Instruction
How balance affects your swing shape
When golfers swing in balance, they generally hit the ball more solid and less crooked. Most GolfWRX readers already know that, but what they may not know is that balance can play a significant role in the shape of their swings, which of course will affect the shape of their shots.
There are few absolutes in the game of golf, but I am seeing more frequently through the use of technology that golfers who swing in balance also have better control of the delivery of the golf club through impact. Those of us who struggle with our balance throughout the swing are frequently making recovery motions to maintain our balance, which in turn negatively effects our ability to deliver the golf club to the ball consistently on the downswing.
One of my regular students came to me recently, struggling with bad ball contact and an ugly slice. My launch monitor dutifully shared with me obvious characteristics of a slice swing. He’s a right-handed golfer, and his swing path was 12.3 degrees to the left, while his club face was 5.2 degrees to the right of his path.
Another tracking device that I like to use when gathering data about a student’s technique is the BodiTrak Pressure Mat system, which allows me to analyze a golfer’s center of pressure throughout the swing. This provided me with some interesting insight as to why my golfer’s swing had slice characteristics. At the top of my student’s golf swing, much of his pressure was towards his toes, 61 percent on his target foot and 76 percent on his trail foot.
Note the fade swing characteristics and the toe pressure at the top of the swing.
I find that many of my students who have a center of pressure that moves toward their toes during their backswing can produce one of two major swing flaws:
- To counter balance their heavy toe pressure, their arms swing very deep behind their bodies on their backswing to try to stay in balance.
- Their lack of balance limits their ability to make a big enough turn to get the golf club on an ideal downswing plane.
Both toe-heavy backswing characteristics frequently evolve into a steeper downswing plane and a slice swing path.
I shared this observation with my student, and encouraged him to keep his center of pressure more centered by exaggerating the feeling and trying to keep his weight a little toward his heels. He reacted beautifully to this observation.
His very next swing produced the following results:
- At the top part of his swing, his pressure moved to 61 percent on his left heel and 63 percent on his right heel.
- This change in foot pressure produced a bigger back swing turn, which evolved into a different downswing delivery and draw ball flight characteristics (a swing path of 5.1 degrees to the right and a club face that was 2.7 degree to the left of his path).
Note the draw swing characteristics and the heel pressure tendencies at the top of the swing.
By simply focusing solely on his balance, my student’s “athlete” was able to react subconsciously in a completely different manner that produced much more solid ball contact and his preferred ball flight.
We all know how important balance is to making good, consistent contact. Perhaps now, you can add the characteristic of balance to help improve your swing shape.
Good luck!
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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Josh
Jul 31, 2015 at 10:55 am
I’m curious what a left foot bias weight shift would cause on the swing path. This clears up my thoughts on a balance with no weight shift being more beneficial than actually shifting weight.
Sira
Jun 15, 2015 at 3:36 am
I agree with Alex below. Isn’t the ball of your feet= weight shift more toward the ball?
Fade
Jun 14, 2015 at 8:59 pm
Hi Tim, interesting concept and one I need to keep in mind at the range.
Quick observation, if you look a the two images you provide, it looks as though the top one (slice), the student had an open stance. In the bottom one (draw), the student had a closed stance. So, at least with a cursory glance at the images, it wasn’t just weight shift that changed, but the students’ stance (open vs closed) too, which could also affect shot shape. Am I misinterpreting the graphs and seeing something that is not there?
Tim Mitchell
Jun 16, 2015 at 1:06 am
Fade-good observation. The student also significantly changed his lateral center of pressure on his backswing, too (fade swing 85, draw swing 62). The most interesting items of note for this particular golfer was how instinctive and immediate the changes were, just by focusing on his balance. The major dynamic changes that took place to produce a different ball flight was really fun to watch. I can tell you there was no conscious thought or preparation to change ball flight through set up.
Jeff*
Jun 14, 2015 at 7:37 pm
Awesome article. I’m not a teacher, but a good player, and this article says something I’ve seen/experienced myself and shows why. I always called it hip-sway, but it’s a reaction to losing balance. Most players can’t deliver the ball back to the ball the same when they take it back and try and “shift their weight.” The weight gets stuck in the toes because they lost their balance by “shifting.” Nobody thinks about their weight shift when they throw a punch or a pitch. Thanks for the article.
other paul
Jun 14, 2015 at 7:10 pm
I have been trying to move my weight back a bit and I pull hook the crap put of it sometimes. I tend to roll my hands… Coupled with a swing that is usually a few degrees in to out makes it pretty bad.
Neige
Jun 13, 2015 at 8:37 pm
nice. I hope this will help me with my slice.
Steve
Jun 13, 2015 at 9:35 am
In your example, did his swing slow down with weight on heels? I would quess that a driver would produce more on the toes swing, trying to swing to hard. I bet if you would have put a wedge in his hands the swing would be more balanced. Not swinging out of your shoes creates more balance.
Tim Mitchell
Jun 16, 2015 at 1:08 am
His swing speeds stayed similar Steve. In fact, the draw swing was just a little faster.
wpk
Jun 12, 2015 at 7:36 pm
Very nice article. I just heard something about this recently and it hits home. I agree with the other comment about a little bit better description of the images. What’s the orientation?
Alex
Jun 12, 2015 at 5:17 pm
Good article, especially on footwork. I’ve always played my best golf when feeling the weight in my heels. Is it possible that I get more balance this way? I’ve seen for years lessons on tv or the internet by top teachers insisting on your weight on the balls of your feet, but this has never worked for me. How come?
Tim Mitchell
Jun 16, 2015 at 12:54 am
Hi Alex. I would make three comments to your question.
1. “Feel” and “Real” can sometimes be two very different things. Only through measurement can your motion be truly analyzed. Perhaps you’re actually on the balls of your feet during your swing.
2. Golf swings just need to balance out…like a simple algebra problem. If all of your techniques match up, you can play good golf. You don’t need to look too far at unique golf swings like Jim Furyk, Lee Trevino and Paul Azinger to know that you just need to find something that works for you.
3. A linear trace, or a center of pressure that works more over the balls of your feet, most frequently produces a more on plane golf swing. A lot of teachers/golfers prefer that. They argue that it’s a simpler, easier to repeat motion/technique.
Hope that helps!
Alex
Jun 16, 2015 at 10:35 pm
Thanks forma your comment, Tim
John
Jun 12, 2015 at 4:46 pm
I’ve been struggling with hitting the toe on my irons, which I traced to having a too-steep swing. I’ve been struggling to consistently flatten it out, but I do find I’m on my toes quite a bit, so hopefully this is the cause!
Golfraven
Jun 12, 2015 at 4:38 pm
powerful images.
Hippocamp
Jun 12, 2015 at 3:55 pm
Super interesting. But can you explain the images a little more? Doesn’t the first picture show that the weight is mostly on the right heel rather than on the toes? Perhaps I’m just not looking at the images the right way…
Tim Mitchell
Jun 16, 2015 at 1:18 am
Good observation Hippocamp. The article was written based upon the numbers measured by the BodiTrak system versus the coloring of the images. I have found them to be more accurate.
Bryan P
Jun 12, 2015 at 2:34 pm
Interesting… I’ve always been a fade/slicer, I would also say that most the time I feel like I’m on my toes. I will have to give this a shot at the range the next time I’m out! Nice tip.