Get your weight on the left

Practice
#1

One thing I think a lot of us amateurs struggle with us getting our weight on the left (hanging back). It’s interesting because I’ve been thinking about this a lot and today I’ve seen two different posts about it. How do you guys practice getting your weight on the left. Two good drill I know of (references for right handed golfers, opposite for left):

  1. the left foot only drill. Stand on your left foot and lift your right foot off the ground placing slightly behind you as a kickstand for balance if you fall.

  2. standing on a slight left downhill which places the majority of your weight on the lead leg.

Any other cool tricks or ideas on how to get onto your post leg?!

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#2

There are a variety of “step drills” out there to exaggerate the feeling of weight movement. Essentially, take a back swing and let your lead foot come all the way up and turned back with your hips. Drive it forward and down to take the swing, now letting the trail foot come completely off the ground, turning hips towards the target to finish.

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#3

Get in front of a mirror with the reflection of your right hip on the very edge of the mirror

Pivot back

Your right hip should rotate backwards, and you now should have created about one golf ball worth of space

This is an “anti sway” drill, which is a big driver of why amateurs never fully get back to the left

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#4

Just to say it differently as these are hard, 3D concepts that don’t always translate

Your right hip is rotating away from your right foot (towards the target), if you stay centered (don’t let your centerline move right), you will have created space between your right hip and the edge of the mirror

I find it much easier to “get left” from this position (tiny left hip bump + the Snead squat fully weights up the left foot)

#5

I was just working on this with my coach on Friday. He has me on a board with a dowel in the middle underneath(like a tiny see saw). The hip turn back should tilt it back, then your small hip bump towards the target moves the board to the other side, then proceed with your turn into the ball, it helps make sure you start with your lower body and keep your weight toward the target. I’m a lefty so I avoided left/right verbiage lol.

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#6

I always try to remember to use “lead/trail” instead of left and right when I’m writing golf stuff. Can’t be leaving out the lefties!

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#7

I’m used to it at this point, most of the time articles are written to right handers, it’s easy enough to turn it around while reading. But it is easier for me to read it lead/trail etc. It’s all good

#8

I did later in the post mention lefties. There aren’t many of ya, but I didn’t want to forget you either.

#9

There are more of us lefties than you think. :wink:

#10

Im good with the lefties, I just hope you hit high nasty bombs :bomb::wink: like the nest lefty I know.

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#11

I’m afraid not. But I bet I try just as hard. :grinning:

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#12

I’ve had good results with step drills. For the one I do, I set up with my regular stance and before starting my swing I move my left foot back, close to my right. During my backswing, I step into the swing as if swinging a baseball bat. It not only teaches transition to the lead leg, but also the timing of the transition.

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#13

Swings on a downhill lie can help ingrain getting to lead leg too.

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#14

Probably the single most useful tool, in my opinion. I’ve tried the step still but I’ll never do that in a round so it doesn’t compute with my feeble brain.

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#15

I like to make some practice swings with the Gary Player walk through motion. That seems to work for me if I’m hanging back. Turning my right foot inwards also seems to help a bit although uncomfortable.

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#16

One i have done for about 15 years now is hitting with my feet together. Works well for general balance, but the point at the end of it is to have the hips and belt buckle facing the target. Even taking a step toward the target after the swing is good.

My routine for every shot uses this every time still. I address the ball with feet together. Take a quick back and forth swing to get balance, then spread feet and step up to the ball.

#17

I wonder how many of us have a hard time getting to the left side because our forward hip turn gets restricted. If that’s the case, rotating the lead foot outward a bit can make it easier to rotate in that direction, which in turn makes it easier to get weight forward. By the same token, rotating the trail foot open can make it easier to get a better rotation in the backswing.

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#18

That’s a legit tip right there, just be careful of your alignment. I kind of walk like a duck, well maybe not that bad but my feet are definitely splayed a little bit. I have tried to line up perfectly square with my toes in the past and it restricts my turn. Just splaying my feet a few degrees on each foot helps so much. It’s nothing calculated just a stance that I have always taken. Not many of us have the flexibility needed to keep the toes completely straight and it doesn’t hurt anything to turn them out a little.

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#19

A good one from the guys at Me and My Golf: Hold your finish and try to tap the toes of your trail foot on the ground.

#20

I think it helps to think of your alignment based on where the heels are. Your toe line can play tricks on your eyes because of varying amounts of flaring.

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