Weight falling to toes on downswing

I hope someone knows why, but lately during my downswing I can feel the weight go to my toes, like I am falling forward. Sometimes when this happens I hit the hosel or hit it off the heel. Am I swinging out of control, I don't think I am, I have been trying to make sure my weight stays centered or back on my heels, it seems to help.

Anyone know what causes this? Any drills to stop?

Any help is appreciated.

Early extension most likely. Arms lag behind body and it throws the heel out towards the ball.

The body is always striving to remain in balance .Check out your fore/aft balance at setup and make sure that your weight is not too much toward your heels at setup.You want a balanced athletic feel at setup..

Thanks for the replies. I have been trying to make sure my weight it balanced at setup, still sometimes, my weight goes forward.

Struggled with this as well. Now that I think about it - still struggle. Get up on toes (especially back foot) and here I go, OTT. Here is what I try to accomplish....keep my rear foot planted flat on downswing. Or even put a ball under your rear foot, near the toes (Golf Mag had this tip as well) and swing. Or lay a shaft down under the outside of your rear foot w/ your weight favoring the inside of the back foot. On downswing - roll your rear foot inwards, towards target.

These are the things I work on. I am not a pro or teaching professional. Ordinary Joe golfer. But this is what I work on. G luck.

Club is swinging too much towards body in forward/downswing...

Very typical reaction to OTT'ers...

Body has to counter balance...

thanks for the replies.

I had this type of off balance swing when i went over the top alot. I have now changed to concentrate on dropping the hands and shifting the weight forward and it has stopped my OOT move and stopped the weight from shifting to my toes.

Please send drills or suggestions to fight this.


I am having trouble keeping balance and yes my weight is falling to the toes... Need help

^^^^ In addition to what I posted above in 2013, I still do those drills, but I also have started swinging with my feet together. This really helped me, especially w/ driver.

Simple fix...ensure you have spine tilt at address. Bump your hips forward a bit one you address the ball.

Once your swinging ensure you maintain that tilt though the swing. This will help shallow out the downswing - hard to be on your toes when your shallow coming into the ball

Ive been doing that.... Thing is... If I try to keep my spine angle. All my weight goes to the toes.

Im having trouble to keep the weight on the balls or even heels of the feet.

Keeping the spine angle to prevent early extension i just start falling towards the ball. lol

Check you ball position with respect to how far away it is from your toe line. If it's gotten away from you, you're going to have a tendency to reach for the ball on the way down.

That, and make sure you get your weight into your back heel going back. If I get into my back foot's toes on the way back, I stay out over my toes on the way down, and I'm cooked. And if you can't shift into your back heel on the backswing without diving at the ball on the way down, maybe the ball is too far way from you.

ill check it.. but yes its only in the downswing! im very carefull on the backswing and setup. and as soon as im downswinging my tendency is to go to my toes...


and if i have the ball too near me i shank it. i think i just need an exercise to [b]get my foot very stable[/b] during the swing... especially on the [b]downswing[/b]

Try the Monte drill of starting the downswing with the right elbow. It is the single best advice I have ever read/seen. So many good things fall to place when you do it.

Take a video and make sure your shaft/club isn't getting too steep in your downswing. If it is steep, your body will early extend and you will feel the weight on your toes. Early extension is symptom, not a cause. Your body/brain will naturally early extend if you are steep, in an effort to get the club on the ball. Concentrating on getting the weight off your toes won't help, as it is a compensation for something else that's happening earlier in the swing. Good luck.

i see.. i actually been quite on plane on my videos.. even though i will have a look on the monte video.. thanks guys

just watched it! great tip! nice swing thought / feeling. will have a try! thanks again

[quote name='freekick' timestamp='1423775979' post='10940863']Ive been doing that.... Thing is... If I try to keep my spine angle. All my weight goes to the toes.

Im having trouble to keep the weight on the balls or even heels of the feet.

Keeping the spine angle to prevent early extension i just start falling towards the ball. lol[/quote]

Sorry, I'm talking lateral spine angle tilt away from the target line, not tilt towards the ball.

You physically can't swing on your toes with correct spine tilt. It's impossible.

[quote name='Shane1' timestamp='1423779292' post='10941247'] Take a video and make sure your shaft/club isn't getting too steep in your downswing. If it is steep, your body will early extend and you will feel the weight on your toes. Early extension is symptom, not a cause. Your body/brain will naturally early extend if you are steep, in an effort to get the club on the ball. Concentrating on getting the weight off your toes won't help, as it is a compensation for something else that's happening earlier in the swing. Good luck. [/quote]

Fantastic advice, Shane. I had recently steepened my swing without realizing it and started early extending, swinging on my toes, and shanking. In reality I was just trying to have a higher hand position in my backswing. Golf is kind of like a whack-a-mole game. You take care of one issue and three pop up in its place.

I struggled with this some time ago... my solution was weight left and stay left throughout the swing. On the downswing I feel like the lateral move transfers weight to the outside of my left foot before turning and bringing down the club.

I had/have the same problem. In an effort to swing more from the inside I swing toward the ball and my momentum pulls me a little closer and my weight shifts to my toes which shifts the strike toward the heel and there's the shank. I can hit twenty balls in row really well and then my weight will shift, I hit the shank, and I can't get out of it. Funny how in golf you mind can just plain go blank at times and you can't remember why something is happening or how to fix it. What helps me is to try to finish with my weight on my left side and more on the outside of my left heel. You cannot get to this finish position if you allow your weight to go forward on the downswing. If you look at almost any pro at their finish you will see the weight on the left heel and the toes of the left foot slightly off the ground. Hope this helps, I think all the suggestions above will help also.

I have had the same problem. In my case it's a result of my backswing being way too long and second that I've had my weight more on the balls of my feet instead of in the middle of my feet. Shortening my backswing has made a big difference, in a lot of different ways, but feeling as though my weight is more centered over my feet has really made a difference, in fact it helps short my swing as I am more focused on weight transfer and turn rather than sway. Taking short 'cutting the grass' practice swings helps to bring your swing more into control. At least it's working for me at the moment.

You're being pulled into the circumference instead of resisting the pull of the club head with the center (7th cervical). It sholdn't be something you think about, you do it automatically when you make an athletic motion such as throwing a ball.

I think your weight should be falling away from the club, offsetting the club forces. Look at how most tour guys will swing the left hip up and out. If you're moving the hip in that fashion and still weight falling towards toe, you're not doing it. Make sure you video your swing and compare. Put a bag close to your left hip so you will bump against it in your impact/follow through. It's a drastically different motion compared to the bump forward EE move you are doing. It's hard to engrain though, and have to relearn how to distribute power in the new way.

Is your pressure going towards the toes in the back swing? Pressure sure move from roughly the balls of your feet and slightly left at address towards the rear heel in the backswing then work towards the lead heel in the downswing. If you are on your toes a lot then it may not be getting enough into your rear heel during the backswing.