Are you a golf player who can’t shift weight in golf swing? Weight transferring is one of the skills that you should master if you want to become better at playing golf.
Even if there are many ways to swing your golf club and hit the ball, all of them require transferring body weight.
If you are not so good at it, then you won’t hit the ball with enough power.
Can’t shift weight in golf swing?
Mastering weight transfer is not an easy thing to do.
If this is your goal, then you should first familiarize yourself with these three common problems in golf swing weight transfer.
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No Weight Transfer
Can’t shift weight in golf swing? Maybe you are not transferring any weight at all!
However, you should not worry about this for it is a common problem, especially for beginners who are still just trying to find out the game.
If you are not transferring any weight during your golf swing, then it will look really rigid and the lack of power is very noticeable.
But, how can you tell by yourself if you are not transferring any weight when you do your golf swing?
Well, you can easily get a feel of that once you finish the swing.
You see, what happens when you are not transferring any weight is you end your swing with both feet still flat on the ground.
There is still at least half of your weight on each foot.
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Hanging Back
If you can’t shift weight in golf swing, then that might probably be caused by the hanging back problem.
Most of the amateur golfers put their weight back but not forward. This is the dilemma called the “falling backward” or “hanging back”.
When you put your weight at your back foot during backswing, then you must transfer it forward when you proceed with the downswing.
This is the concept of a golf swing that many beginners tend to forget.
Believe it or not, the transfer of weight forward during the downswing is the most essential part of the weight transfer.
The reason behind why it is given so much importance is because that’s the part where your clubhead is gaining speed and power.
To know if you are experiencing the hanging back problem, check your weight after finishing your swing.
If you can feel most of it at your back foot, then you are definitely experiencing this dilemma.
This is usually a result of trying to lift the ball by getting under it, which is a contradiction of what you should be really doing.
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The Sway
Last on our list of the common problems encountered by beginner golfers when they can’t shift weight in golf swing is “The Sway”.
When you are doing the sway, it means that you are swaying too much from the back to the front.
This is a common mistake that is being driven by the desire to get so much power that they rock their body back and forth a lot in order for their weight to be transferred through the ball.
The thought of transferring the weight through the ball is correct. However, the problem here is with the way it’s being done by many.
If you are shifting your weight to your back foot when doing the backswing, it is not necessary that you also move your body towards that direction.
As a matter of fact, you will be able to transfer your weight backward without moving your body to that way at all.
You see, the problem with this is when you rock your body back and forth too much, you will not be able to have solid contact with the ball.
If you do this, then you will make it hard to time your impact position, so you will not hit the ball well.
If you want to spot if you are doing the sway, then take a video of you doing your swing. As you watch it, look closely at your shoulders.
If your back shoulders are moving for more than a couple of inches, then you have to lessen your motion when shifting your weight during the swing.
Remember that the only time you need so much movement from your body parts is when you are commencing with the downswing up until the follow through and finish!
How to shift weight in golf swing?
Now that you know the common problems why a golfer can’t shift weight during a golf swing, let us talk about how to shift weight in golf swing correctly.
If you want to improve your weight transfer, then there are three aspects that you should focus on namely address position, transition & weight shift, and finish position on the follow-through.
Let us discuss the specifics in this section:
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Address Position
When you are in the address position, the answer to the question, where is weight in golf swing should be 50% of it on each foot.
This can still be changed a little, but you should start at this level to avoid unnecessary movements of body parts.
When you start swinging your golf club, where is weight in golf swing will be on your back foot.
Your arms are moving in that direction during the takeaway as well, so you will feel the additional weight on that side of your body.
When your arms reach the level of a few inches above your hips, that is the time that your body mass is farthest away from the focal point.
However, as your arms go upwards to the position where your backswing will start, you should not terminate your weight transfer.
You should have at least 75% of your body weight at your backfoot when your arm reaches that position.
But, how to shift weight in golf swing correctly during the takeaway?
Well, as you go on with shifting your weight to your back foot until such time that your arms are on the top position for the backswing, you should not move your body towards that direction as well.
You must put your utmost attention into transferring your weight to the back foot without also shifting your body backward.
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Transition and Weight Shift
Where is weight in golf swing after you are done with the backswing?
To answer that question, the first movement that you should make after the backswing is to shift your weight from the upper body to the lower body.
To do this, you should make your hips fire through the impact.
The upper part of your body will come after your lower body’s transfer of weight through impact.
But the most important question to be answered here is how to shift weight in golf swing correctly during the transition?
During the downswing, you must shift your weight slowly to your front foot as soon as your arms reach the level of your lower waist.
On impact, where is weight in golf swing must be on your front foot and the level of bodyweight transferred must reach at least 75%.
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Follow Through
In the finish position, where is weight in golf swing should be on your front foot, and the level must be at 90% or more.
If you can get this level of bodyweight in your front foot, this means that the weight transfer that happened all throughout the golf swing is correct.
On the contrary, if it is less than 90%, you should focus more on how to shift weight in golf swing during the other phases.
Drills to improve weight transfer
Are you one of the beginners who can’t shift weight in golf swing properly?
Don’t easily lose hope! You just need to a lot more time to practice, and your weight transfer problems will surely be cured!
To help you with that, here are some drills that you can do to improve your weight transfer:
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Medicine Ball Throw
If you can’t shift weight in golf swing properly, you may try the medicine ball throw.
If you don’t have a medicine ball, you may use a heavy ball that is the same size as a basketball.
To do the medicine ball throw drill, hold it on the sides as if you are trying to address a ball.
The next step is to swing it as you do with a golf club and then throw the ball at impact as far as you can and see if it goes in a straight direction.
If you are only utilizing your arms during the swing and not your whole body, you will notice that the ball will not reach that far.
To get it to cover more distance, you have to let your body transfer weight naturally.
Once you get the feel of how it’s done, try the movement with an actual golf club and ball.
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Drop the sand wedge
In this drill, you may need the aid of your sand wedge, so fetch it from your golf bag and get ready for training!
Once you get a hold of your sand wedge, you must put the face of your sand wedge to the back of your heel closely.
The shaft of the golf club should be the ones on the top behind you.
When you have already set up the sand wedge correctly, you should commence with your golf swing.
If you are transferring weight properly, the sand wedge will drop before the impact.
However, if it drops once the impact is done, then you are probably hanging your back foot too much.
Let’s Go & Swing it!
If you can’t shift weight in golf swing correctly or at all, you should not overthink too much.
Because it is a common problem for most amateur golfers.
Just follow the tips in this article and practice with the drill regularly.
You will be able to surely master weight transfer soon!
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Last Updated on December 4, 2023 by Paul Roger Steinberg