Top of the swing upper body balance > lead shoulder

Good afternoon,

At the top of the backswing how much should my lead shoulder be hanging past my front foot? I was just watching the LPGA on TV today and it seems it varies from player to player but also there tends to be more leaning of the front shoulder on 9 irons and pitching wedges.

3 comments

3 Comments

tspelda2005

Sep 08, 2021

Thanks for the reply Tom. Btw, love the videos. You are a conversation piece with my son and my friend in Florida. In addition to the steepness, I'm also trying to be cognisant of how far over from the waist does the lead shoulder go. Especially from the viewing angle of facing the target (or the right side for a right handed golfer). Considering the size of person I am (6ft, 215Lbs) it does feel like alot of pressure on the lead thigh at the top of the backswing. Hope this helps. I'd be happy to take a picture or two and had some drawings.

Thanks again, -Tom

Tom Saguto

Sep 08, 2021

Replying to

A "conversation piece", Tom??... 🤣🤣🤣 (Must be one heck of a conversation!)

At the top of the backswing you should have approximately 70% of your weight on the front leg, and that knee should be bending downward in its slightly outward flared orientation established at address (and definitely not kicking inward towards the trail side).

If you'd like to solicit feedback from some very knowledgeable fellow members here in the Forum community, feel free to post your still photos or swing videos in the Video Analysis Room along with some comments on what you are working on or trying to figure out.

Beyond this, you may wish to give some thought to the V1 Swing Video Analysis - an effective and inexpensive service that I highly recommend to everyone in the school. This enables me to put my eyes on your swing and offer some very specific observations and corrective action plans if applicable. I liken it to bringing your swing into the shop for a tune-up or minor repair. Scheduling one on a quarterly basis for preventive maintenance will do wonders for keeping things humming along nicely, and it's also a great tool for pinpointing and resolving any issues that arise. The process involves downloading the free V1 app and then submitting two videos to me through the app - one down-the-line (captured from your stance line, not the target line) and the other face-on. You'll find more information about the V1 Analysis halfway down this page on the Saguto.Golf site.

I hope that helps, and say hi to the "conversationalists" for me!

Tom

Tom Saguto

Sep 07, 2021

@tspelda2005 - If you are referring to the downward angle of the shoulder line at the top of the backswing, then this is dictated by the length of the club in your hands. So, thinking in terms of Arnold Palmer's favorite tip of pointing the lead shoulder at the ball, the angle will certainly be steepest with the shorter irons and become incrementally less steep as the clubs get longer.

Please clarify if I did not properly understand your question.