Pitching - Setup - Weight

An article by: Bobby Eldridge on 12-17-2007
This article has been read 1726 times.

Golf Pitching - Setup

After you have addressed the golf ball in the center to slightly forward in your stance, you have to move 70% of your weight over to your left leg.(#5) When you move 70% of your weight to your left leg you are creating an angle for the backswing.(#6)

As the clubhead begins to swing back in the backswing it has to swing back and up (#7) it can not swing back and low to the ground.(#8) If it swings back and low to the ground you will not be able to swing the clubhead back down into the ground in the downswing. If the clubhead swings too low to the ground in the backswing it will swing too low to the ground in the downswing causing the clubhead to strike the ball on the top or the middle of the golf ball, but it will never find the bottom of the ball.

When you move 70% of your weight over to the left side the clubhead has to swing up in the backswing as long as you do one more step. DO NOT SLIDE THE WEIGHT TOWARDS THE RIGHT FOOT IN THE BACKSWING.(#9) Do you get it? The 70% has to stay on the left side during the entire backswing.(#10) Once the clubhead has started back the only place it can go is up. If you allow the weight to move towards the back foot the clubhead will level off and it will not go up.

You want to have the feeling that you are standing on your left foot. If you continue to struggle with this method, I have a great drill for you. Find a downhill slope of about 10-20 degrees. When you address the golf ball from this position you will automatically place 70% of your weight on your left side.

If you have never placed this much weight on your left side it might feel awkward for the first couple of hundred practice shots. After that it will become second nature. You will be able to correct yourself immediately if you start struggling with topping or hitting the ground behind the ball. Placing this much weight on your left side is an instant fix.

You can continue viewing golf lessons about the pitching setup. The next lesson in the Pitching series is on the handle position. Or you can view golf lessons on the pitching Backswing, Downswing, or Follow Through.