Effects of changing weight position between heels and balls of feet?

[fundy]

Recently golf has been a bit of a battle, the old knee injury has resurfaced and I struggle to get enough weight on my left side at impact, especially with the shorter clubs and also get stuck behind it with driver a fair bit too.

Basically Im finding ways to deal with it and get it round with limited success (invariably relying on the hands to square the clubface but can overdo it and become flippy).

One thing I noticed yesterday is that my weight is very much in my heels rather than further forward towards the balls of my feet. What impact does this have? And what effect would getting the weight further towards the balls have? At impact my left foot all the weight is through the heel and the toes are actually off the ground.

Anyone else had this or give me some advice? TIA

 

[the_coach]

what's the general pattern of the ball flight issues and the normal big miss, where is the generally the balls starting direction left or right of the ball/target line line?

ideal at set-up that the weight is through center of feet - through the laces
as weight pressure transfer occurs mostly through rotation the weight pressure is into inside trail heel atop the swing then moves through to finally favoring the lead heel at balanced finish

often times if weight is generally too much on the heels at address (often this combined with little ways too much knee bend in set-up posture) and if is then staying back through the motion it will usually cause some kinda OTT steep attack to the ball (and even spin-out the hips) so depending where the face angle is at contact some kinda left to right flight pattern, pulls or pull hooks but will also mean low point is inconsistent so possibly fats/thins even tops

but if ball mostly starting out to the right of ball/target line & the arms/hands/club with the feeling of being stuck behind a high right hip then often times mostly down to unwanted lateral shift movement first back off the ball trailside this followed then big lateral shift to the leadside/target direction

if there is a big leadside lateral shift this puts the lead leg too far forwards out of line (ankle to hip socket) and it's real impossible for the hip to then rotate to clear out of the way this in turn puts bunch of real abnormal pressure on the lead knee

 

[3565]

I understand in what the coach is saying, as I did this with weight on heels. But I had to find out, was I stand at address with weight on the heels or was the take away and shift of weight causing it? And it was the latter that I saw.

Record yourself down the line on some swing analysis app making sure the phone/tablet is in line with your hands at address, then draw a vertical line that goes from the ground up, past and get the line as close/touching your rear end.

When you view back, you'll be able to see if your rocking back on your heels on back swing as your rear end will go past the vertical line.

 

[fundy]

what's the general pattern of the ball flight issues and the normal big miss, where is the generally the balls starting direction left or right of the ball/target line line?

ideal at set-up that the weight is through center of feet - through the laces
as weight pressure transfer occurs mostly through rotation the weight pressure is into inside trail heel atop the swing then moves through to finally favoring the lead heel at balanced finish

often times if weight is generally too much on the heels at address (often this combined with little ways too much knee bend in set-up posture) and if is then staying back through the motion it will usually cause some kinda OTT steep attack to the ball (and even spin-out the hips) so depending where the face angle is at contact some kinda left to right flight pattern, pulls or pull hooks but will also mean low point is inconsistent so possibly fats/thins even tops

its not a left to right flight but the pull hook definitely can happen when I lose my rhythm (invariably when it gets quick)

but if ball mostly starting out to the right of ball/target line & the arms/hands/club with the feeling of being stuck behind a high right hip then often times mostly down to unwanted lateral shift movement first back off the ball trailside this followed then big lateral shift to the leadside/target direction

if there is a big leadside lateral shift this puts the lead leg too far forwards out of line (ankle to hip socket) and it's real impossible for the hip to then rotate to clear out of the way this in turn puts bunch of real abnormal pressure on the lead knee

Because of the knee problem Ive tried to remove any lateral shift from the swing. The bad one is often a case of a lateral shift to the right on the backswing but with then no lateral shift back on the downswing as my knee cant take this, leading to me rescuing it with hands and arms

I understand the lack of right to left weight shift due to my knee is having in terms of me me being a bit too much in to out pathwise and then lacking rotation on the downswing and relying too much on the hands to square the clubface can lead to the blocks and hooks, what I was trying to understand was whether being too much on the heels would be amplifying the problem.

Will hit some balls monday and see if I can get the weight more towards the balls and see what the impact is

 

[the_coach]

I understand the lack of right to left weight shift due to my knee is having in terms of me me being a bit too much in to out pathwise and then lacking rotation on the downswing and relying too much on the hands to square the clubface can lead to the blocks and hooks, what I was trying to understand was whether being too much on the heels would be amplifying the problem.

Will hit some balls monday and see if I can get the weight more towards the balls and see what the impact is

for sure if the path is normally pretty much in to out then being back on the heels can very likely play into giving a bunch more blocks, overdraws (something that often times causes these issues for Keegan Bradley)

if feeling the weight more into the balls moves it nearer center but not out to toe line that should help some

for sure too get more help if the weight pressure is kept to the inside the trail foot as you take the club back so the swing base and rotation feels and is more centered going back so losing any lateral sway off the ball
would be a real good help better able to get weight pressure back into the leadside calmly and then rotate clear to the finish

appreciate how difficult that is with any lead knee damage presume you already got lead foot flared out some to target as doing so will make clearing left a little ways easier on the knee joint

 

[bobmac]

Try and get the shaft to point at your right heal at the end of the swing

 

[fundy]

Try and get the shaft to point at your right heal at the end of the swing

Not sure I understand Bob, could you expand please?

 

[bobmac]

Not sure I understand Bob, could you expand please?

I'm guessing your shaft points across your back/shoulders, parallel to the ground at the moment.
Imagine that at the end of your swing, the shaft is pointing downwards more towards your right heel.

 

[fundy]

I'm guessing your shaft points across your back/shoulders, parallel to the ground at the moment.
Imagine that at the end of your swing, the shaft is pointing downwards more towards your right heel.

OK will give that a try, thanks Bob

 

[bobmac]

I should add, the idea isn't to actually point the shaft down to your foot, it will just feel like it does.
45 degrees downwards from horizontal will help