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Balance is one of the three basic essentials in TGM and an incredible important topic.
The biokinetic answer to your question is straight through you anchles. Where your leg meets the foot. A bit more towards the heels than towards the balls. It's a good start.
Throughout the stroke, the club is pulling us in all direction, one at a time, so balance is not static. You need to move your static balance around to maintain a dynamic balance so lively feet is important. But still, the static balance at address is important too.
Too much toe weighting at address can cause serious stroke problems and often do. It goes hand in hand with quitting. The "striking at the ball" mindstet will promote such an imbalance at address.
At impact the club will pull you towards your toes - and hard too if it has decent speed. Some say that the dynamic weight of the club can reach several hundred lbs through impact, so we're talking about a mighty pull here. In a normal full stroke you basically want to be positioned so that you are able to counter balance that load or even better, keep charging, by pulling from your left shoulder with a left heel solid planted in the ground.
Planning for a full finish (as opposed to hitting at the ball) often helps to find the right heel toe balance and front-to-back balance as well.
If you let your weight get too far towards the heels it may have negative consequences too, one of them being reduced lag pressure during the down swing. But this is perhaps not as serious as being on the toes.
The balance is equally important in the short game. If you get too much over your toes while you putt there is a great risk that you quit on your stroke and flip the club face closed. And miss all the 6 footers.
If you lean a little back on that short greenside chip you're well set for executing a soft semi flop with a shallow angle of attack and angled hinging where the hands stay ahead of the club way into the finish.
Have you ever felt that you have to chose between holding the line or getting the speed right while putting? It is an indication that you are not well balanced. And you are "forced" to hit the ball with a certain force if you want to put the ball on the intended line.
Anyway, balance is certainly one of the things that should be monitored regularly for good golf.
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Best regards,
Bernt
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