Hanging Back

Can't get your weight into your lead leg?

This week’s topic is hanging back. I see this in a lot of older players, but it does happen with younger players. Baseball players sometimes have an issue with hanging back, too.

What is hanging back?

Hanging back involves poor or lack of weight shift into the lead leg. Players who hang back lose a lot of speed as weight shift is a big contributor to speed and power in golf. Fat shots are the most common mishit for players who hang back. Often times, these players will adjust by moving the ball position much further back in their stance. When they do hit the ball solidly, they tend to hit high, soft shots with a lot of unwanted spin all of which leads to a lot of lost distance.

In the image above, you can see the weight is still on the trail leg. Notice how the clubhead is ahead of the hands. This is bad for two reasons: loft has been added to the club, and the shaft is leaning backwards at impact matching the backward lean of the upper body. The extra loft takes a 7-iron and turns into an 8-iron and creates additional spin. The reverse shaft lean indicates all the stored energy in the shaft is already gone, and the club is actually slowing down prior to impact.

The above image shows a great impact position. The weight has shifted more to the lead leg. The hands are slightly ahead of the clubhead creating forward shaft lean. Notice the bowing of the shaft. This is showing all the energy in the shaft being delivered to the ball at impact. The upper body is more centered over the ball as the weight continues to shift into the lead leg.

You know what’s next.

Is it a swing issue or a physical issue?

Hanging back is more often a physical issue. While there are many possible culprits, the two most likely are lack of strength in the lead leg and/or the inability to rotate the lead hip. Lack of strength in the lead leg makes it difficult to stabilize in order to rotate through the golf swing. If you have the strength in the lead leg to stabilize, then the inability to rotate the lead hip is the likely culprit. Just like last week with shallowing the club where the shoulder needs to rotate properly, the hip needs to be able to rotate sufficiently. Whether it’s leg strength or hip rotation, the result is the same. Hanging back is the body’s attempt to avoid injury.

Lessons or training?

In this case, training is the better path. It is important to understand how to shift your weight properly and get into the proper impact position. However, without addressing the physical issue, you are risking injury. None of us want to be sidelined with an injury. We want to play more golf, not less. So, get to the gym and work on getting the lower body stronger and more mobile.

As always, contact a local PGA professional for lessons. For training, contact a local TPI certified instructor. You can go to mytpi.com to find one near you.

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As always, be thankful when you get to play this amazing game. Be grateful for every shot. Appreciate every moment on the course. Now, go golf!