At address, regardless of which club is being used, your weight should be evenly distributed between your feet and towards your heels. During the swing this weight distribution should not consciously change (although as a practical matter it will shift slightly). By consciously incorporating a weight shift you will unconsciously create the swaying motion mentioned above and eliminate any chance of a good swing. The main problem with a swaying motion is that instead of being able to bring the club around and behind you during the backswing the sway to the right forces you to bring the club directly out to your right side. This destroys your power potential and creates an outside to inside swing path through impact causing a slice as was discussed in Swing Tips XVI. As well, the forced sway to the left during the downswing makes it virtually impossible to bring the club-head through the ball on a consistent plane.

Power in a golf swing is produced by the torque created between the torso and hips as your upper body rotates clockwise around your lower body during the backswing. This brings the golf club behind you instead of out to the right which allows you to fully unleash the built-up power during the downswing and starts you off in the correct plane through impact. Any sway or conscious weight shift to the right side during the backswing will completely negate the possibility of this from happening and result in inconsistent performance and a distinct lack of power. The next time you watch a golf tournament on television notice the hips of the golfer during the swing - their relative position never changes during the backswing or downswing but remains stationary throughout. Try this at the range and you will see a definite difference in your fairway wood and driver play. I will caution you that it will feel very strange at first but once you see the results your comfort level and confidence will increase dramatically.