Instruction
The difference between pressure and weight in the golf swing
Understanding the difference between pressure and weight in your golf swing is an absolute must for golfers of all skill levels, and it’s something I cover in almost all my lessons. It’s not only crucial to a proper setup, but vital to making a powerful pivot and hitting longer, straighter shots.
Before we get into golf terms, let’s look at the terms pressure and weight in general. Here’s what Merriam-Webster has to say.
- Pressure: The weight or force that is produced when something presses or pushes against something else.
- Weight: A body’s relative mass, or the quantity of matter contained by it. The heaviness of a person or thing.
So how do these two concepts transfer to our golf swing? Usually, students feel pressure in their feet and believe that’s where their weight is, but this is a common misconception. To get my players to better understand the difference between the two, I like to break the body into two halves, both of which have weight and mass.
- Your upper half (torso and head)
- Your lower half (glutes, hips, and legs)
I like to have my students stand straight up from their golf posture, and then have them put their weight onto their lead foot, which is the left foot for a right-handed golfer. While maintaining what they feel as pressure and weight on their lead foot, I have them tilt their upper body back toward their opposite foot and hold that position. They now have pressure on their lead foot, but weight behind the ball.
Now, let’s examine the set-up position from the face-on view. How we address the ball in our set-up position dictates where both our pressure and weight are located, and where it will move when we pivot. One of the most important keys to the correct setup position is having a slight tilt to our upper body, so the right shoulder is below the left for a right-handed golfer and our head is behind the ball. This will put our mass behind the ball, even though we feel pressure in our feet. This makes it easier to return to our impact position and maintain our spine angle without any extra movement.
With irons, studies show the most efficient set-up position has roughly 55-to-60 percent pressure on our lead foot. That pressure will then shift to the inside of our right foot on the backswing.
How we pivot or turn during our backswing is the engine of our golf swing and critical to hitting straight shots. This is where being able to feel the difference between pressure and weight is vital to making a good pivot and maintaining our spine angle. Too many times, I see players try to shift their weight onto their trail foot, only to have their upper half fall back toward the target.
Players feel pressure loading up on their trail foot, but in fact, their mass and weight are moving in front of the ball.
A correct pivot and turn has pressure loading into our trail foot, while we maintain our spine angle. And the upper body stays back behind the ball.
To practice, check your set-up position in front of a mirror, or video your golf swing from the face-on position. Take notice of the relationship between your upper half and lower half, and make sure you have some tilt to your upper body. When you make a turn, make sure the angle from your upper half to your lower is maintained throughout the backswing, and your torso and head stay back behind the ball. Do this, and you will be hitting great shots in no time.
The LPGA Tour is kicking off its 2026 season this week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, and the pros are dealing with something most Florida golfers rarely face: freezing temperatures.
“It’s colder here than in the UK at the minute, which is a first,” said England’s Charley Hull during Wednesday’s media day at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Even Lydia Ko, who lives at Lake Nona, seemed surprised by the cold snap. “We’re pretty much getting to below zero in celsius here, which maybe in other parts of the country they would be thankful, but when you’re in Florida it is a little bit of a surprise,” she said.
If the world’s best players are adjusting their games for cold weather, recreational golfers should, too. Here’s how to play smart when the mercury drops.
Understand What Cold Does to Your Game
Before you change anything, you need to know what you’re fighting against. Cold air is denser than warm air, which means your ball won’t fly as far. Period.
Hull noticed this immediately during practice rounds at Lake Nona. She mentioned hitting a gap wedge into the 18th hole during a previous win but needing a 4-iron during Tuesday’s practice round. That’s a difference of four or five clubs for the same shot.
Action item: Expect to lose 5-10 yards on every club in your bag when temperatures dip below 50 degrees. Plan accordingly and don’t be stubborn about club selection.
Layer Up Without Restricting Your Swing
Hull admitted she wore three pairs of pants during practice. While that might be extreme for most of us, staying warm is critical to playing well in cold conditions.
Your muscles need warmth to function properly. When you’re cold, your body tightens up and your swing gets shorter and faster. Neither of those things help you hit good golf shots.
Action item: Wear multiple thin layers instead of one bulky jacket. Look for golf-specific cold weather gear that stretches with your swing. Keep hand warmers in your pockets between shots. And don’t forget a good hat because you lose significant body heat through your head.
Take More Club Than You Think You Need
This is where ego gets in the way of good scores. When it’s cold, the ball doesn’t compress as well off the clubface. Combined with denser air, you’re looking at serious distance loss.
The pros at Lake Nona are dealing with a course that measures 6,642 yards but plays much longer this week. If they’re adjusting, you should too.
Action item: Take at least one extra club on every approach shot. In temperatures below 40 degrees, consider taking two extra clubs. It’s better to fly the ball to the back of the green than to come up short in a bunker.
Adjust Your Expectations on the Greens
Cold weather affects putting in ways most golfers don’t consider. The ball is harder and doesn’t roll as smoothly. Your hands are cold, making it harder to feel the putter. And if there’s any moisture on the greens, they’ll be slower than normal.
Ko mentioned that she still sometimes reads the greens wrong at Lake Nona despite being a member for years. Cold weather makes that challenge even tougher.
Action item: Hit putts more firmly than usual. The ball needs extra speed to hold its line on cold greens. Take a few extra practice strokes to get a feel for the speed before you putt.
Embrace the Mental Challenge
Hull said something interesting about cold weather golf: “I like the mental toughness of it.”
That’s the right attitude. Everyone on the course is dealing with the same conditions. The player who stays patient and doesn’t get frustrated by the extra difficulty will come out ahead.
Action item: Lower your expectations by a few strokes. If you normally shoot 85, accept that 90 might be a good score in 40-degree weather. Focus on solid contact and smart decisions rather than perfect shots.
Warm Up Longer and Smarter
This might be the most important tip of all. Cold muscles are tight muscles, and tight muscles get injured easily.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul revealed she’s been protecting a wrist injury that bothered her late last season. Cold weather makes those kinds of injuries more likely if you don’t prepare properly.
Action item: Spend at least 20 minutes warming up before your round. Start with stretching, then hit easy wedge shots before working up to your driver. Keep moving between shots on the course to maintain body heat and flexibility.
The pros at Lake Nona this week will adapt and compete at the highest level despite the cold. You can do the same at your local course by following these tips and keeping a positive attitude.
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 “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, 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!
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, and whether you love him or hate him, the guy knows how to win when it matters. After his LIV Golf stint, the five-time major champion returns this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
What makes Koepka fascinating? He doesn’t fit the mold. His swing isn’t textbook. He doesn’t obsess over mechanics. Yet he’s won three PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens, regularly making it look easier than guys with prettier swings.
So, what can average golfers learn from someone who treats the game so differently? Quite a bit.
Stop Overthinking Every Shot
Koepka describes his approach as “reactionary” rather than mechanical. While most tour pros grind over swing thoughts, Brooks sees the target and hits it. No mental checklist.
This might be the most valuable lesson for weekend golfers who’ve watched too many YouTube swing videos.
How to actually do this:
On the range, hit five balls where you stare at the target for three seconds prior to addressing the ball. Don’t think about grip or stance. Just burn that target into your brain. You’ll be shocked at how pure you hit it when your brain focuses on where the ball is going instead of how you’re swinging.
Next time you play, give yourself a rule: Once you pull the club, you’ve got 15 seconds to hit. Koepka is one of the fastest players on tour because he doesn’t give his brain time to sabotage him.
If you feel tension in your hands at address, you’re trying to control too much. Koepka’s grip pressure is famously light. Loosen up until the club almost feels like it might slip, then add just enough pressure to hold on. That’s your swing thought: soft hands, see the target.
This approach works better under pressure. When you’re standing over that shot with water left and OB right, the last thing you need is a mental checklist. See it, feel it, hit it.
Play to Your Strengths (Even If They’re Not Pretty)
Koepka uses a strong grip that wouldn’t pass muster in some teaching circles. But he’s built his game around what works for him, elite driving distance and recovery skills. He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not.
Here’s how to build your game like Brooks:
Look at your last five rounds and figure out where you’re actually gaining strokes. Bombing it off the tee, but can’t hit greens? Lean into it. Play courses where distance matters more than precision. On tight holes, grip down on your 3-wood instead of trying to thread a driver through a keyhole you’ll miss seven times out of ten.
Koepka knows he can scramble, so he’s not afraid to miss greens. If you’re deadly from 50 to 75 yards, start leaving yourself those distances on the par 5’s instead of going for them in two every time.
Know when to take your medicine. Koepka in the trees at the PGA? He’s punching out to 100 yards, not trying to bend a 6-iron around three oaks. You’re in the rough with a flyer lie and water short? Hit your 8-iron to the middle and move on. That’s not playing scared, that’s playing smart.
Save Your Best for When It Counts
Here’s a wild stat: Koepka’s putting average in majors is often more than a full stroke better per round than in regular events. He elevates when pressure is highest.
How does an amateur tap into that gear? It’s not about trying harder, it’s about caring differently.
Here’s what actually works:
Decide which rounds matter to you. Club championship? Member-guest? That annual trip with college buddies? Circle those dates and treat them differently. Koepka doesn’t care much about regular tour events, but majors? That’s when he locks in.
Two weeks before your big round, change your practice. Stop beating balls mindlessly. Play nine holes in which every shot has consequences. Miss the fairway? Hit from the rough on the next hole too. Three-putt? Twenty push-ups. Koepka’s practice intensity ramps up before majors because he’s rehearsing pressure, not just swings.
Develop a between-shot routine that resets your brain. Koepka is famous for his blank expression after bad shots. Try this: After any shot, take three deep breaths while walking, then find something specific to notice, a tree, a cloud, someone’s shirt. That’s your reset button. By the time you reach your ball, the last shot is gone.
The Bottom Line
Brooks Koepka’s return reminds us there’s no single path to success in golf. His “substance over style” approach proves that results matter more than looking good.
You don’t need a perfect swing; you need a reliable one that holds up under pressure. You don’t need to hit every shot in the book; you need the shots you can count on. And you don’t need to play great every time; you need to play great when it matters.
Welcome back, Brooks. Thanks for the reminder that golf is ultimately about getting the ball in the hole, not winning style points.
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 “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, 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!
Blades Brown made a big impression last week in the California desert, and not just because he’s only 18. He put up numbers that would catch any weekend golfer’s attention. Most of us won’t hit 317-yard drives or find 86% of our greens in regulation, but there’s a lot to learn from how Brown managed his game at The American Express.
Here are three practical lessons from his performance that you can use on your own course this weekend.
Step 1: Give Priority to Accuracy Over Distance Off The Tee
Brown’s driving stats are impressive. He averaged almost 318 yards off the tee, ranking 12th in the field. More importantly, he hit 76.79% of his fairways, tying for fourth place in the tournament.
Think about that ratio for a second. Brown could have swung harder, chased more distance and tried to overpower the course. Instead, he played smart golf and kept his ball in play.
Your Action Item: Next time you’re on the tee box, ask yourself a simple question before pulling the driver. Do you need maximum distance here, or do you need to be in the fairway? If there’s trouble lurking or the hole doesn’t demand every yard you can muster, take something off your swing. Grip down an inch. Make a three-quarter swing. Do whatever it takes to find the short grass. Brown’s approach illustrates that fairways lead to greens, and greens lead to birdies. He made 22 of them last week, along with an eagle.
The math is simple. When you’re hitting three out of every four fairways like Brown did, you’re giving yourself legitimate looks at the green with your approach shots. That’s when scoring happens.
Step 2: Commit To Hitting More Greens
This is where Brown really separated himself. He hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation, an 86.11% clip that tied for first in the entire field. Read that again. An 18-year-old kid tied for the lead in one of the most important ball-striking statistics in professional golf.
How did he do it? By keeping his ball in the fairway (see Step 1) and giving himself clean looks with mid-irons and wedges.
Your Action Item: Start tracking your greens in regulation. You don’t need a fancy app or a statistics degree. Just mark down whether you hit the green in the regulation number of strokes. Par 3s in one shot. Par 4s in two shots. Par 5s in three shots.
Once you know your baseline, set a goal to improve it by 10%. If you’re currently hitting five greens per round, aim for six. The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to think strategically about club selection and shot shape. Brown’s strokes gained approach number was positive (0.179), meaning he was better than the field average. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be on the dance floor more often.
When you hit more greens, you eliminate the need for heroic short game shots. Brown only had to scramble 10 times all week, and he got up and down 70% of the time. That’s solid, but the real story is that he rarely put himself in scrambling situations to begin with.
Step 3: Minimize Mistakes And Stay Patient
Here’s the stat that jumps off the page: Brown made only three bogeys all week. Three. In four rounds of professional golf against the best players in the world.
He also made just one double bogey. That kind of clean card doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you play within yourself, avoid the big miss and trust that pars are never bad scores.
Your Action Item: Before your next round, decide that you’re going to play boring golf. No hero shots over water. No driver on tight holes just because you can. No aggressive pins when there’s a safe side of the green.
Brown’s performance shows us that consistency beats flash every single time. He didn’t lead the field in any single strokes gained category, but he was solid across the board. That’s how you post numbers and cash checks.
Give these three steps a try. Your scorecard will thank you.
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” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, 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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Pingback: Kelley: What does “use the ground” actually mean? – GolfWRX
Tyler
May 15, 2016 at 11:19 am
This is my kind of instruction! Something with scientific substance rather than blind tips to follow. Thanks! Can’t wait to give this a try.
Kelvin Kelley
May 15, 2016 at 2:06 pm
Glad you enjoyed it Tyler
N.
May 14, 2016 at 10:44 am
As some have stated it seems to me that this theory confuses terminology.
Weight is different to mass and that in turn is confusing the theory of ‘centre of mass’ and balance
In response to somebody’s comment the author wrote ”For example, shift all your pressure on your trail foot on your backswing, 100 percent of it, even lifting your left foot off the ground (right handed player) now tilt your upper half back to the left, in front of the ball. You can easily do both.”
This is just irrelevant as there is no other place for pressure to be located other than your right foot if only 1 is on the ground. If you do the same with both feet on the ground and shift 70% of your mass to the left, you move the centre of mass left also. You will feel pressure shift to the left to balance this mass.
Unless im completely wrong……Ideally it would be useful if somebody with pressure mats etc weighed in
Someone
May 9, 2016 at 11:43 pm
Sorry, an easier way to think of it is like a sprinter at setup on the start line. All their weight and mass is forward, but their feet have pressure on the toes despite being behind the mass/weight.
heman
May 9, 2016 at 10:03 pm
good article if you understand the terminology as used by the author.
Jeff
May 9, 2016 at 4:42 pm
Interesting article.
What I often see is a golfer actually lifting his left shoulder at address which partially tilts there torso.
I was taught to have level shoulders and slightly lower the right shoulder which can create a tilt.
Suited me and very easy to do.
Kelvin Kelley
May 9, 2016 at 10:00 pm
Jeff,
Glad you enjoyed the article. Having tilt to your upper body at address putting your head behind the ball is crucial to a good setup and making the proper pivot. A great drill to feel this is put your hands together (palms together) while in your golf posture and simply slide your right hand below your left, and let your upper half tilt.
larrybud
May 9, 2016 at 8:43 am
There is NO difference between weight and pressure in a STATIC position. IMPOSSIBLE. Our left and right feet have the same area pressing against the ground.
Pressure per sq in=Weight / Area.
dapadre
May 9, 2016 at 4:28 am
Very good article as this is a key element which is forgotten especially for beginning golfers. One question/TIP, why not also show a picture of a CORRECT backswing along with the incorrect you have.
thanks
LimpingBassoon
May 9, 2016 at 1:03 am
…?
LimpingBassoon
May 9, 2016 at 12:30 am
This article could have been great if the author focused more on the dynamic aspect of the golf swing.(movement and acceleration) However, he instead kept explaining only about the positional change during the swing(the static part), and regretfully, got it completely wrong.
The article went fine until this point,
“They now have pressure on their lead foot, but weight behind the ball.”
Nope. They still have both pressure and weight on their lead foot. Cold hard fact.
They might have the weight of the uppermost part of their torso behind the ball, but if you meant this you should have written more accurately. The total weight of the body is always distributed in exactly the same way the pressure is distributed, UNLESS there is some acceleration going on.
larrybud
May 9, 2016 at 8:39 am
@LimpingBassoon
[“They now have pressure on their lead foot, but weight behind the ball.”
Nope. They still have both pressure and weight on their lead foot. Cold hard fact.]
Exactly. If the position is static, you cannot have more pressure on the lead foot yet have the majority of weight on the trail foot, since presumably, our left and right feet are the same size, hence same area on the ground with each foot.
Kelvin Kelley
May 9, 2016 at 9:46 am
LimpingBassoon,
Thanks for the comment. You have obviously studied boditrak and pressure matts thoroughly and those are great teaching tools. Examining linear traces of pressure is always a benefit. How we take that information provided and teach it to students is more important, otherwise you just read numbers at your home computer. The point of the article is to maintain your spine angle throughout the swing and to get students to understand there is mass/weight to your upper body. For example, shift all your pressure on your trail foot on your backswing, 100 percent of it, even lifting your left foot off the ground (right handed player) now tilt your upper half back to the left, in front of the ball. You can easily do both. This would be an example of not properly using your pressure matt data, as we are now in an incorrect body position as the “incorrect” picture shows.
LimpingBassoon
May 9, 2016 at 6:36 pm
Mr. Kelly thanks for the reply, I also think that the main point you emphasized is hugely important, and every reader will benefit from the idea of ‘maintaining the spine tilt’! (regardless of how the explanation reaches the conclusion)
However, physics is physics and wrong is wrong. The basic concept of weight and pressure shift is incompletely/incorrectly represented in the article. Actually, I have no experience with boditrak or pressure matt(though I’d absolutely love to). But it doesn’t take serious experiments to know if the weight and pressure go together or not. They ALWAYS go together if there is no acceleration. It was simply wrong to say otherwise.
It is important to note that during the golf swing, the pressure DOES shift even if the weight does not. But it is not because of spine tilt. It is because the body and the club get accelerated during the swing.
TonyK
May 9, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Yes. Even with some acceleration. The amount of player’s torso lateral acceleration*upper body(mostly) mass relative to their body weight is small. The static weight simply dominates.
Monahan
May 8, 2016 at 10:07 pm
Good info. I like your explanation of weight and pressure, makes sense. Never thought of it that way.
Normal sized Adam
May 8, 2016 at 10:02 pm
Large Chris absolutely CRUSHING the swing thought game. Great read, thanks for the insight, kelvin.
Tom Duckworth
May 8, 2016 at 9:46 pm
I thought at the top if the back swing that I should feel pressure on the inside of my right foot.
Some golfers even lift their left heel off the ground a little. Then weight transfers back to the left at the start of the down swing. I must be missing something.
Kelvin Kelley
May 8, 2016 at 10:19 pm
Hey Tom,
Thanks for the comment/question. You are absolutely correct, pressure moves into the right foot on the backswing (for right handed golfer), as the article states. More importantly, we start with tilt to our upper body in our set up and maintain that angle throughout the swing. The article is to help you understand the importance of our upper and lower half in relation to each other, and understand that even though you feel pressure moving back, it may not be your upper half as well and you could be losing your spine angle.
Mike
May 8, 2016 at 7:49 pm
Large Chris, I don’t follow u and your explanation similar to a science experiment.
Joe Brenna
May 8, 2016 at 5:21 pm
Had trouble with balance and his instruction makes sense and helped me out from all the chunking… Added 20 yards and made me more consistent.. Thanks Bro…
Little Larry
May 8, 2016 at 3:32 pm
Easy there Large Chris, I don’t think we need to turn this into a Math Problem, golf is hard enough already.
10-8 Smizzle
May 8, 2016 at 3:55 pm
Pretty basic to those of us outside of West Virginia
joe
May 8, 2016 at 4:23 pm
10-8 Smizzle — yo common core math man. YOU and WV can eat sh*t.
10-8 Smizzle
May 8, 2016 at 5:34 pm
here’s the problem with public schools…
Rather than going there to learn he obviously went there to help the football team go 4-6
Since his favorite college team lost to WV he lashes out
Note: favorite doesn’t mean alma-mater
Large Chris
May 8, 2016 at 1:37 pm
“They now have pressure on their lead foot, but weight behind the ball.”
I appreciate you trying to explain the difference, but this sentence is meaningless. There is a little less WEIGHT going through the lead foot and more WEIGHT transferred to the trail foot. In this (strictly speaking static system) context, pressure is just weight divided by area, Eg the area of the foot on the ground (just the toe, just the heel, or the whole foot planted).
What the various pressure mat systems show is (at setup) static WEIGHT distribution between your feet and during the swing dynamic FORCES being directed through various parts of both feet.
LimpingBassoon
May 9, 2016 at 12:36 am
It makes me sad that this is the only person who understands correctly and everyone does not even try to put any effort to think again.
Large Chris
May 9, 2016 at 7:59 am
I assure you Limp it makes me sad as well, people muddling up simple physics terms and not seeing that it matters.
Cornfused...
May 9, 2016 at 1:40 pm
Here is the problem as it pertains to golf, and perhaps the teacher here is trying to get the student right without muddling it up with math. The proper setup for this example is a slightly tilted forward hip (there is your weight being 55% forward) but your upper body being tilted away from the target. If you tell a student that he needs to have 55% of their weight forward to create a static pressure being more on the front foot. The student will then lean their upper body over their left foot. No matter which setup philosophy you follow this will lead to disaster for a golf swing and possibly the students body. The thing here is that this is a golf problem, not a math problem.
Someone
May 9, 2016 at 11:40 pm
So for all the math/physics majors, I believe the best way to understand “weight behind the ball” is that the persons body mass is behind the ball, and to achieve that the inside of the left foot has pressure because it is supporting the mass. Think of the inside of the left foot as a support that is holding up a falling wall. All the “weight”/mass is behind the ball, but the inside left foot is the support stopping it from falling forward. So the mass (the persons body) is behind the ball whilst still having the pressure on the inside left foot. So not impossible at all.
Kelvin Kelley
May 11, 2016 at 3:56 pm
Someone,
Thanks for the comment. Another great way to explain the difference, well said.