his right heel and I guess many other top pros. are the same. However when I look at the results of many pros. on the pressure mat much of the pressure/ weight seems to be on the ball of the right foot and not in the heel. For me if I put all the pressure on the right heel at the top of the backswing my right hip turns back much more which is not particularly beneficial since there is much less torque and a tendency to sway right.
Hi Gregg, sorry about the delay in responding. It’s thanksgiving over here so it’s been a little hectic.
It sounds like you’re viewing the swing as a upper body wind up against the lower body. The last few years I’ve been looking at it in a different way. Basically, if you straighten your back leg a little during the backswing it will move the weight to the heel but also allow the hips to turn more (more potential power). This then allows the upper body or spine to extend and tilt left as well as turn. This then helps keep the center of your shoulders (head) steady.
This blog may help understand the difference between a resistance based swing and non-resistance based movement pattern.http://www.jamesparkergolf.com/to-resist-or-not-to-resist/
I always thought that you should feel that like your left foot is pressing backwards and your right foot was pressing forward as you were taking the club back in your back swing, and
feel almost all your weight on the left side of your left foot (even though your left foot is on the ground) at contact and then follow through and finish upright facing the target.
Data is data Victor. I think the video describes the process well..
Everybody uses Mr. Waite as the model for the weight movement in the golf swing.
Relying on his swing mechanics is dubious.If you look at a lot of different golfers, you will see that there is great variability on how they transfer their weight. Some move right, some move left.in the backswing
Some are evenly balanced at impact and some are even moving backward at impact( especially
if they make a big weight shift to the left EARLY in the transition). Some are moving their weight to the left DURING impact. The science on weight shift is not settled.
THE IDEA of pushing into the ground with your legs is nonsense. You cant push down into the ground with your legs unless you are pushing up with your hands against something overhead. You can push to the left with your right foot and push to the right with your left foot
in an effort to move your body in the opposite direction of the push.
You can exert force through your feet into the ground if you first jump up then come down.
And you can exert force into the ground with your feet by jumping up.Let’s stop talking about “using the ground”. Yes, we stand on the ground. SO we use the ground.Enough.
These feet forces need to be related to what the club is doing. As the club goes back, weight is transferred to the right. Unless a force in the right leg pushes to the left, the club movement will transfer weight to the right ( and the weight on the left foot will be reduced… the left foot will be unweighted.) At the top during the early transition the club moves away from the target momentarily. To remain balanced the right foot will exert a counterforce to the left to keep the mass from moving backward. This counterforce will be influenced by the speed of the early transition movement. The more the speed the more the counterforce required.
Data is data.Unfortunately you dont have enough data to draw any logical conclusions.
I agree, I can do a better job interpreting the data and I will update this post when I get chance. However, please play nice when you come on my platform. Anyone can go around the interwebs putting the world to rights. Ask questions, don’t assume you know more than the pro. You don’t, and your comments show it. i.e. “The idea of pushing into the ground with your legs is nonsense”.
The mass of your arms and club coming down create the downward force. Your legs push into the ground to counteract that force so your body does not crumple into the ground. Just like your example when jumping and pushing into the ground (although more mass coming down in a jump and more force pushing into the ground to counter) compared to the golf swing. So yes keep pushing into the ground to avoid falling down if your are generating enough downward force with your arms and club to hit a drive 250+.
65 years old, index is an 8….going up with age. On the backswing, I’ve always tried to feel my lead foot while making a full fairly centered turn. My first thought during the transition is to flex my lead knee which results in vertically pressing my lead side into the ground while moving my lead knee from behind the ball to in front of the ball. Also, while flexing the lead knee, the wrist angle increases at the top and the swing is dropped in on plane. All that’s left is to sowing through the ball.
I fully agree with James position that pressure must be pressed into the lead side well before impact.
Thank you for thes interesting and informative thoughts.
Thank you Jack. I like the idea of focusing on the lead Knee to increase pressure in the lead foot.
Interesting article, my son always ends up on his toes through impact with especially the driver, what can he work on to stay more grounded.
Hi Sue, it’s hard to say with accuracy without seeing his swing. However, a common issue I’ve seen with younger golfers is extending too early. His head will come up and hips move towards the ball and he’ll lose his inclination to the ground. Check this video out and let me know if it helps his problems http://www.jamesparkergolf.com/improve-your-timing-by-regaining-flexion/
As a drill, ask him to keep his trail heel down longer through P6
Clearly explained concepts!If you get most weight to front at impact you have a better chance to compress golf ball( and hands are in perfect position at impact) without having to think about them! Plus because of early wrist cock arms get to impact just ahead of passive hands for good lag and compression!!
Yup! nailed it..
I find if I shift my weight to the trail foot during the backswing I cannot achieve an impact position with pressure on my left foot and cannot swing to a complete and balanced finish with most of my weight on my left foot. But if I use the pressure on the left foot to
rotate my hips and trunk in the backswing, then my right knee stays relaxed and after my arms start down, I can apply a little pressure with my trail leg to accelerate the club through the ball and I achieve a nice full finish. I think Bobby Jones discussed this
in his writings. I think applying pressure with the trail foot EARLY in the downswing leads to problems.
https://www.jamesparkergolf.com/load-the-club-during-the-backswing/
Wow!!! I have never come across these two tips in so many hours of golf swing research, and they are the two missing puzzle pieces to my sometimes excellent, mostly inconsistent swing.
1. Keep COG closer to the lead side but move the PRESSURE to the rear foot during backswing. Pressure not weight.
2. Lateral hip movement is fine, but only forward lateral hip movement, never slide away from target.
After reading this article yesterday a lightbulb went on and I was off to the range to test. I quickly found the 10-15 yards in irons I had lost a year ago, got the driver to stop two-way missing hook and slice, and got my woods back into the air after worm-burning 3/5 shots all year. I must have been sliding miles behind the golf ball during backswing because I wanted equal lateral movement back and forward, which doesn’t work, because the backswing is only 1/3 of the swing not 1/2.
How come nobody else instructs to keep weight and all lateral movement forward? Been searching for these answers for at least three years! Thanks again.
You’re welcome. Additionally, I’d visit the golftec website and get the book ‘The stack and Tilt swing’.
Congratulations.
Outstanding, scholarly and comprehensive.
Something there for everybody to dwell on , experiment with building into their own unique swing
Thank you.
Thanks John