Swinging the golf club is not a natural motion. It’s why when someone first picks up a club, they always look awkward making a swing — no matter how athletic they are.
But while it’s true that the golf swing does not feel inherently natural, there are elements of it that incorporate natural athletic motions. And when you can learn how to incorporate these athletic movements into your golf swing, it makes it a heck of a lot easier to make a solid swing with lots of power.
In the video below, the coaches at the Titleist Performance Institute demonstrate this phenomenon as they teach the guys from Chasing Scratch how to properly load into the trail side by incorporating the feeling of throwing a ball.
We’d never teach someone to throw a ball without loading into their trail leg and pushing to their lead leg, but we see that pattern in the golf swing all the time.
— TPI (@MyTPI) December 16, 2024: From our assessment earlier this year with @chasingscratch0.
Full video up on their YouTube channel:… pic.twitter.com/XW9w6g2MHM
How to load into your trail side
Loading into your trail side is crucial if you want to generate maximum power. However, when trying to load into that trail leg, lots of recreational players do it incorrectly.
The correct feeling of loading into the trail side involves pushing your right hip back toward your right back pocket (fir right-handed golfers). When trying to do this, though, lots of players do what is called a “reverse pivot” and actually shift their weight back to the left.
To get the correct feeling of this loading, go through the motions of throwing a ball. When you do so, you’ll always turn back and load into your trail side, which allows you to push off the trail leg correctly. The same principle applies in the golf swing.
So, if you’re struggling to learn the feeling of properly loading into your trail side, think about throwing a ball. If you do, and can incorporate that motion into your golf swing, you’ll be hitting the ball long and solid in no time.
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