Try a bucket of water to improve your weight shift

By Mel Sole,
Contributor

Noted golf instructor and columnist Mel Sole offers golf tips for GolfInstruction.com readers on all aspects of the game.

I was recently working with a golf student who was having a hard time shifting his weight through to his front side. Most of his shots were off the back foot as seen in the photo below.

To help him feel the correct motion I asked him to imagine he had a bucket of water and he was going to throw the water out in front of himself. (I used a basket and a golf ball for these pictures because I could not achieve the desired result with the water bucket.)

I asked him to hold the bucket with the front facing towards the target, then to swing the bucket back ...

... and through to the target without having the water splash back on him. He performed the move perfectly.

If he performed this task the way he was swinging the club earlier, this is what it would have looked like:

As you can see the water would not have gone forward!

Next, I asked him to take his club and perform the same move as with the bucket.

The improvement was instantaneous, and he now has a good weight shift.

So, if you are having trouble shifting your weight (and most high handicap golfers do), use the image of the water bucket to get the correct feel!

December 12, 2006

Mel Sole is Director of Instruction and owner of the Ritson-Sole Golf Schools. He has been named a "Top Teacher in North America" by Golf Magazine and is one of only four top teachers selected in South Carolina. His lessons have also appeared in Golf Digest, Golf Magazine and Golf Illustrated.