After 35 years covering this tour, I’ve watched thousands of swings—from the practice range at Augusta to the range at Torrey Pines in the dead of winter. I’ve stood behind ropes as the game’s best grinders worked through their mechanics, and I’ve sat in the scorer’s trailer listening to professionals dissect why they shot 68 instead of 65. One thing I’ve learned is that golf instruction tends to swing like a pendulum. For years, we’ve heard about “staying loaded” at the top of the backswing, as if the goal is to look like you’re coiled so tight you might spring through the earth. But the latest thinking from instructors like Kellie Stenzel offers something more nuanced—and frankly, more practical—than that.
The Load Is Earlier Than You Think
What strikes me most about Stenzel’s research is how it validates something I’ve observed but struggled to articulate during my years as a caddie for Tom Lehman. The timing of the weight shift isn’t where most amateurs think it is. We’ve all heard the clichéd instruction to “load up,” and we picture some Tour pro at the top of the backswing, weighted heavily into their trail leg like they’re about to launch a discus. But according to Stenzel’s work with force plates and Swing Catalyst technology:
“Max load occurs as soon as you start the club back — that’s the big shift.”
This is the kind of detail that separates casual instruction from real understanding. Most golfers spend the first half of their backswing unloaded, still trying to figure out where their weight should go. By the time they’ve rotated halfway back, they’re scrambling to get loaded. The best players? They’ve already shifted their weight to the trail side in the first foot or two of the backswing. It’s economical. It’s efficient. And it’s not something you see emphasized nearly enough in instruction.
The Counterintuitive Part: Feeling Light at the Top
Now here’s where it gets interesting, and where I think the instruction world has been missing an important distinction. Stenzel’s research suggests that while early load is crucial, the feeling at the top of the backswing should actually be one of lightness. Not instability—lightness. This is the kind of nuance that separates the players who make professional cuts from those who don’t.
“As you reach the top with the club high above your hands, feel that load disappear a little. It’s this feeling of lightness that’ll help you create a smoother transition from backswing to downswing.”
In my experience caddying in the ’90s and covering the tour since then, I’ve noticed that the best ball strikers have this peculiar quality—they look almost relaxed at the top. Not loose, mind you. Controlled. There’s a difference. Think of someone like Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler. At the top of their swings, they don’t look buried. They look ready. Light on their feet, ready to attack. The weight distribution is there, but the physical feeling—the sensation—is almost weightless.
This is where amateur golfers get it wrong. They load early (good), but then they hold that load so rigidly through the top that they can’t make a smooth transition. It’s like gripping a tennis racket during the serve. You load, but you don’t squeeze. You stay loose.
The Five Components of a Sound Backswing
Stenzel breaks down the mechanics into five key components for making a perfect backswing. While the article doesn’t detail all five explicitly, the framework is worth understanding:
1. Address Position – Everything starts here. Get this wrong and you’re fighting it all day.
2. Early Trail Leg Load – Get your weight shifted quickly, not gradually.
3. The Lightness Factor – Feel that load release slightly as the club rises above your hands.
4. The Transition – This lightness at the top allows for a smooth, powerful downswing.
5. Front-Side Dominance – The payoff: your weight moves forward, you create lag, and you launch upward for power.
What I appreciate about this framework is that it’s based on actual data, not feel or folklore. Force plates don’t lie. Swing Catalyst doesn’t care about tradition or what your dad told you about golf.
Why This Matters for Tour Professionals
Having watched 15 Masters tournaments and countless other events, I can tell you that the difference between a player who’s struggling and one who’s playing well often comes down to transition timing. When a pro loses it, one of the first things you notice is that their top-of-backswing position looks heavy. They’re stuck. The downswing becomes a rescue operation rather than an execution.
Conversely, when you see a player playing his best golf, that top-of-backswing position has this almost springy quality to it. The body is coiled but not tense. The weight is distributed but feels light. It’s the difference between a loaded spring and a taut cable—one has give, the other is just rigid.
“When you’re light at the top you can more easily get your weight to your front side and launch upward for a powerful strike.”
This is the real payoff. You don’t load your backswing to stay loaded. You load it to unload it powerfully and efficiently.
The Bigger Picture
What encourages me is that instruction continues to evolve based on technology and research. We’re not stuck in the past, regurgitating the same wisdom that may or may not be accurate. Stenzel’s work with force plates represents the kind of scientific approach that’s elevating the game, both for Tour professionals and for recreational players trying to improve.
The fundamentals haven’t changed. But our understanding of those fundamentals—the timing, the sequencing, the feeling—that’s getting sharper every year. And that’s good for golf.
