Using Weight Balance & Posture to Improve Your Golf Swing

The first step to improving your posture and balance is to set up your practice area. You can do this exercise in your backyard. As with most of my practice exercises, this one takes some getting used to. The first thing to do is to tie the metal washers to the practice ball using the soft string. The washers should only be an inch or less from the ball, as they will be used for weight. You will then want to use the soft string to have the ball hang from the middle of your forehead no less than 18 inches down. Tie the string around your forehead but do not cut it yet. Run the string down the bridge of your nose and that will line it up with the middle of your forehead. Tie the other end of the string to the ball, then cut the rest of the string away. Make sure the washers hang out from the bottom as weights, and do not tie the string too tightly to your forehead.

Place your feet squarely in line with your shoulders as you are standing straight up, and then use four tees to mark where your feet are. Place two tees on either side of your feet directly behind your toes snug up to your shoe, and the other two are placed on either side of the middle of your heel snug with your shoe. Slowly step back without disrupting the tees.

Pick up your driver and step back into the area marked by the tees. Roll one of the practice balls out to where you can address it with your driver. Assume your stance with your knees flexed, and your arms extended straight out gripping your driver. Even if this is not how you normally stand, this is the correct way to develop a stance, so we will be adjusting things based on the correct stance. Once you have figured out your stance, roll the practice ball in place where a tee would be. You will know you are lined up right when the ball hanging from your forehead lines up with the ball on the ground. Slowly step away, being careful to leave the practice ball and tees where they are.

Take a tee and mark where the practice ball on the ground has been placed. Remove the practice ball from the area and do not put it on the tee.

You are now ready to practice weight balance and posture. Carefully step in to the tees, marking where your feet should be and assume your stance. When you look down, the ball hanging from your forehead should be lined up with the tee on the ground. With the ball lined up over the tee, you are now in a perfect golf posture. Your back is straight, your knees are flexed, and your arms are extended as they should be. Perfect weight balance means that your feet should never shift during your swing, but your back foot turns as you properly distribute your weight. Take a swing and then step back to check on the tees marking your feet. If the tees marking the front foot have been disrupted at all, then you are shifting your weight back too early. Disrupted can mean tees are knocked over but still in the ground, or they have been completely lifted out of the ground. Either is acceptable. Your back-foot tees should all be disrupted after your swing is over. If your front tees are not disrupted, but the back ones are, then you are shifting your weight too late in your swing. A good swing leaves the front-foot tees in place and the back foot tees disrupted. Keep using this exercise until the ball is lined up perfectly over the tee, and your foot tees are as they should be when the swing is over.