Learn the One Thing Most Golfers Get Wrong with Their Weight Distribution...and How to Fix It
One of the biggest misconceptions taught to golfers is to position their weight on the balls of their feet at address. You have probably been told things like:
- Imagine you are a diver preparing to spring off the diving board
- You should feel like a shortstop, ready to move in any direction
These analogies make perfect sense from a general athletic standpoint, but consider the logic more carefully. The diver, the shortstop — they are all preparing to do something. They are actively trying to go somewhere.
A basketball player or a shortstop is prepared to react and move in any direction. A diver is coiling to spring forward off the board.
As a golfer, where are you going? You are not trying to go anywhere. In fact, you are actively trying to stay centered and rotate. Why, then, would you ever want to set up on the balls of your feet?
Stay Centered!
That is some straightforward logic. We are trying to stay centered in the golf swing. The critical issue is that a tremendous amount of force is generated during the golf swing.
Let us apply common sense for a moment: If you are creating all this force with your swing, and you do not want to fall forward on your face, which direction should your weight be moving?
It should obviously be moving in the opposite direction, to counteract the forces generated by your swing mechanics.
In the golf swing, all of that force arcs forward and downward. Why would you ever want to be positioned on the balls of your feet?
Instead, in the Rotary Swing Tour, we teach setting up with your weight over the ankles. Let us examine the specific reasons for this approach:
Use Your Joints Correctly
First, when you are on the balls of your feet, your primary balancing joint becomes the knee. Your knee is a hinge joint, designed exclusively for forward and backward motion. It has a very small amount of rotational capability — nowhere near enough for a golf swing.
Your hip, on the other hand, can rotate freely throughout its full range of motion. When you position your weight over your ankle, the hip becomes the primary rotational joint — exactly as it is designed to function during the golf swing.
Engage Your Glutes!
The second important reason is that you need to activate your glute muscles in the golf swing. These are two of the most powerful and important muscles in your golf swing, and they are essential for both the stability and power generation of your swing.
When you place your weight on the ball of your foot and allow your knee to move forward — as in a lunge position — you are primarily activating your quad muscle. In a lunge, your weight is positioned well out over the ball of your foot. You will feel the glute slightly in that position, but the quad is doing the majority of the work.
Now, let us transform that lunge into the neutral joint alignment required for a proper golf setup.
In the golf swing, you are going to apply the exact same principle. As you set up, you hinge from the hips with your knees behind neutral. As you achieve proper neutral alignment, you can feel yourself "sitting into" your glutes at address. You will be able to feel your glutes working throughout the swing.
If you shift up onto the balls of your feet, you lose that stability entirely. You will be primarily in your quads again, which compromises both power and balance. To see how your own setup and weight distribution compare to an elite standard, try a free AI swing analysis.
Safer, More Effective Follow Through
Another critically important reason to get off the balls of your feet involves your follow through and rotation. When you are on the ball of your foot, your knee becomes the primary balancing joint. You are trying to pivot and rotate on a joint that is designed to hinge.
Ask Tiger how this feels. It is not very comfortable.
If you shift your weight onto your heel instead, you can pivot freely all day long, and your knee is completely taken out of the equation — none of that painful twisting. If you are on the ball of your foot at impact, it hurts. You will experience knee pain, back pain, as well as a significant loss of power in your swing.
Set Up Correctly
Your primary goal when setting up to a golf ball is to get your weight centered over your ankles and keep it there. Feel that your weight is on your ankles and remains there as you transfer it back and forth between them during the swing. (Technically, a small amount of weight shifts slightly forward during the downswing. You will not even notice it.) For real-time feedback on how your weight distribution and setup hold up during the swing, try a free AI golf lesson that evaluates your form.
Watch part 2 now to see how you're moving your body in the opposite direction of the pros!
Adam Scott has a great swing, but his setup puts his knee at risk.
Notice the difference between a lunge (left) and neutral joint alignment (right)
The knee is a hinge joint
