Conference 7.286::golf

    
    Have him practice with his feet together, it will help balance him.
    
    --Bob
    

     Stick something under the outside edge of his back foot between the
    heel and ball of the foot and have him hit shots with it in place. I
    used to teach this using an inverted iron head (turn over an iron and
    wedge it under the foot). Works great.
    
    Jack

    Thanks Bob and Jack,
    
    	We were at the driving range yesterday working on the problem...
    	Which has been VERY difficult to fix, and has been happening
    	now for the last two seasons. He's already tried the "feet
        together" method, but had no luck. Afternoon we went to the
    	aerobic room which has a large mirror, and compared my turn to
    	the top, versus his. We used Jacks method of placing a wedge
    	under the right foot, and found that STILL he rolled off the
    	outside of his right foot.
    
    	Turns out, when comparing turns ...  He turns his hips/shoulders
    	at the same time. Instead of coiling up by , taking the arms back,
    	then the shoulders turn, then the hips. Because of turning his
    	hips too early, he put way too much turn into the hips by the
    	time he was at the top. By then , his foot would begin to turn
    	also .
    
    	Geesh ! This is one TOUGH sport ! No only do you have to do it,
    	you have to do it at the right time too !
    
    	Walta
    
    
    	
    

     Another complementary idea which helps is to have the player check his
    address position to insure that his weight is pronouncedly on the
    INSIDE edge of both shoes. the knees point slightly toward each other
    and forward. I used to call this "making a letter 'A' with your legs.
    This is a great position to "feel" the coiling action from and promotes
    a proper turn.
    
    --Jack

    Without a club in the hand have him make two moves separately for
    comparison purposes. First move is the correct one which is executed by
    having him turn to look at you standing in back of him without moving
    his feet around. He'll kind of be looking over his shoulder at you but
    his shoulders should be in a line and the line points right at you. He
    can't do this unless he relaxes his mid section, hip, and leg muscles.
    
    The second move is have him face you as in one except you stand to his
    right. His shoulders will have turned as in one above but not his
    weight.
    
    On his own he can begin to notice that in the first move the weight
    shift is to the inside right leg and the second move the weight shifts
    to the outside of the right foot.
    
    Hope this helps
    
    Phil

    Hogan illustrated the weight transfer in the "Five Lessons" book by
    swinging a medicine ball back and forth. Try getting your student to take a
    natural tossing action with something heavy. It will put him in the
    right motion. If you have access to Jimmy Ballards "The Golf
    Connection" video, he also does a good job of illustrating the weight
    transfer with the shag bag. 
    
    The theory being if you wanted to toss a weighted object a long
    distance, you would have to first move your weight to your back foot
    (to support the weight) and than tranfer your weight to the front foot
    for the leverage needed to toss it long distances.
    
    You can also try comparing the weight shift to other natural movements
    in other sports. Throwing a ball, tossing a horseshoe, bowling. I'll
    bet your student doesn't have a problem making the proper weight shift
    in these sports.
    
    
    Good Luck
    Ken
    

    Hogan along with Bobby Jones also stated that if the stance and posture
    are correct at address, and the swing is a true swinging of the club as
    opposed to a picking up of the club, then the transfer of weight will
    take care of itself....!!!!
    
    The correct transfer of weight in the golf swing is a RESULT OF the
    correctness of the things that preceeded it...if the other things
    are correct it will take care of itself....
    
    so...if one concentrates on getting a correct grip/stance/posture
    and swings the club...the rest will follow as a natural RESULT...!!
    
    

    reply -1
    
    	Even when the setup is perfect, bad things can occur. I see a lot
    	of good setups at the driving range, that still produce some
    	poor results.
    
    	To be honest with you, I was pretty surprised to see my friend
        (Ray ... shhh ) turn his hips with his shoulders. It was like 
    	" Geee, I didn't know a person could do that? " So now Ray has
    	to learn to properly coil his body... 
    
    	
    	The other tips on weight transfer are very good... thanks. Seems
    	like a lot of us read the same Magazine (s) . I forgot some of
    	the drills you guys mentioned, it was good re-reading them...
    
    	For Ray, his problem has become making a proper turn, which 
    	in turn (no pun intended) keeps him from being in the proper
    	position to drive through the ball.
    
    	Walta
    	
    	

I've had that problem to a slight degree from time to time. Charlie  
K, the old pro at Marlboro was never honored for his teaching, but he 
did suggest a swing thought to correct this problem that was as 
effective as it was simple:

Squeeze the knees.

It works.

    If your friend can afford it I suggest he see a good teaching pro and
    set up some lessons.  Also, if you have access to a video camera you
    may want to tape his swing and and yours also to let him see exactly 
    what he is doing wrong and what you are doing right (it would be better
    if you could rent a video by one of the pros though).  
    
    Last, but not least, find a sloped area at the practice range and have
    him hit balls from an uphill position, i.e. his left foot will be
    higher than his right.  Most of his weight will also be concentrated on
    his right side.  This will teach him to keep his right side firm as he
    makes his backswing and then push off from his right side to start the
    forward swing.  If he collapses his right side on the backswing then he
    will fall down the hill.  If he does not push off his right to start
    the downswing then he will fall down the hill also.  Either way the
    body will begin to adjust so as not to get hurt.  Start of with a small
    incline so he can get the hang of it, then move to a steeper slope. 
    Remember though, don't overdo it.  You just need enough of an incline
    to ensure that he has to have a firm right side during the backswing
    and then has to push off to start the weigth transfer.
    
    Good Luck and keep us posted,
    
    Jeff
      

    Walta, the light has dawned. I can get you to move your hips and
    shoulders together like you friend does. And when you do the weight
    does shift to the outside of the right foot and one does not have a
    chance to hit the ball solidily. BTW my game has taken a step function
    improvement with back to back 77's on two different golf courses this
    weekend.
    
    I think this revelation is absolutely key to striking the ball forcibly.
    If you turn your body to look in back of you (remember the excersise I
    mentioned previously - keep you arms at you side) by using you hips as
    the mover than wallah your weight has shifted to the outside and you
    shoulders turn with the hips. You could not do this improper weight
    shift because intuitively you you can't get the weight shifted so that
    you can get behind the ball with an inside out swing. You know that the
    left shoulder must cause the turn back and the hips etc naturally 
    follow.
    
    Most people who play golf have an outside in swing which I believe many
    times is a result of an improper weight shift. Once the die has been caste
    thereis no recovery possible for an inside out swing so you must get the
    weight shift correct before the downswing begins.

    In addition to the others tips, my pro caught me rocking back on the
    rear foot also and has me now turning my right, (rear), knee inward,
    which keeps me planting and coiled.  He put a ball under the outside
    edge to show me how it should feel.
    
    -dwight

    HOW MANY TIMES ,WHEN PEOPLE ARE EXPERIENCING SWING PROBLEMS,HAVE
    YOU SEEN THEM REVERT TO BASICS TO REDUCE SWING VARIABILITY.
    EG. SWING SLOWER,REDUCE MOVEMENT,HIT EASY ETC.
    
    WHEREAS THIS CAN "SOMETIMES" HELP,DEPENDING ON THE PROBLEM,IT CAN
    ALSO CAUSE PROBLEMS -- ESPECIALLY WITH WEIGHT TRANSFER.
    
    WEIGHT TRANSFER RELIES ON FREEFLOWING MOMENTUM. IF YOU DO NOT GAIN
    MOMENTUM GOING BACK YOU WILL NOT GET IT FORWARD AT IMPACT.
    
    JUST A THOUGHT, TRY TO POSITION WEIGHT AT ADDRESS MORE ON FRONT
    FOOT,THIS IN TURN WILL FORCE YOU TO MOVE WEIGHT ONTO BACK FOOT
    AT TOP OF SWING.THIS BUILD UP IN MOMENTUM WILL DRIVE YOU BACK
    INTO THE BALL AT FOLLOW THROUGH.
    ASK YOUR FREIND TO HIT OUT AT SHOTS A BIT MORE,MAYBE EVEN GO DOWN
    A CLUB FOR A WHILE UNTIL HE GETS HIS XFER CORRECT AND MORE
    IMPORTANTLY HIS CONFIDENCE BACK.
    
    GOLF SOLUTIONS CAN SOMETIMES BE THE INVERSE OF WHAT WEAT FIRST THINK.
    
    LET ME KNOW HOW YOU GET ON ,IT IS DIFFICULT UNLESS YOU CAN SEE THE
    SWING.
    
    KEN

    Hi Gang,
    
    	My friend Ray has really been working hard on his weight transfer
    "wt" problem. Phil Feeney was next to us at the range last week and
    could see how Ray's shoulders/waist/hips would all turn together...
    we tried a couple twist drills which helped him feel how each 
    section can move more independently. Ray has had this wt problem for
    so long, that it will take some time to gain physical memory of
    the correct motion. After years of swinging incorrectly, creating
    a proper turn does not happen easy ;( ...
    
    	It's frustrating for me to watch him ... his swing is soo good,
    I know once he fix's this wt thing he'll be posting some great
    numbers !
    
    	thanks for all the good advice, 
    
    	Walta