This position is perhaps the most critical in the PPGS posture and was the last part of the setup that I figured out. I discuss all the points and issues of Pre-Loaded Heavy Right (PLHR) in the Peak Performance Golf Swing Foundations Manual in Chapter 5, titled 'Balance and Weight Distribution' on pages 36, 37 and 38.
I decided to write about PLHR after giving a lesson to Mike, one of D.J.'s former Clemson Golf teammates who is getting serious about his game, preparing for the USGA and South Carolina Amateur and Mid Amateur Championships. Mike informed me in our pre lesson talk that he was hitting a lot of heavy/chunky shots and a lot of blocks to the right. He also informed me that he bought the DVD series and an extra one for his mother and father, and has been studying them intently to fine tune his setup and swing. He called to get a lesson because he said that he just wasn't quite putting everything together tight enough and knew I could get the fine tuning done quickly.
I started this lesson, as I do all lessons, by filling out my setup and swing diagnosis form. When I was filling out the diagnosis sheet, I wrote in the posture space 'heavy left' for Mike's weight distribution. Most of his setup was good except for the heavy left and, like 95 percent plus of all lessons, his alignment was off, aiming an average of 15 to 20 yards to the right of his target.
I had him hit some mid and long irons and his driver in the diagnosis stage. His swing was pretty good, keeping his knees quiet in the back swing, and he had a real good, limited turn to left arm over the toe line and ¾ length backswing for all his clubs. He had two swing problems that needed to be addressed. The first was his shaft position at the top of his backswing. His shaft was in the heavy position, pointing to around 10 to 10:30. He also was finishing with his hands a little wide from his head, which also pulled his torso left of the target and curling the club to a cut finish position.
With my diagnosis complete I began my evaluation with an overall compliment on his setup and swing, telling Mike that I saw two setup problems and two swing problems that would easily be fixed. The first setup problem I fixed was his alignment, as he knows the importance of the Big A, and only needed to be reminded to pay extra special attention to it. I decided to ask a question before I went into discussing his heavy left setup. I asked Mike to take his posture and tell me the weight distribution he felt on both feet. He mentioned that he was trying to get Pre-Loaded Heavy Right and felt he was. Since I labeled him heavy left, I gave him the weight distribution test for him to figure it out where his weight actually is.
I ask Mike to address the ball in his setup posture. I then told him to imagine a line from the center of the sternum/neck (like where one's Adams Apple would be) going straight down to the ground. 'Now, close your eyes and figure out which way you can shift your weight 1 inch and be able to pick up the opposite foot.' It took around 20 seconds for him to move 1 inch to the left and pick up his right foot. He stood up and pronounced in dismay that he is heavy left and not PLHR. He also added that he must not understand how to get into the position.
I asked Mike to explain how he moves to get PLHR. He said he got into posture with neutral weight distribution (weight evenly 50 ' 50 on both feet) and then tilted his shoulders and upper torso to the right. There was the problem. When you stand neutral and just tilt your upper body to the right, it pushes your hips and lower body to the left and you will feel the right hip slip or collapse downward. When this happens, your upper and lower body is now disconnected. Your head and shoulders are leaning too far right and the center of your swing (the base of your neck) is too far right of your center of gravity (the base of your spine in the center of your hips). This creates the disconnect and poor balance where the upper tends to collapse a little at the transition and voila'¦'Chunky Monkey' impacts.
The correct way to get Pre-Loaded Right starts from the neutral 50 ' 50 stance position. But instead of just tilting your upper torso to the right, YOU SHIFT YOUR ENTIRE TORSO TO THE RIGHT, PLACING 60 TO 70 PERCENT OF YOUR WEIGHT ON YOUR RIGHT FOOT AND LEG. With the narrow stance of the PPGS setup and the right foot centered under the right shoulder, your belt buckle will move only around 1 inch when you make this weight shift over and onto your right leg. You will notice that in doing it this way your hips and shoulders are less tilted and the right hip does not collapse downward. You are still centered over the hips and the body is in dynamic balance and the left side of your body has an outward bow toward the target. (See page 38 of the PPG Swing manual,)
The PLHR setup has numerous benefits: it keeps the body level, stable and in dynamic balance, which will end the chunky monkeys. Make too much turn and you loose balance. Over turn your shoulders and you loose balance. Let the arms go deep and behind the torso into the SBG and you loose balance. The PLHR setup is basically an automatic sensory system to help you make the limited turn ¾ vertical backswing.
The last swing point I needed to correct was the laid off heavy club at the top of the backswing. Like alignment, all I needed was to remind him and he was close to 12:00 in a couple of swings. I gave him the 'Butt on the Wall' drill to reinforce getting back the vertical/light feel of the club at the top of his backswing. We decided that we will meet weekly for the next few weeks to make sure he gets his technical excellence of his setup and swing back in the groove.
The Surge!