Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you play smarter, better golf.
The golf swing is a series of complex movements that, if done in sync, can produce one of the most satisfying feelings in the world — a well-struck shot. The trouble is, making all those components work together in perfect synchronization is no easy task.
One of the biggest keys in perfecting this move is shifting your pressure correctly. Get it wrong, and it’ll cost you power. Worse yet, it’ll cost you consistency.
In basic terms, golfers want to shift their pressure to their trail foot in the backswing, and then shift it to their front foot during the downswing and follow through. Unfortunately, that task is easier said than done, and shifting too much or too little can have their own adverse effects.
Luckily, there are an assortment of training aids that can help teach you the feeling of a proper shift, and recently, I got to try one out for myself. Here’s how it works.
Pressure Plate
The pressure plate is a pretty basic piece of equipment, and no matter your skill level, it’s easy to use. All you need to do is take it out of the box and plop it on the ground. Then, you merely stand on top of it and hit some shots.
But there’s a catch. The pressure plate is not completely flat. Instead, the device is curved on the bottom and forces you to shift your pressure back and through during the swing.
Ideally, on your takeaway, you shift the pressure in your feet to your trail side. When you do this, the pressure plate tilts to the ground and raises your front foot. From this position, you must then shift the pressure back to your lead foot to force the pressure plate to tilt in the other direction.
If you don’t shift your pressure correctly throughout the swing, the pressure plate will not tilt to the proper positions. But, if you can get your pressure shift correctly, the plate will tilt back and forward through the swing and produce a crisp strike.
For those of us struggling with shifting and loading, the pressure plate is an easy — and effective — way to learn the basics.
