Project Description
I’ve always thought the older guys had the swing figured out more than we do today.
I have dozens of classic books from guys like Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Percy Boomer, John Jacobs and the list goes on and on.
The foot pressure argument that is going on in the world of golf nowadays is beginning to become farcical. Basically there’s guys on one side who believe that to produce the most power in the swing we should all shift from one foot to another – and there’s guys on the other side who promote keeping the weight forward because it promotes a more efficient impact position.
I’ve done some research into both. And, both sides have a strong argument for their information and have data to back it up.
Of-course I can only go on my own experience in both learning these moves and then teaching them to others. And in my opinion, starting with a little weight forward and keeping it there throughout the swing, is by far the best advice I can possibly pass on to others. Keep reading and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.
Side Tilting and Extending The Body
One thing caught my eye the other day when I was flicking through a Ben Hogan classic ‘The Modern Fundamentals of Golf’.
Mr Hogan shows the amount of turn in the shoulders and hips at progressive stages in the backswing. As you can see from the diagram below – his shoulders are actually closer to the target than his hips at both halfway back and the top of the backswing.
The diagram above each drawing denotes the relative amount of turn of the shoulders and hips at each of these progressive stages of the backswing – Ben Hogan “The Modern Fundamentals of Golf”
His right leg has straightened (just a little) even though there is still some flex in it at the top. This allows him to turn his right hip and tailbone closer to the target. If he fully straightened his right leg – he’d achieve more hip and shoulder turn and greater rotation for more stored power. A good example of this would be someone like Bubba Watson straightening his trail leg.
But never the less his right hip is higher than his left. And in doing so he has allowed his upper body to tilt slightly toward the target and extend the right side of his body – which in-turn compresses the left side of his body. Which in-turn also keeps the head nice and steady.
The hips DO NOT turn level – this is bad information
The right knee DOES NOT stay flexed – this is bad information
Sean Foley showing a side tilting toward the target on the backswing and then shifting the weight forward with the lower body to start down. Sean Foley thanks Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer (S&T) for all he’s learned from them at the start of his DVD “The Next Generation”. – Pic from Golf Digest
So what’s my point?..
My point is this – there are still many golf enthusiasts out there (I read my fare share of blogs and forums) who simply choose to not understand or study how the best players pivot. There has to be some element of side tilting and extending in conjunction with rotating. In my experience simply rotating causes a decreased amount of shoulder and hip turn and also tends to make the hips and head move laterally to the right – away from the target on the backswing. If we are after a repeatable way of getting onto our left (front) side at impact, then only rotating isn’t the way to do it.
Mis-information
I often have ‘The Golf Channel’ on at home with the volume low, while I make dinner etc. A very well known teacher who hosts numerous shows on that channel came on with a little 20 second burst of information. He said “Your weight should be going in the direction of your swing” meaning backswing – shifting to the right. And downswing – shifting to the left. Although the data proves this to be correct (depending on who you listen to), I’d strongly advise anyone to treat that little nugget of information with a pinch of salt.
You see when we only get one perspective – we generally tend to treat that as the truth, because there’s no-one else in our face telling us that actually “You can do it this way – and it’s a lot more efficient”.
My friend Kevin came to visit me over the weekend from Chicago and he started laughing when I raised my voice to this guy on the TV. To make my point I gave him a lesson at ‘The Dye Course’ and pretty much instructed him to start with his weight forward and pivot around his front leg during his swing. He said after our round of golf “That was the best I’ve ever hit it”. He simply started with some weight forward and kept it there.
Counterbalancing
Because all the momentum is moving to the right in the backswing – the weight will naturally move that way also. The problem is – in less than half a second (the time it takes the club to get from the top to impact) we have to have the majority of our weight on our front side. Pro’s average between 80-95% of their weight under their front foot at impact.
Unfortunately, most amateurs don’t get their weight back over their front side enough at impact. So even though moving from one foot to the other during the swing is an option – there’s also another and in my opinion a more effective way of controlling the weight called counterbalancing into the front leg. Or “Stacking” if you follow a lot of the Stack and Tilt information.
PGA Tour Player Troy Mattesson’ foot pressure at the top. Troy Mattesson is coached by Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer – Data from Stack and Tilt
Pick up the Stack & Tilt DVD by clicking above
Drill
Once the club-head starts moving during the takeaway, start to deliberately increase the pressure under the front foot. This will effectively allow the front leg to flex more and the back leg to straighten more. As long as your toes and knees are pointing out a little your lower body will function better, which will allow your right hip to move a little higher than your left – and in turn allow for the side tilting and extending necessary in the backswing – as well as rotation.
The Start Down
The truth is – wether you prefer to shift your weight or counterbalance into your front leg, at the very start of the downswing the left knee and hips MUST start to shift laterally toward the target to allow for a correct impact position. This should be with the shaft leaning forward, the weight forward and the hands forward. Check out Mr hogan below – just about to make his downswing.
Ben Hogan about to make a downswing into the ball.
Conclusion
From my experience, many amateur golfers are not pivoting properly because they load too much weight into the right leg and only rotate. This is because they don’t understand extending and tilting. To be honest, I think the emergence of data analytics has only made golf instruction more complicated to the average golfer. I mean it’s complicated for teachers! so what chance does the average golfer have with all this conflicting information?…
As long as the movement patterns are performed correctly to produce a Modern Centered Swing – try and create force under both feet – just with a little bias toward the front one.. I’ve done some research into what the guys at Medicus Golf and their 5 Simple Keys are saying – and it’s basically FEEL like there’s a little pushing down in the front leg – but IN REALITY because the back leg should straighten a little, and this causes a pushing down effect – there should be a little more weight under the right foot.
So again we find ourselves saying “what we feel – isn’t always real”.. As teachers our primary job is to teach people what it feels like. AND IT FEELS LIKE THERE’S MORE PRESSURE IN THE FRONT LEG AND QUAD AS THIS IS THE LEG THAT FLEXES.
At the end of the day we have two legs to use in the golf swing. And if we don’t apply some pressure into the front leg during the backswing (from my experience – 18 years as a teacher) you’ll probably end up with too much weight going back – and perhaps some lateral movement with your hips and head – and you’re going to have a hard time getting back to a good left sided impact position from there.
But as a counter-argument you could say that Bubba Watson does a pretty good job. He loads pretty much most of his weight in his back leg and then transfers the majority of it onto his front side – I guess there’s always an exception to every rule.
Make sure your front leg flexes and your back leg straightens a little during the backswing – and experiment with just how much you push down under both feet and note the results. GO WITH WHAT WORKS!
Plus, as a teacher it all depends on the student in front of us. If I’m working with someone who has very little knowledge and training in counterbalancing/stacking into the front leg – I’ll probably pull up Troy Mattesson on the V1 system (who from the picture above has 80% of the pressure under his front foot at the top – Data from Stack and Tilt). This then gives the student a great image, and we can work on treating his/her front leg as the anchor of the swing. This nearly always produces a better impact position..
Tip
Keeping both feet on the ground, try and feel an 80-20 split favoring your front foot by the time you reach the top of your swing (ala Troy Mattesson above) – and video your swing using the V1 app or something similar. I promise you, if you’ve grooved a swing like me over the years (28 years of playing golf – the first 10 years, from age 8-18 – being fed terrible info – like keep your right knee flexed and load up into your right quad) it will look nothing like what you are feeling.
Quick reference notes:
Setup – start with a little more weight forward
Backswing Front leg – flexes
Backswing Back leg – straightens a little
Backswing – Tilt spine toward target
Backswing – Extend right side of body
Please don’t try it on your own – unless you’re a skilled player. Go and take some lessons either online or in person, and start to understand your swing on camera. This is the only way to truly bridge the gap between what we feel and what is real.
After all – how many times have you said to yourself “it doesn’t feel like I’m doing that”?… after seeing your swing on camera.
