How Much Weight Shift Golf Swing | Complete Guide on Weight Transfer

Knowing How much weight shift golf swing is essential to ensure you strike the ball solidly. It can help you improve your game since it supports the way you hit the target.

How Much Weight Shift Golf Swing | Complete Guide on Weight Transfer
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You might try different ways of hitting the ball.

However, no matter how good your techniques are, if you do not know how to transfer your weight properly, your efforts would all go down the drain.

Fortunately, we are here to cover weight transfer tips, how much weight shift golf swing, and also what do golf club swing weights mean.

How much weight shift golf swing

Amateurs often think that power comes from their arms alone.

However, you should know that your arms can only supply a limited amount of strength.

If you wish to hit the ball more solidly, you should work on your weight transfer because the main source of your power is how you shift your weight from back to front.

In this article, tips on weight transfer, what do golf club swing weights mean, and how much weight shift golf swing are provided.

Let us first define what weight transfer is, before anything else.

Oftentimes, it is mistaken as the body mass or center of gravity since the aforementioned are the most noticeable characteristics when you watch a golfer take a swing.

Weight shift is difficult to pinpoint and is defined as the movement of your weight from one foot to the other throughout your swing.

To discuss weight transfer properly, we will include the total body weight percentage on each foot.

So, what do you think about how much weight shift golf swing?

Transferring Weight

  • Address Position

Of course, the right address position is the first thing you should observe. You should start with about 50 percent weight on each foot.

If you are a professional golfer, you can make some tweaks to the given percentage.

However, 50/50 weight on your feet is highly suggested for amateurs since it ensures great stability while preparing.

When you start swinging, that is when the shifting begins. Your weight should start transferring to your back foot.

Your body mass would increase on that side since your arms would be moving in that direction.

Because of this movement, you should expect the weight transfer to happen as naturally as possible. But then again, you should remember that body mass is not equal to weight transfer.

A good explanation of how the two are different is given by the fact that your body mass would be farthest from your center when your hands are belt-high.

Meanwhile, your weight transfer should not stop there. It should continue as your arms move to the top of your backswing.

Since they are not the same, you should shift your weight to your back foot without shifting your body in the same direction.

When you reach the top of your swing, your back foot should hold about 75 percent weight.

  • Transition

Lower body weight transfer happens during the first move down of your golf clubs towards impact. It is right after you completed your backswing.

Your hips should fire through impact during this moment, followed by your upper body.

Considering the address position, many golfers argue that it should appear like your impact position.

However, that is not the case when taking weight transfer into account.

What is highly recommended is you start shifting your weight to your front foot when your hands are belt-high in your downswing.

Among others, about 75 percent of your weight should be on that part of your foot upon impact.

So, if asked how much weight shift golf swing, it depends on what stage you are in your swing.

  • Follow Through

Of course, you need to have much more weight in your final position. You should have at least 90 percent weight on your front foot.

Needless to say, this is after you hit the ball. If you can easily shift your weight to this part of your foot, it just means your weight transfer is quite good.

Otherwise, you should still practice the preceding steps to ensure you move your weight to where it is supposed to be.

Common Weight Transfer Mistakes

Shifting your weight is not as easy as it sounds. Hence, you should not beat yourself up if you cannot do it properly at first.



To support that statement, here are some common weight transfer mistakes that you should watch out for.

  • No Transfer

Since weight transfer requires a lot of practice, you might not be able to successfully do it even if it feels like you have done it properly.

Having no weight shift at all is one of the common mistakes you can commit while taking a swing. When this happens, your swing would appear rigid.

One of the factors that indicate you failed to shift your weight is your position as you complete the swing.

If your feet are both flat on the ground, that means it is on 50/50 weight distribution.

  • Hanging Back

Transferring your weight back but not forward is also something you should observe when doing the shift.

If you heard about hanging back or falling backward, that refers to a successful weight transfer to your back foot during the backswing and failed weight shift to your front foot as you reach downswing.

Many players often forget that the forward shift is the most significant part of weight transfer because that is where power and clubhead speed is generated.

If you are hanging back, you would notice a lot more weight on your back foot as you finish your swing.

  • Too Much Swaying

Swaying too much from the back to front is also one of the mistakes amateurs often make while playing golf.

This is because players are too invested in generating so much power that they sway back and forth to hit the ball more solidly.

While the idea is correct, how it is executed is often improper.

Rocking too much would only obstruct your club from achieving a solid contact with the ball because it makes the timing for impact position difficult.

What do golf club swing weights mean?

What do golf swing weights mean? Many amateur players get confused with this term at first. Oftentimes, it is understood as the total weight of your golf club.

However, that is just partially correct. So, what do golf club swing weights mean?

It refers not just to the weight of your golf club but also the weight distribution as you take a swing.

In simple terms, it is how heavy your equipment feels as you try to hit the ball.

You should know that your club would have higher swing weights if its mass is concentrated in the clubhead.

If this is the case, you would need more strength to swing it solidly at a high speed. Hence, you must pick a club with a swing weight that you can handle.

Otherwise, you would less likely hit the golf ball properly.

So again, what do golf swing weights mean? When you have heard golfers say “this club feels like a D4”, that is what we are talking about.

Swing weights use a combination of a letter and a number to represent the range of a specific club.

Considering all the possible options, there are six ranges available (A to F). It is numbered from 0 to 9.

What do golf swing weights mean? If you are looking for the lightest model, it would be the A0.

On the other hand, if you wish to have the heaviest possible club, it would be the F9.

Final Thoughts

How much weight shift golf swing? What do golf swing weights mean?  These are the two queries that we answered in this article.

There is no definite answer to how much weight shift golf swing since it varies depending on the stage.

Nonetheless, you should remember that it is best to start on a 50/50 weight distribution during the address position.

After this, your back foot should hold 75 percent weight during the transition.

When you reach follow through, that is when your maximum weight (at least 90 percent) should be on your front foot.

What do golf swing weights mean? It only refers to how heavy the club is while considering your weight distribution technique.

If you wish to know more about what do golf club swing weights mean, you can check out more of our articles.

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Last Updated on March 2, 2023 by Paul Roger Steinberg