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Weight shift or weight transfer if you will has been a big problem for me. But recently I think I have come upon a way of thinking of it that has merit. These ideas aren't mine but rather a poster on another forum which I frequent. I have experimented with his ideas and adjusted my swing to match the principles he put forth. I think they are right on for me and are showing some positive results. I would like to discuss these principles in case they help someone else or can be fined tuned for my benefit.

I do think the term “weight shift” is a bit misleading. All I know is that my swing works much better if my left leg is braced shortly after I begin my downswing so I can pivot around it. Weight is not shifted instantly. I look at it as a continuous transfer of weight as we complete our swing.

I’ve have always thought about the analogy of throwing a ball and how I should be able to take that to develop my pivot in a golf swing. The only problem was I throw the ball right handed but in the golf swing I was throwing the club left handed. At least that is the way it seemed.

The poster on the other forum suggested that you shouldn’t have to think about shifting your weight; you shouldn’t have to consciously plant your front foot; or bump your front hip. It just should happen as a result of how you set up and move your right side. When I throw a ball I turn sideways, cock the right arm and as I start my throwing motion forward I plant the left foot, brace the left leg and whip my arm and right side through to the target. The guy on the other forum suggested that the left side reacts to what the right side is attempting to do. It was not a separate set of movements but just a reaction. The left side reacted to support the action of the right side is the way he put it. It is the way weight shift happened.

So, what to do in the golf swing? Well first off I think about swinging the club with the right arm. I make a back pivot that sets up the right arm or right side to swing the club forward. I found for me that a one plane swing is better used for a right arm throwing motion so I changed to more of a one plane swing. Of course keeping the club on plane going back is real important to setting up the right side. This throwing motion in golf is underhand but the principle is the same. I was especially enlightened about this because I coach girl’s softball which uses an underhanded pitch. The left side still braces for one to whip the right side through to the finish. I looked at a lot of videos of how to fold the right arm properly, keep the club on plane and keep the elbow close to the body coming through, that sort of thing. If you don’t make the proper throwing motion with the right side, the left side is not going to react properly to support that motion. You will be unbalanced and make a bad throw. I have had a good couple of rounds trying to fine tune this approach. I would appreciate any comments.

I read in a golf instruction book that you should think of throwing a stone with your right hand trying to make the stone skip on water, and practice this motion repeatedly. Then use this mental image to carryout your back swing, and down swing. These same movements will help you perform a better golf swing.

Great post, hb!

I agree with much of it, especially:

I agree. It is impossible to correctly 'time' some sort of two-step action on the way down.

That is my philosopy: If you setup correctly it is hard to go wrong (assuming you have some knowledge and experience on how to swing a club). We have all seen bad golfers set up poorly, reach a horrible top-of-the-swing position, and then hit a disastrous slice. Well, the disastrous slice was probably the best they could possibly do from their horrible top-of-the-swing position, and their horrible top-of-the-swing position was probably the best they could do from their poor setup position.

I won't comment on the throwing motion (but I believe it is mostly valid), and you are certainly in good company with this analogy:

I have tried to keep my head in one place until after impact, but this doesn't work as well as moving my whole body (except feet) toward the target. This move starts around 2/3 of the way back. If you watch Tiger Woods,
Tiger Woods' swing in slow motion
he moves off the ball a tad going back, then moves toward target and down almost exactly at the start of the downswing. I haven't tried Woods' way. Maybe it's better, but moving down is the only part I don't like about his swing. He does come back up and even a little away from target just before impact though. Maybe moving down has something to do with waiting until the downswing starts to make the move toward target.

By the way, what is the other forum you visit, hbendillo?

The other forum is golftuitiononline. They have a pretty active forum.

Tiger definitely has a downward move going forward but as you see by impact his head is still well behind the ball. It does not move forward much at all. I don't think the head has to be rigidly placed. It can move around a bit but you need to have it behind the ball on impact especially with a driver shot.

Just don't let the head go down during the backswing. That is the kiss of death. I know from experience, as that is how I played as a kid.