Fixing Your Weight Transfer in the Golf Swing

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In this video, I will show you 2 of the most common faults in downswing transition by not properly transferring your weight. I will also, show you a simple drill to help you start using your legs properly in the downswing, leading to more consistency and a better impact position.

  • Throw a ball like a baseball pitcher and learn the movements of the lead leg. 
  • Use your leg muscles to pull yourself over to the lead side to start the downswing. 


Weight transfer is one of the most important parts of the golf swing transition.  To visualize what you need understand about weight transfer, you need to consider these key golf downswing points.  1. 80% of your weigh should be under your lead heal and ankle and 20% should be on your back foot withe the heal rolled in. 2. Hips should be open about 35 to 45 degrees.  3. Your shoulder line should be square 4. The final and most critical checkpoint is the position of the lead side of your body.  Make sure you lead shoulder, hip, knee and ankle are all in line and "stacked" at impact.  We call this neutral joint alignment. 

When you look for weight transfer faults in your golf swing, we normally see that many golfers just shift their hips and pelvis.  This causes too much secondary axis tilt which creates inconsistent contact points.   The second main fault we see is that other golfers fall forward onto their front foot.  This is a poor move because your body gets to far infront of the golf swing. 

The perfect drill to use in order to fix both golf weight shift problems is to think about a baseball pitcher.  If you look at the longest hitters on the PGA tour, you can watch them use their legs (just like a pitcher) to shift and drive through the golf swing.  

A second drill that is great for weight transfer is to take your front leg and drag it forward along the ground.  Once you do this for 15 reps and get the feeling of forward weight transfer, you can use the muscles engaged in the "throwing motion" drill to dynamically drive throught to your front side. 

Remember: always focus on acheiving neutral joint alignment in order to achieve the perfect impact postion to compliment your weight transfer. 

Today we're going to be discussing one of the most important parts of down swing transition, and that is weight transfer in the golf swing.

                I'm going to be showing you what some of the common faults, that you may be struggling with in your own golf swing. And more importantly, I'm going to be giving you a detailed list of check points that you're gonna start to look for when starting to refine your down swing and your weight transfer. So if you've been battling with weight transfer, pay close attention to today's video. Let's go ahead and get started.

                Okay, so in part one of this video I think it's extremely important for all of us to have a clear understanding of where we're trying to go in our down swing first. So that we have a good visualization of what we're gong to be trying to achieve. And I'm going to go ahead and demonstrate an impact position and give you a few check points of what you're going to be looking for when you start to work through these drills at the end of the video.

                Let me go ahead and impact this bag here. I'm going to hit it lightly. So here are my check points for you. Forget about the hands and the arms at this point. Forget about the lead wrist, we're just going to be looking at the body lines for now. What I want you to focus on is making sure that, number one, you have 80% of your weight in your lead leg underneath your lead ankle, lead heel area. So 80% of my weight is going to be right underneath my lead heel, lead ankle. 20% of my weight is going to be over on my trail foot. So 20% of my weight is going to into this right side. With the foot rolled in. No heel up off the ground.

                Okay, so we want to have 20% of our weight, heel down. You can see that my heel is rolled in here. So your first check point, 80% 20%.

                Second check point, is your hips should be opened about 35-45 degrees. Okay, so from down the line hips should be open about 35-45 degrees. Your shoulder line should be square. So when I shift over, I've got 80% 20%, hips opened about 35-45 degrees, my shoulders are square. So down the line what that looks like. Our head should still be in behind the golf ball. So when I hit this impact bag you can probably see that my head stayed back there.

                Now, the final most critical check point of it all that's really going to dictate a lot of the faults that you probably have in your golf swing, is the position of the lead side of the body. So when we're at impact here, we want to have our lead shoulder, our lead hip socket, our lean knee and our lead ankle all stacked right on top of each other. This is what we would call neutral joint alignment. This is a perfect impact position. This is going to allow you to control the bottom of the swing arch and get the club to bottom out in the same spot every single time which is really critical for consistent ball striking.

                Okay, so now in part two of this video I want to go ahead and discuss some of the common faults. And one of the biggest faults that we see is when people start to work on shifting their weight. That's the operative word is, we're going to shift our weight over to our lead side. We're going to use our legs. What we typically see, okay so I'm going to get he club out of here for this so I can demonstrate if properly. Is when you load in to your right side, we see people just shifting their pelvis and keeping their upper body back. Now, we would all agree that when we load into our right side, we shift and we turn our body. So we've moved off the golf ball in essence here. Maybe an inch, inch and a half or so. We need to allow the upper body to move dynamically back over to your lead side.

                So if I were loaded into my right side here, I wouldn't just want to shift my hips. What that's gonna do, is it's going to create a lot of secondary access tilt which can in turn shallow your swing plane. So if I were at the top of my swing, and I lean my spine away, you can see that the shaft plane lies very flat. Also, the problems with just shifting your hips laterally, is that you're still bracing a ton of weight into your right side. You haven't moved, or you haven't transferred that weight over to your lead side. So you need to allow the upper body to feel like it's moving.

                Now golfers, or armature golfers, tend to feel like this is a big slide. This is not a slide by any means. You can allow your body to move if you've loaded your right side properly. So if I load here and I'm moving back over to the left side, we can allow things to move back over. We're still wanting the body to move.

                If you've been seeing on camera that you're getting a lot of secondary access tilt in transition then these drills later in the video are really going to help you out.

                Okay, so the second most common mistake that we see is a fault when working on downswing transition or transferring your weight properly over to your lead side as what we call a closed hip slide. So if you've noticed yourself on camera or maybe you've been working with an instructor through the swing review process and they've talked to you about this closed hip slide. I want to go ahead and define what that means for those of you that don't know.

                From a down the line perspective, when I'm loaded into my right side here. Okay, for me to move my weight over to my left side, what a closed hip slide would look like is just kind of falling over to your left foot without your hips unwinding at all. So from a face on perspective, you're loaded into this right side, let me do this properly here. And then you would just fall over into that left side. That is a very, very difficult move to recover from because now, as your weight shifts or falls over into that left foot, you have to remember your hands and arms are starting down very, very quickly. Now for you to be able to transfer the weight from the toes, or the ball, of your foot all the way back to your heel and your ankle joint and then open your hips up before you hands and arms get down to the hitting area is very, very difficult to do. Also, you run the risk of when you're doing this closed hip slide, of getting your body out front of the golf shot.

                So again, the two common faults are, is here A, is just shifting our pelvis and now allowing our torso to move back along with the lower half or B, a closed hip slide. And I've got a great drill that's going to help you overcome both of these swing faults and it's going to help you get into that perfect impact position. Just like we had in part one of the video.

                So now let's get to work on proper weight transfer in your golf swing so that you get a clear understanding of how you're going to be moving properly from the top of the golf swing down into impact. And what I want you to think about, is a baseball pitcher. How would a baseball pitcher start his move? Well, you would see him transfer his weight, okay, you would see him lift his lead leg up and then you would see him make an external rotation of his lead leg. This is actually called internal hip rotation here. You would see this move where he rotated his leg outward, okay. So again, you'd see this move. Then he would pivot his hips and then he would fire his arm. So you can see how there's a chain of events that's being driven by the lower half down here.

                Now that same move, is actually happening in the golf swing, believe it or not. Watch some of the longer hitters out there. You're going to see their first move from the top of their golf swing down, is you'll see their leg start to make that same sort of external rotation, or again, internal hip rotation here. So my point here is, is what I want you to do in order to be able to encompass this, is just try throwing a ball first. Pick your leg up, plant, okay. Do this several reps over. You're going to feel what it's like to use your legs in that same sense. Once you get more proficient at it, you're going to feel like you're keeping your foot completely on the ground. You're going to feel like you're still making that same move.

                Now, there's also another drill that you can encompass with this. And this is a drill that I put out in the hip pain video. The preventing hip pain video. So for those of you that have very little awareness of the leg muscles that we want to use to help pull yourself back over to your left side. Now that's a really big work around rotary swing, is push verses pull. We want to be able to pull ourself back over to that lead side.

                So for those of you that have very little awareness of those muscles, what I want you to do is I want you to take your lead leg. Okay, your lead foot, I want you to drag it on the ground. Okay, I want you to do this many six or seven times here. Okay, drag it on the ground or your carpet at home. You're going to start to feel some muscles contract in your leg here. Once you start to feel those muscles, now what I want you to do is I want you to keep your weight on your right side and I want you to wind your hips up. You're going to keep your foot kind of rolled in on your lead foot here. It's going to look a little goofy because I'm not in golf posture but you're going to see now, I'm going to keep this foot planted and I'm going to pull myself over to my left side.

                So I've done the baseball motion a few times. I'm starting to feel what that's like. I've dragged my foot on the ground. Now I'm going to get myself set up. I'm going to wind into my right leg here, and now I'm going to use those muscles and that throwing motion with my left leg to pull myself over. And because I'm focused on my lower body doing all the work. Watch what my upper half does. See how my upper half is now moving dynamically back over to the lead side? If you use your leg muscles from the lead side of your body and you're pulling, your upper body will want to move with it. If you're pushing from the right side, or not using those muscles at all, that's when you're going to run into those faults.

                So I want you to try this drill out. Let's go ahead and do a perfect now. Load up, I'm going to make sure that my leg feels like it's externally rotating, I'm going to use those leg muscles, and then we're going right into neutral joint alignment where our knee, our hip, our ankle, and our shoulder are stacked right on top of each other. Once you become more proficient at this, start adding the golf club back to the mix. Use an impact bag. But flip the club over. You're going to work to the top of your swing. You're going to use those leg muscles and you're going to start to feel yourself getting pulled into your lead side so you're ready to post up and really ready to release. And you're going to be in a great impact position with proper weight distribution and proper impact position.

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Joey
I have found the drill I think that will finally get my weight shift right.I have practiced without the club indoors many times and it all makes sense.But when I get out there in real conditions I am still too late in my move to the lead leg.I know to go slow and go back without the club but anymore advice in getting my weight shift sooner?
February 23, 2021
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Joey. Load early in the swing. Make sure that you load in the takeaway so you have time to start transitioning back. Take a look at Weight Shift Sweep Drills and Start the Downswing Before Completing the Backswing Videos.
February 24, 2021
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john
Hi: If you suffer from early extension does that prevent you from posting up properly? I'm not sure I've ever posted up correctly.
June 7, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. Absolutely. Proper posting keeps you away from early extension. Take a look at You Hit the Golf Ball with Your Legs and Maintain Tush Line - Chair Drill Videos.
June 7, 2020
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Bruce
Hi Craig - I love this video, but have a question. At the top of the backswing 90% of my weight is on the trail leg with just 10% on my left toe area. Is the “pull” using the abductors from the toes of my left leg as I don’t feel I have much leverage on the ground? Grateful if you could clarify. Thanks
May 18, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Bruce. The lead knee will externally rotate first, but you will feel more pull from the lead thigh inner adductors. Take a look at Which Muscles to Feel in the Golf Swing Transition and Preventing Hip Pain Videos.
May 18, 2020
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Dean
Came to this video at the suggestion of Craig. May be more confused now than before, as this video at no time has you squat into the left side. I am totally confused. Is the squat the first move ?
April 27, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Dean. You must shift weight in the golf swing. You are shifting into your squat. The squat is the first move, but as you increase knee flexion you have to move weight.
April 28, 2020
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George
You mention the feel of dragging your left foot towards your right foot. Is this what you should feel to start transitioning?
March 24, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello George. You should feel the same muscle group. The lead thigh inner adductors pull the weight in transition.
March 25, 2020
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Roy
Do you think it would be advantageous to have a side-by-side depiction of Chuck doing the DEAD drill compared to his actual swing? I believe that, when it comes to "visual" learners, the "exaggerated" moves tend to stick in peoples minds making it difficult to get a good feel for the hows things ultimately blend into a perfect swing. Just a thought.
February 12, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Roy. Thank you for the suggestion. If you use his swing on the Self Analysis you can see the DEAD Drill moves in his swing. I understand what you are saying about the depiction however.
February 12, 2020
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David
My common fault is opening the hips too quick and my body and head going with the lower body at the same time- i know my head is ahead of the ball but i can't seem to stop it all the time. My miss is either a block to the right as i try to recover or a low flat shot to the left. Which drills should i focus on? Thanks
January 20, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello David. If the upper half is diving ahead. I would combine Which Muscles to Feel in Golf Transition and Keep the Rear Shoulder Back Videos.
January 21, 2020
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Matthew
Hi Craig, I really feel like I am starting to understand the correct feeling during the transition. Question - do you squat into the turn of the hips, or turn into the squat? As in, which move kind of initiates the transition. I seem to only be able to do one to start transition, working into the other. Maybe they both occur at the same time. Just trying to understand if the hips turning come slightly first or if the squat motion comes slightly first.
December 18, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Matthew. As you start to squat the hips have to be turning or you will end up in a closed hip slide. So, when the lead knee starts to externally rotate and you start to pull the weight you will be settling into the squat. But, the hips will be going from a closed to a square position during this process.
December 18, 2019
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Matthew
Makes sense. I guess the question I am asking is, what initiates the transition? 1. Squat while lead knee externally rotates, simultaneously 2. Start to squat then rotate lead knee 3. Start to rotate lead knee then squat. Just looking for that key of what body part/movement I’m keying in on initially to get the move started.
December 18, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Matthew. Start to rotate the lead knee and then squat. It will feel almost simultaneously, but the knee will kick star the motion.
December 18, 2019
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Matthew
Perfect Craig, pretty sure I’ve got it! I used to pitch in baseball so this video above that you referenced was gold!
December 18, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Matthew. If you used to pitch. We shouldn't need this conversation .
December 18, 2019
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van
Thanks, I found this video by accident. You do a much better job of explaining the weight shift than Chuck does in the Post up in the dead drill. He mentions in places keeping the head still in the downswing and the video with your bootcamp prize winner which to my literal way of following instruction forces me into a reverse C which was giving me a soreness in my right hip which is what he says Rotary Swing concepts won't cause. My shots were weaker than I was accustomed and inconsistent as well. Your explanation of the shoulder stacked above the hip and ankle joints as well as the pull from the inner left leg were extremely helpful
November 19, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Van. Glad you enjoyed the video. I would also suggest Preventing Hip Pain as another good visual to shy away from the Reverse-C.
November 19, 2019
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Kevin
Just curious how this drill would relate to the "Throw the Ball Drill" and "Frisbee Drills" I am working to get my lower body to pull the upper body and keep my shoulders closed. I've found the sweep drills helpful per your suggestion to "wake up" my lower body but they don't address the shoulders quite as much. Thanks
November 5, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Kevin. The motion made to transfer weight is the same in all the videos you listed above. The shoulders on all drills are dead to you in the downswing. They move as a result of the weight and core movement. Throw the Ball Drill is for players that tend to pull too much in the downswing (rarity) and Frisbee is the exact same sequence. Shift and core to bring arms/hands/shoulders to delivery point.
November 5, 2019
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Gary
I have had great success by engaging my left groin muscle and left oblique muscle at the same time. But feel this does not allow my hands to drop down. Please provide the correct sequencing for the left groin muscle and the left oblique muscle for the down swing. Should I activate the left groin muscle first, in order to move to my left side, which initiates the down swing by dropping the hands down, and then quickly activate the left oblique for club head speed?
July 5, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Gary. Take a look at Which Muscles to Use in the Transition Video for further help. In the meantime, lead knee external rotation, lead hip adduction to pull the weight, and lead oblique to start opening the hips. As you shift (adduction) the hands will begin to drop and the core will help you bring them to the trail thigh. Then, all you need to do is release. You can see this sequence in Rotary Golf Downswing Overview Video.
July 5, 2019
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Michael
When do you shift your weight to front foot in reference to takeaway? Where would my hands be when shift to front leg happens?
June 21, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. You will start to shift slightly before the backswing is completed. Most players feel similar after the lead arm is parallel to the ground in the backswing. They start focusing on moving in the opposite direction.
June 21, 2019
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Paul
how many inches roughly should my hips slide laterally from take away thru impact? I feel I might be overdoing it as I work on weight shift on takeaway thru the posting up position at impact, and could to much movement be the cause of some of my inconstancy
May 13, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Paul. You will roughly move about 3 inches from right to left in the downswing laterally. But, when combined with rotation it will be about 6-8 Inches (width of the pelvis).
May 13, 2019
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Jennifer
Has Chris not already posted up once he is in neutral joint alignment? If not, how do you post up from that position? Thanks
April 24, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Jennifer. When Chris finishes the drill he has already shifted and posted up into impact. You will shift into NJA and post. After you shift weight you should have the hip stacked. The post up is just clearing the hip. You shouldn't be trying to transfer more weight.
April 24, 2019
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stephen
Chris. Two comments and questions: 1- in shifting my weight before completing the backswing, it feels like I have made a weight shift loop or circle from inside my ankles -right shift to left shift in my feet. Does that sound correct.?2- you have two drills in this video..the pitcher drill with focus on the backswing weight shift before downswing m and then the downswing sit and begin post. You did not demonstrate merging the two. Do you have a drill where you do or is that the next step? You asked me in the swing review to focus on getting NJA in the left side before my left arm in the downswing passes parallel to the ground. I will work on that and respond with an image to see if you think I have it when you respond. Being too late on shifting to the left before swing the arms down has been my major fault inhibiting my progression for years as pointed out by a previous instructor and now you.. getting me past it should be a major breakthrough.
March 23, 2019
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hi Stephen, what you are feeling in your ankles sounds to be correct. We would have to see the movements through a swing review in order to 100% confirm it though. Check out the squat to square video to see if that helps you combined the movement. It's a great way to incorporate the dynamic movement of the hips, teaching you how to shift and rotate them properly into the lead side. Just make sure when you make your squat to square move happen, you check the lead hip, knee and ankle are all now in line. A lot of students tend to not want to shift enough. This is a very tricky move in the swing, hang in there and we will do all that we can to help you overcome the fault for sure.
March 25, 2019
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Graham
Chris, seems pretty obvious just to confirm ...your head moves laterally along with your torso in the downswing?
January 13, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Graham. Yes, your head will have to move slightly. Take a look at Preventing Hip Pain.
January 16, 2019
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david
Thank you for the adducter pull explanation it helped me understand the set into the left side. my question is what to do with the core. once I have pulled to left and posted up, do I pull/rotate with my left obliques or core next or just release the club? I do not see how just posting up will generate high club head speed.
December 3, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello David. Once you have pulled left and posted up the club will release. The release/momentum will pull you through. You don't need to add any more. Take a look at Arms vs Body Release and Throw the Club Head at the Golf Ball to understand more how posting/proper release generate the speed. Also, How Swing Speed Affects Compression.
December 4, 2018
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Giap
When I feel like I fully shift my weight to the left side, I’m actually outside of NJA. How can I fix that?
November 24, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Giap. Looks like your hips are aggressively driving too soon instead of pulling your weight and sitting into the lead glute. Use Anchor to the Ground Video to shy away from the outside of your feet. Also, Preventing Hip Pain and Squat to Square to help pull the weight and fix the sequencing.
November 25, 2018
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Michael
I've struggled with early extension and therefore concentrated on correct weight shift. Where/How does the "Tiger Squat" fit into the drills Chris is demonstrating?
June 17, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. After shifting the weight you will settle into the squat. The Tiger Squat is an advanced move that you will increase the squat slightly more after shifting when the hips are square.
June 18, 2018
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Michael
Thanks. I'll put that move on hold,then. So with the two moves, 1) external rotation 2) pull with abductors; what is the synchronization? 1)External rotation while shifting weight from trail to lead leg then 2) pull abductors once weight is on lead leg?
June 18, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. It will be a blended move of externally rotating the lead leg, pulling the weight with the inner adductors and settling into the lead glute.
June 18, 2018
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Marc
Hi Craig. In 7'46" of the video Chris is dragging the left leg on the ground to feel how the muscles engage to allow the weight to swing back. I noticed that I have a tendency to leave my torso slightly behind during my weight shift in the downswing which indicates that I am slightly pushing with the right leg during the transition, not much but sufficiently to increase the tilt in the transition. Chuck repeatedly emphasises that if there is any tension in the body in some part of the body, it will be the first thing that will want to fire.With this in mind, does it make sense to feel some tension in the left glute at the top of the backswing which is what I started feeling with Chris's exercice. Logically during the downswing the left glute will want to move with the left knee as the first movement in the downswing whereas if I keep tension in the right glute it will naturally want to fire when I start the downswing. The second question is whether I should feel during the downswing that the left shoulder is moving in the direction of the target to come on top of the left ankle with the right shoulder staying behind. Does it make sense? Best, Marc
April 6, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Marc. I wouldn't work on trying to manually fire the lead glute during the backswing. With proper shifting, knee work and coil. The glute will remain plenty engaged enough. I would try not to focus on two different aspects of the shoulder. The swing happens much too quickly for this. Most of my students have more success with the feeling of the trail shoulder staying back to the target and allowing the torso to bring the shoulders around.
April 6, 2018
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gary
Pat Callahan. I'm watching the fix your weight transfer that Chris Tyler made here. I noticed he's making that same little hinging motion with his lead arm just prior to contact that I'm doing. You told me you don't want that...hmm What am I missing here? Thanks for your time. Gary
March 9, 2018
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Patrick (Certified RST Instructor)
Gary, I am having you watch this video so you can devleop an awareness of using the muscles on the inside of the left leg to transition. If you watch Chris in the "Fix your Release" video, he is not making this "hinge" motion you are referring to. Remember also that he has BOTH hands on the club. With your current motion, you would not have proper shaft lean with the right hand on the club and there would be a breakdown with the left wrist through impact. The larger point is: don't try to manipulate the club coming down with the left arm exclusively. It responds to what the lower body is doing and gravity. Thanks
March 9, 2018
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gary
Ok, Thanks Pat. I will work on developing an awareness of the inside of the lead leg muscles to transition my downswing. By the way, when I was referring to "that little hinge movement", I was referring to the movement from the lead elbow ..not the wrist. He does seem to have a little hinge movement from the elbow down to his hand.
March 9, 2018
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Ted
I keep coming back to this video in search of the correct way to engage the left adductor. I've noticed something new and want to check it with you. It seems that the rolling of the left instep and the internal hip rotation is progressively engaging the left adductor as the process of the backswing nears completion. Heretofore I've been trying to engage that adductor at the same time I'm trying to sit into the left side. Had a hard time. As indicated in an earlier comment, tried splaying my left foot to help. But still struggling with closed hip slide. I'm hoping this current insight is on target since I'm wanting to become consistent at being able to pull to the lead side and my latest attempts just now following the video felt promising.
November 27, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Ted. Starting the downswing with a little lead knee external rotation and the feeling of the inner thigh adductor starting to pull should help eliminate the closed hips slide. Thus, allowing you to properly transfer the weight and initiate the downswing with the lower lead side.
November 28, 2017
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Ted
Since I made a mistake and sent my initial comment today before I had finished I've been trying to make up for it in follow up....but the new one replaces the old one! Do I just get one a day? In case this does post I'll include my initial content: noticed for the first time in seeing (again) this video that the rolling of the left instep and internal hip rotation actually seems to load the left adductor as the backswing draws to completion. If this is correct then this might be the insight I have been searching for to get my weight transfer pulled over correctly.
November 27, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Ted. You may post all the questions you would like. The key is you need to refresh your page after submitting a post. So, the system doesn't think you are trying to edit your original post.
November 28, 2017
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Ted
Thanks. Sorry for all the extra stuff.
November 28, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Ted. No problem. One member did it over 15 times before. You're still shy of the record.
November 28, 2017
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Ted
OK, a left adductor question. When you load your right side from a reasonably balanced set up position should you also be able to feel the beginnings of left adductor activation? In working through this drill just now I've also noticed it helps me more easily engage the left adductor and initiate external rotation and a more dynamic pull if I splay my left foot out a bit (or perhaps even more than a bit) at set-up. This OK? If so, any cautionary comments?
October 30, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Ted. You don't need to splay your feet unless you lack hip rotational mobility. It is okay, but I would shy away from a lot. Also, yes at setup if you (Anchor to the Ground Video) you will feel a little inner adductor activation.
October 30, 2017
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Ted
OK, thanks. We'll see how it looks come next swing review.
October 30, 2017
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Ted
Chris, After my most recent swing review I have concluded that I need to concentrate both with but now mainly without the club on engaging the left adductor in order to pull into square and into the left glute rather than that deeply ingrained push from the right as the means to get weight over to left, etc. My question feels like a "which first...chicken or egg" question with regard to the relationship of "sitting into the left glute" and/or pulling with the left adductor. I've read a number of comments below but still needing some better clarity. Thus far I'm feeling that the sit motion needs to initiate and be fairly substantial in order to really engage that adductor. I'm keeping my shoulders turned back & arms out front when I do this (which is appropriate I think) but as of right now when I start to "sit" my hips are staying somewhat closed in their takeaway position even as my should continues to turn back towards the target (again, appropriate, yes?) at the very beginning of the sit move. With regard to the hip position, is this OK? It doesn't really feel or look to me like a closed hip slide. As soon as I feel the adductor engage I'm making that core pull back to square with upper "box" following. I'm just feeling a little confused (or at least insecure) about how exactly to begin the weight transfer move once I'm stacked and loaded on the right side. Right now my drill from top of takeaway is: sit, engage adductor, pull, left glute takes over as the post up begins. I really want to get this drill right since right now it's my key focus.
August 28, 2017
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hi Ted, first off, it is always a great idea to train your body how to move properly without the club, with tons of reps and then add the club slowly back in and continue the journey. The sit move is a much bigger move than most students want to try and make happen. The adductors should be engaged to make to help facilitate the sit move into the lead side. Yes, you should be keeping the upper body as wound as you can when making the move to the lead side BUT I do NOT want to worrying about where the hands and arms are. The hip rotation during the sit move, will move the hands and arms out in front for you. Your lower body movements in your most recent swing reviews have been pretty darn close to what we are looking for. It really sounds like you are trying to focus on too many things and that's leading to the insecurities and confusion. What I want you to focus on is: Sit into the left side (using adductors to help aid the lateral movement), with a checkpoint of the left hip and knee into NJA and the hips in a square position. After you are seated left, I want you to post up by driving your left heel into the ground and rotate the hip away from the target while releasing the club. So, to simplify, Sit left, post and release. I don't want you focused so much on your shoulders and arms right now. I will deal with that as you become more proficient with the shift and post. I may add subtle reminders into your swing reviews like: Keep the shoulders more wound, but those are secondary thoughts to the big picture stuff you and I are working on. That's what we instructors are here to do, we want you to focus on specific areas first for a reason and then we will add more stuff in or refine areas as we go along. I really hope this helps you get past the confusion and helps you get focused on what we are looking to achieve for your swing.
August 28, 2017
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Ted
Yes, this helps. And for sure my focus isn't on shoulders, arms, hands...just wanting to report positions verbally. But, yeah, my real concern was the hips looking closed on the initial sit move yet being drawn back to square by adductors and then move to post and impact position when in NJA. Will probably send video later today. Thanks, Chris.
August 28, 2017
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Okay sounds good Ted. Always here to help and looking forward to seeing your progress.
August 28, 2017
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Kevin
Fantastic video Chris, I do have a few questions though. 1) You say that at impact we should have 80% of our weight on our left side. This will translate into 95-100% once the swing is complete correct? 2) Once you have mastered the entire swing sequence and so on, will quicker internal hip rotation increase swing speed?
August 18, 2017
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Kevin, Glad you enjoyed the video. Yes, you will have a bulk of your total body weight on the lead side after the club pulls you into a finish position. Quicker internal hip rotation can lead to an increase in speed as it will speed up the entire downswing sequence. You will get most your speed leverage that you create with lag and ground force once you are proficient with the movements.
August 18, 2017
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Hiren
Thanks for the video. What I am struggling with is what muscle groups to use to move the left leg. In the above drill the instructor pulls the Left leg towards the right leg (and uses the medial muscle groups of the left thigh). However to move the left leg outwards on the downswing surely you would need to use the lateral muscle groups of the left thigh. Therefore surely the feeling you get from the drill is not consistent with the feeling you should get in the downswing? Thanks in advance!
August 8, 2017
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Hiren, The adductors on the lead side will do most of the pulling but there are other muscle groups like the glutes and hamstrings that will also be activated. This video was designed to facilitate a pulling motion from the lead leg that you can use while working on sitting into the lead side just like the video "sitting into the left side" outlines. Hope that helps.
August 9, 2017
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David
Would you want to allow your left knee to internally rotate on the backswing to allow for the external rotation to get the weight back to the left side? I've tried to keep my left knee stable on the backswing which has caused me issues on getting my weight back to the left side during transition since there isn't really anywhere for it to rotate. Does that make sense?
July 27, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello David. Take a look at the Laser Beam Knee Drills. Moving the lead knee internally going back isn't a requirement to shift weight properly coming down. Flexibility wise though you may allow thought for a little movement.
July 27, 2017
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Erinn
One of the main points of the system is that golf is lead side dominant. When you swing the club with your left arm, I get alot of llag and the left arm "bends". However when swinging the golf club you are supposed to keep the left arm straight. How are you supposed to be using mostly your lead side without bending your lead arm?
July 9, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Erinn. The increase in lag is supposed to be from wrist set and not lead arm or elbow flexion. If your lead arm is bending coming down I would gather you are increasing flexion versus wrist angle. Take a look at the Frisbee Drill.
July 9, 2017
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T David
When Chris mentions neutral joint alignment, where the left shoulder is stacked over the ankle... Does this mean that there is no longer any axis tilt at impact?
May 2, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Dave. There is Secondary Axis Tilt at impact. Take a look at the Face On Impact Alignments Video.
May 2, 2017
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Virginia
Wonderful video! Pushing from the trail side seems to be more instinctive, so it is nice to have the drill and the thought of pulling. I had also been trying the 'step down' with the lead foot to help the shift and post up, but the pull idea is far more accurate. THANKS!
March 14, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Virginia. Glad you liked the drill.
March 15, 2017
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T David
Chris talks about using the impact bag in this video. I have never had or used one of these, and not sure about the benefits or the worthiness of it. Are there any videos or drills that demonstrates its purpose and function?
September 25, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Dave. You will see lots of our videos incorporating impact bags. We don't have a specific one that will detail every drill. They are a great tool. I don't think the purchase would be a foolish one. All of us here rarely support a training aid. But, the impact bag is a good tool at the range or at home to work on sequencing and speed at impact.
September 26, 2016
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T David
ok. Thanks, Craig.
September 26, 2016
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Paul
What I'm finding is that close to impact my head rises up yet I'm pulling with the left leg and glut feeling little if any weight on the right side? What's happening?
August 14, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Paul. Take a look at You Hit the Golf Ball with Your Legs Video. You are eight adding trail hip push, or coming out of the shot.
August 15, 2016
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Paul
Hello Craig, I'm not clear on what you mean by "you are eight adding trail hip push or coming out of the shot"? What does that look like. I've watched the "Hit the Golf Ball with your Legs Video" several times. I practice practice practice. It feels different. Then I do a video only to find my head moving up about 2-3 inches just before impact (when I post up). How can I "feel" what I'm doing wrong. This is maddening. The swing feels so different from my old swing yet the head still comes up. I know I have most of my weight on my left side by impact too. I'm totally perplexed.
August 15, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Paul. I apologize. My mobile device auto-corrected the word "either". Take a look at the Level Shoulders Drill and the Chair Drill. Trail hip push can be losing the tush line to early due to the trail hip moving too much towards the ball into impact. Coming out of the shot early with the lead shoulder (due too excessive spin or improper release) can cause you to add excessive secondary tilt. Forcing you to feel like you might need to stand up.
August 15, 2016
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Paul
Hello Craig, Thanks for clarifying. Hmm. Don't think I'm coming out of the shot but at times it feels like I might be pushing a bit from the right. Is that what you mean by "trail hip push"? If so how do I get rid of this?? Thanks.
August 15, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Paul. Trail hip push (right hip for right handed swinger) is taking the hip and using it to force weight transfer or rotate hard to create power. You can see it well in the Level Shoulders Video. Chuck will talk about too much push or drive from the trail hip. Take a look at Preventing Hip Pain as well. Pull your weight, don't push it.
August 15, 2016
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Paul
Hello Craig, I'm totally pulling my weight to the left side but still have the head raising 2 inches at impact. I cannot feel it at all. To me it feels as though I'm not moving at all. Geez.
August 15, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Paul. Have you submitted a swing for review?
August 15, 2016
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Paul
Yes two this summer. Steve Maes has been working with me. He has me working on weight shift. I really do think I have that down now after watching the above video several times. It's really a good video. I am now pulling to the left well. It felt very foreign for quite a while. Now I really like it but I still have this problem with my head moving up. I watch the videos of my swing over an over and cannot see what I'm doing to cause this. It almost looks as though my straight left arm is pushing my head up at impact instead of passing past my head. When I watch someone like Tiger his left shoulder passes right past his steady head but my head seems to push up as the shoulder moves higher? I've got the proper amount of spine tilt too so I have no idea how to cure this.
August 16, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Are you losing lag early in the downswing? And, we you swing lead arm only (Step 4 - RST 5 Step System) does it raise?
August 16, 2016
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Paul
Hi Craig, Okay to answer your question I quick went out and recorded another video. No lag loss and head does move up when doing swing left arm only? Left side starts posting up during downswing when club at about 8 oclock. Head starts moving up at same time so evidently as my left leg starts to post and move my left shoulder up my head moves up with it. Hmm? How do you cure that? I can't even feel that I'm doing it.
August 16, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
I would recommend the LADD Video. Maybe an issue with the lead arm swing. It would be hard for me to discuss further without seeing it. I would upload to Steven again and tell him specifically what you are struggling with.
August 16, 2016
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Paul
Hi Craig, Thanks for all your help. After looking a bit closer here's what I'm seeing in my swing. At set all looks fine, then I start the backswing and my head drops down a bit. Then on the downswing in order to get back to impact position I'm moving my head back up. Never noticed the first part until now. So I'm bobbing down then up to get back to impact position. Geez. To add to that I also squat into the downswing after watching squat to square a few times I liked the feel of that move. HA. So it looks to me I'm just moving my head to get back to where I started. But when I watch Tiger Woods he squats down a lot but never comes up (or not much). Don't see how he does that.
August 16, 2016
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Joshua
Hello I'm having some trouble with the intial move from the weight being on the right heel and moving it to the left heel. Do I use the left leg to pull into a latreal shift then when my weight is on the left heel begin to rotate? Or do I begin with hip rotation and that will cause me to shift laterally? I hope that makes sense thanks!
June 14, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Joshua. You have to pull the weight first (Perfecting Lower Body Stability, Preventing Hip Pain, Step 1 - 2 RST 5 Step System). You will use the inner adductors to help pull the weight.
June 14, 2016
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Joshua
So you pull over until weight is on the left heel then rotate?
June 14, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Joshua. The lead knee will externally rotate first, you will begin to pull the weight over with lead hip adduction, and then firmly plant the lead heel. Followed by the hips will starting to rotate open due to pull from the lead oblique.
June 14, 2016
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Thomas
When you are loading the weight onto your right (trail) leg during the back swing. Should that leg go from a a flexed to a some what straightened position? I feel like the bigger muscle (hamstrings and glutes) get loaded easier when the leg straightens. Thanks.
June 11, 2016
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Steven (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Thomas-We would prefer that the trail leg remained flexed so we can fully load the trail leg properly. As long as the weight isn't on the outside part of the foot, and over the ankle, you should feel the muscles (glute and hamstring) being loaded at the top. Otherwise, if the trail leg straightens up we can over-rotate the hips and can result in a reverse pivot/weight shift. This means you're not loading behind the ball then and can't fully maximize the benefits of shifting the weight left. Overall we want a flexed trail leg at the top
June 11, 2016
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John
I suffer from a bad habit of not relasing and firing with my core instead from the upper body. You program has helped me tremendously with making the correct changes in the downswing. I believe that I still may have a little bit too much tension in the arms such that my arms don'y fall into the right slot even when making the proper wieght shift to the left using the inside left leg muscles. Would too much tension be may cause? Doing the 9 to 3 drill makes me feel like I am making a much smoother weight transfer to the left. I think because I am putting a lot of tension in my arms with a full swing.
June 9, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. Tension could be the culprit. I have found more often than not players are way too tense when making the golf swing. Work on Step 3 of the RST 5 Step System. If you still feel too tense and holding the lead arm back. Work on the Re-Shaping Your Swing for Lag Video. Chuck will discuss weight shift and the role of gravity (requiring you to be tension free) to help get the club in the slot.
June 9, 2016
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Stephen
Hi Craig, I just posted up my review. Can I add, am I not letting my shoulders turn on the downswing? Stephen.
June 6, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Stephen. I already performed it this morning. Let the shoulders follow. You don't need to actively turn them.
June 7, 2016
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Keith
In this drill, I am struggling with two things. One whether I should be performing the small squatting motion in simultaneous to the shift to the lead side, or instead no intentional squat. And two, at impact in this drill, should I be posted up or left knee still bent? The variations of these all the above have me moving differently getting back left.
May 31, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Keith. Yes, you will be posted up at impact. As you sit into the lead side and pull the weight you should feel a little squat. But, the focus of this drill is more weight shifting versus big squat to pull leverage from the ground.
June 1, 2016
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Michael
Hi Craig I would like your opinion re a drill for weight transfer which may be useful (seen on YouTube) i.e. placing an alignment stick vertically into the ground just outside your lead ankle. From the top of the backswing shift your back toward the target (brings the arms down), feeling this in your lead hip, thigh and knee until your lead hip touches the alignment stick and then clear the hips through impact by rotation. Thank you for your comments. Michael
April 7, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. I can see it might create a closed hip slide. If the stick is too far away from the lead foot you can get too far outside of NJA. Take a look a Perfect Impact Bonus Video. If you are still allowing for torso pull (for hips/arms - Weight Shift Video Part 1) and you don't slide ahead of neutral it may not be a bad thing.
April 7, 2016
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Stephen
Hi Craig, when Chris is dragging his left foot across the grass, is this Chris using the pulling motion? When pulling the weight to the left side. Should we feel that we are pulling from the ground i.e Pulling from the inside of left foot? Thank you. Stephen
March 29, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Stephen. When pulling the lead leg across the grass I want you to stay focused on the inner lead thigh. You will feel some muscles start to contract. Those are the muscles you want to use to pull the weight over in the downswing.
March 29, 2016
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LAWRENCE
Hi Craig: How much is the knee bend in the lead leg when you pull off the right to neutral joint alignment? Lawrence
March 28, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Lawrence. Only when you are trying to pull massive leverage from the ground will there be a big increase in knee flexion. There will be a slight increase or flexion difference from the one you have at setup to shift.
March 28, 2016
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michael
Hi Craig, In the baseball move Chris demonstrates an external rotation of the lead leg. In my latest review you refer to left hip adduction and internal femur rotation following left knee rotation. So does my left leg rotate externally to start but then the hip and femur internally to finish, or have I misunderstood? Thanks Mike
March 28, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. I think you have misunderstood. I was probably being overly technical. The lead knee will externally rotate to help you get stacked. The adduction and (technically internal hip rotation) is what helps pull the weight. Take a look at Preventing Hip Pain. You will see what I was referring too.
March 28, 2016
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Lance
The weight shift movements for the downswing seem to be focused in the upper left leg based on this video. Do you have an easy swing thought trigger for this? Thanks
March 24, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Lance. I don't have an easy trigger for you sadly. Use the Preventing Hip Pain Video to help feel the pull. Also, the feeling of the "stomp" does help without too much thought.
March 24, 2016
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Robert
Does rotating the lead knee before pulling to the left create a transient ride a horse feel with the legs, thereby to avoid a closed hip slide with the weight on the lead toe? Or is it possible to just sit to the lead side with your weight on the lead heel to begin with?
March 21, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Rob. You can sit into the lead side and heel without external rotation. But, like you mentioned in the post it can create a closed hip slide leaning more towards pushing the weight to the toes. The external rotation is vital in order to get stacked over the ankle joint and allow freedom for the hip to move properly.
March 21, 2016
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Robert
This video really paints a good picture. But after transferring weight to lead side while leaving trail heel on ground at impact, my new occasional miss is a hook, which I assume is from increased face rotation. Could one surmise that this is from being a little overactive with my right side or just not getting totally stacked at impact?
March 21, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Rob. Could be from increased face rotation. But, make sure the upper half isn't lagging behind creating excessive secondary tilt and over use of the trail hand. Take a look at the the Level Shoulders Drill to eliminate the secondary tilt and some good focus on the Fix Your Release. Especially impact positioning.
March 21, 2016
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joseph
At ~6:55 min, Chris makes the comment that pro golfers make their weight transfer by first externally rotating the left leg. This seems to be the first move a hip spinner also makes to start his downswing. How are the two different? Thanks.
March 15, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Joseph. Not all hip spinners externally rotate the lead knee first. Some start ripping the oblique to pull the hips open before a shift or knee placement has even taken place. Better players let the knee get stacked and plant the weight without ripping the hips open versus lack of shift-weight placement and wide open hips.
March 15, 2016
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joseph
hate to beat a dead horse but ... I can easily perform the external hip rotation using the above mentioned leg muscles but have created another problem as a result ... see how Chris' shoulders rotate open as he shifts ... that causes me to generate centrifugal force in the shoulders which destroys any lag ... now I'm shifting weight but fighting to keep my shoulders closed. What am I missing? Thanks.
March 17, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Joseph. No worries about the horse. Your shoulders don't seem passive enough (discussed in the Weight Shift Part 1 Video). When you shift and pull from the torso. The shoulders need to remain passive or you may need to even feel restriction that the shoulders are staying shut.
March 17, 2016
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MONTON
Like your videos and I'd just became a member and had just watched the intro video. It said that I should watch them in order so are they in order in the "recommended video" section always? Wish they are numbered. Then it would be less confusing. Thanks
March 13, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Monton. You may watch them in succession. But, let me recommend one other way as well. Start with the 5 Minute Series in each category. While working on the 5 Minute Series. If you struggle with a certain aspect of the drill use the other videos in the section that will go into greater detail to help you get over the hump of a particular aspect.
March 14, 2016
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nathan
Great video. After you said drag the lead leg towards center a few times it really made me understand the "pull with the left side". I had always tried that with just my left glute and would spin out hitting a slice. Instantly hitting the ball more middle!
March 13, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Nathan. Great. I'm happy the demonstration helped your understanding of pull.
March 14, 2016
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Tom
Hi Craig, I hope all is well with you and yours! I have been working on this video as well as the others you have suggests. I have played/coached a lot of baseball and relate to Tyler's baseball analogy. I just need to make sure that I don't push off with my right foot and turn my upper body. I do fine with this drill when my arms are crossed. However, I turn into Dr. Jekyll when I put the club in my hands. I have narrowed my stance and tried to reduce the amount of hip slip on my back swing. I get the idea of using my inner thigh and left obliques when shift my weight. I also my left foot (ie. swing from the ground up) feels like it whats to spin a little as I get my weight to my front foot. I try not to actually let my left foot spin. When I have the club in my hands my upper and lower body are turning at the same time. I am trying to weight shift so that when I am contacting the ball my shoulders are square. They are square when I do this drill without a club and when I hit the smash bag. I am obviously doing something wrong in my training. I have thought about going through my swing motion and verbally tell you what I think I should be doing just in case I have my wires crossed and I am sending my body the wrong message. Thanks again for your invaluable help!
March 12, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Tom. Take a look at the Weight Shift Video Part 1 again. I don't think you are getting your wires crossed. But, I don't believe you are helping bring down the club with any torso rotation. As you shift, the torso rotation will help bring the arms down (with a blend of gravity). The proper shift will help turn off the trail side throw. This will create some separation just as in a baseball swing instead of a 1 to 1 ration with hip and shoulder rotation. Thanks for the well wishes. Just me though . All the best to you and yours as well.
March 12, 2016
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Carole
Great video, Chris. I really get a lot out of YOUR videos in particular because you combine the pieces and parts together so well. I keep going back to your effective use of the wrist video, for example, all the time. This video is excellent and directly addresses my hip sliding problem. I've never used my lower body correctly and was just, by chance, starting to work on correcting my hip slide when you sent out this video. Sitting into the left side, stomping the foot, activating the glutes...none of them worked... But this video finally broke through. So what I'm feeling is almost like a slow grinding torque of my left leg from the ground up and that my hip line hits a vertical wall. Very different from a non-rotating slide. So thank you so much for changing my whole concept on this move. The remaining struggle is still to keep my right heel on the ground. Whenever I've tried to keep the rt heel down, it pulls on the right groin. Do you have any thoughts?
March 12, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Carole. Another video to compliment this one is the Weight Shift Video Part 1 to keep away from spinning or pushing. Take a look at the Preventing Hip Pain Video. You need to allow the right foot to get pulled. It sounds like you are stopping it from any motion at all. Thanks for the compliments on Chris's Video.
March 12, 2016
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JAMES
Oops. Made a mistake in my previous comment. When I push with the "Right" side to transfer my weight to the target, I do get excess secondary axis tilt, which really hurts my impact. I have used the left leg pulling rotation as described in this video, so I understand what is being described, Anyway, I went into the living room and tried the push vs the pull and now better understand the benefits of the "pull". Also, this pulling makes it so much easier to push my left foot into the ground, post up, and get additional clubhead speed from the catapult action. Hope I'm making sense. Thanks for the great video.
March 10, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey James. I figured that is what you meant.
March 11, 2016
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JAMES
GREAT, Great Video. Sometimes we are just more ready for learning than others. This video was just what I needed. I have noticed that when I push with the left side to transfer my weight to the target, I do get excess secondary axis tilt, which really hurts my impact. I have used the left leg pulling rotation as described in this video, so I understand what is being described, Anyway, I went into the living room and tried the push vs the pull and now better understand the benefits of the "pull". Also, this pulling makes it so much easier to push my left foot into the ground and get the additional clubhead speed from the catapult action. Hope I'm making sense. Thanks for the great video.
March 10, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey James. Thanks for the compliments on the video and great to see you are getting that weight "pulled" to the lead side.
March 11, 2016
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Greg
Great video and well explained
March 10, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Thanks Greg! Glad you enjoyed.
March 10, 2016
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Jason
when I watch this, I re-create the look with this feeling: on downswing: externally rotate the left leg towards the target then put the weight on my left heel which in turn causes my knee to straighten and the entire leg to post up and bear my weight?
March 10, 2016
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Jason
but on video with a club, I look like I am standing up too soon. so I still don't have the concept down.
March 10, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Then you need to add the sitting into the left side video in with this move and see if that helps you out. Let me know. Thanks.
March 10, 2016
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Jason
will do. thx for that idea.
March 10, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
My pleasure. That is what we are here for!
March 10, 2016
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Greg
In the Adam Scott video, he has more access tilt with the driver then with his iron. You also said his accuracy suffers. Are we to strive to have the left shoulder slightly back from being stacked like Adam or is this the source of some of his inaccuracies with the driver?
March 10, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
A driver swing, we need more secondary axis tilt to help shallow out the plane and get the club hitting more up on the ball to launch it higher and take advantage of technology. The only issue is that you are now shifting around the primary pivot point in the golf swing (lead shoulder) and it can make your ball striking (direction) less consistent. You should strive to hit is iron impact position that I showed in the video and then make some minor setup adjustments for the driver.
March 10, 2016
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rick
Really a good video to watch several times. I've worked with the RoboGolfPro in my hometown. Being a member of RST for several years, I've worked to incorporate RST Principles into a RoboGolf Computerized Swing Program for me. I've also used a pressure mat with this to measure % of weight distribution. Maybe a bit overly technical, but it's helped me, through repetition, to move my body in the correct anatomical positions. To John's point below, they also tried a K'Vest on me and suggested more open shoulders at impact. But I said no, so the program was designed for 4* open at impact. Keep up the good work!
March 10, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Thanks very much Rick. Glad to have you as a member of RST
March 10, 2016
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Kyle
I would like to think of which exact muscle group does this pulling motion to the left side.... left groin(hip flexors), left tensor fascia lata or the left oblique? Would be nice to incorporate the hip movement with the left oblique pull,rather than to have to separate muscle thought processes. Thx
March 10, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Adductor, glutes and hamstrings. The dragging the foot on the ground will get you to really feel the adductors and glutes. The core should always be engaged. We talk about this in a video called connect to your core - get in the box. The thing to remember is that there are tons of various muscles in the swing, it is just how we sequence the firing of them is what matters a ton.
March 10, 2016
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Kyle
Thx
March 10, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
My pleasure.
March 10, 2016
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John
Hi Chris, I do a great deal of K-Vest training and they suggest that at Impact my hips should be 35-45 degrees open and my shoulders should be 15-30 degrees open. The RST impact model suggests my shoulders should be square. As you know, K-Vest data is based on touring pro swings. Why the big difference?
March 10, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hi John - Here is the best way for me to answer this one....K vest, much like, pretty much every other swing methodology out there give you swing "tips" based on what the best players in the world, at that moment are doing with THEIR swings. Look at Ben Hogan's era of instruction, then it was completely flipped when Jack Nicklaus came to market and everyone started to try and swing more upright, then Greg Norman, then Tiger etc. At RST, we do not teach what tour players are currently doing in their swings. RST was designed with the requirements of hitting the ball as far and as straight as possible, as efficiently and as safe on the body is possible. Here is a fact that K vest probably doesn't divulge to you...81% of tour players sustain a golf related injury that keeps them off the tour for 8 weeks or more. 81%!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One tour player may be open 30 degrees and one may be open 4 degrees. Which one is right? Hope this makes sense and helps answer your question. Just remember, RST is facts based, science based, anatomic based information and not a measurement of what some players did in the past or what they are doing today.
March 10, 2016
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John
That's what I thought. I will tell you that when my shoulders are open at impact I do generate more club head speed but I have trouble keeping the ball straight. I tend to hit a slight fade because I feel like my hands lag behind and my club face is slightly open at impact. I've been an RST member for 5 years and the approach definitely works. My swing is the envy of most of the guys I play with. I am also a physical therapist so I do appreciate the sound anatomical positions the system promotes. I also love your videos. Keep up the great work.
March 10, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey John, First off, thanks for being such a such a loyal supporter of RST! We are happy to have you as part of the family Body spinning open can cause hiccups with the release and make it harder for the clubface to get back to square. It can feel more powerful to some but can be very hard to control. Glad you enjoy the videos and we will do our best to keep good stuff coming.
March 10, 2016
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Paul
Thanks for the video these faults you pointed out are exactly what I struggle with in my transition. Do you have any videos on getting posted up on the lead leg? I often feel very colasped as I come through the ball with no sensation of "putting on the brakes" and having the arms swing freely past the body. If you could recommend some videos I would appreciate it. Thank you.
March 9, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
My pleasure Paul. Straight left leg at impact video coupled with the role of the right foot video coupled with any of the release videos that we have on the site. Did you watch the perfect your impact series? This may help you get the correct feeling that you are looking for.
March 10, 2016
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w
Excellent video. Thanks for clarification on the left hip pulling the body into impact position. One question: When using the driver, it is important to keep the right heel and the inside part of the right foot in contact with the ground at impact? When I try to do this it feels like I haven't fully shifted my weight to the left side. Like I'm hanging back. Should this vary from club to club? Thanks Chris....Gerrie (Phuket, Thailand)
March 9, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Glad you enjoyed the video. Under a "stock shot" format, the heel should remain down. A stock shot means you are swinging the same exact way from one club to the next, at your normal speed. With a driver, we tend to widen the stance a bit so there might be some lifting of the heel when we get things moving over to the lead side. It's okay if it comes up a bit with your driver, just make sure your hips and body aren't spinning open though.
March 10, 2016
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ROBERT
Chris, I'm trying visualize the full sequence as it ties with the sitting into left side. Do we Initiate the down swing, as a combination of the external rotation of the lead leg AND sitting into the left side? (for the weight shift and subsequent posting up for release)? At that pre-release weight shift (before release/impact), am I targeting to have my hips and shoulders square?
March 9, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Robert, Yes, that is correct on the move into the lead side. The important part of this video is just to get the weight moving into the lead side properly. The hips should be opening to 35-45 degrees and pulling the shoulders to a square position. Hope that helps.
March 9, 2016
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William
As a new subscriber, I have not viewed all the videos on the website. You are emphatic that you should roll the right foot inward and not move onto the right toe when shifting weight. Please explain or reference the name of the other video I should watch to learn the reason for your comment. Thank you.
March 9, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey William, We are so pleased to have you as a member of the site and the role of the right foot in the downswing is a perfect video to take a look at.
March 9, 2016
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Chan
Great video Chris! I have really been working on weight shift. Over the past years as a RST member, I am seeing things begin to come together.
March 9, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Thanks Chan! So glad to have you as a dedicated member of the site and glad to hear things are coming together.
March 9, 2016
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Dallas
Thanks for the video, Chris! Building the confidence to shift comfortably to the left side and letting the club do its magic after that initial shift and hip rotation to initiate the downswing rather than staying back and trying to slice the ball off the ground has been a huge help for me. It is remarkable how differently the ball compresses and the quality of my divot/shot direction/everything improves. Cheers, Dallas
March 9, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
My pleasure Dallas. It's hard make this sort of move happen and I hope you get some really great results.
March 9, 2016
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John W
Chris, I should add that your videos are a great help. Thanks
March 9, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Thanks John! I am so glad to be able to help you and the rest of the RST family.
March 9, 2016
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John W
Chris, This is a very informative video. But you left out the sitting into the left side that created leverage from the ground. I know you sit into the left side I have watched you swing at the clinic. Are you going to add that back latter? Like everyone I am struggling with move so I think the exercises will help but I am probably going to sit before I external rotate.
March 9, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey John, this video is designed more about the transferring of weight. The sit move is something we can incorporate, once the student(s) get the correct feel on how to move properly back over to the lead side.
March 9, 2016
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John W
Thanks, Chris
March 9, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
My pleasure as always John. Hope you enjoyed the video.
March 9, 2016

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