Good evening,
Got a good one this week. A weight transfer fix that's likely the real root of a lot of swing problems, a set of irons that'll make you play better than you are, an assist from Tiger Woods, and my buddy AG went for the low-low. Let's get into it.
The Grind
A lot of the time, what looks like a swing problem isn't really about your swing at all. Topped shots, chunked shots, lost power, no spin — nine times out of ten, your weight never actually made it to your front foot. I'm talking about weight transfer: loading into your trail side, then transferring that energy into the ground under your lead side.
Try this: at the top of your backswing, you should feel around 60% of your weight compressed into the inside of your trail foot, preferably the heel. Then, before anything else happens — before your arms, before your club — the first move of your downswing should be a subtle press of that compressed weight into your lead heel. And here's the part where the power actually comes from: that pressure gets the ground pushing back, while your upper body rotates around your spine as the club drops and releases through your hands. Everything else follows that.
Easy way to check yourself: after you hit a shot, look at your back foot. If your heel is still flat on the ground after you finish, your weight never transferred. A full, balanced finish with your back heel up and your weight stacked on your front foot is the tell that you actually got there.
Drill to groove it: start with your feet together, standing normal otherwise. As you swing back, step your trail foot out to its usual position — that's your loading move. Then, as you start the downswing, step your lead foot out to its position to trigger the transition. Do this at half speed to start. It feels exaggerated and a little awkward at first. That's the point — it forces your lower body to lead instead of your arms, and it teaches your body what "forward" actually feels like, since most of us who hang back don't even realize we're doing it.
In the Bag
Spent some real time with the Mizuno JPX 925 Forged irons this week, and overall: soft, responsive, and honest. You can feel exactly where you made contact on an off-center strike, and the club still stabilizes the shot and keeps it tracking toward the target instead of punishing you for the miss.
Sound tells its own story through the set. Short irons give you a muted thud. By the time you get into the longer irons, it shifts into a crisp, assuring click, paired with a mid-high, penetrating ball flight — the kind that looks genuinely strong into the wind. One exception: a few shots in the 6-7-8 range didn't hold up as well when it got breezy, drifting left to right. Not really a knock on the club — more likely the soft-tipped shaft adding launch and spin that got exposed in the wind if the shot wasn't flighted to account for it.
I wouldn't call these workable irons, at least not with the shaft that came in them — and honestly, I'm fine with that. There's something comforting about point-and-shoot characteristics in an iron. Smash a drive down the fairway, then have an iron in hand that does the work for you — that's a real confidence boost when you're trying to get the score down.
Mizuno officially classifies these as a Midsize Cavity iron, suitable for pro to mid-handicap — and that tracks visually. The back of the clubhead gives you game-improvement cues, but the head size and shape still carry a player's-distance look and feel. Lofts run 1-2 degrees strong from 8-PW compared to traditional specs, and you'll notice a bit more loft-jacking once you get to the 6 and 7 — not a bad thing here, since the clubhead still generates enough spin to hold greens. Combine that with the soft-tipped shaft, and you get a high, towering flight that lets you attack pins with real confidence your ball's going to stick. Biggest gap I saw between pitch mark and final ball position was usually 2 to 7 feet.
With the right shaft in them, I'd play these without thinking twice.
Around the Green
Tom Kim woke up Saturday to a text from Tiger Woods. Seven words: "Just be you. Nothing more, nothing less." Hours later, Kim shot a final-round 64 to win Asian Games gold in Japan, finishing three shots clear at 18-under.
This wasn't just a trophy. South Korea requires able-bodied men to serve up to 21 months in the military — but Asian Games gold comes with an exemption, just four weeks of basic training instead. So that text landed on maybe the single most pressure-packed morning of Kim's career, and he admitted the weight of it had been getting to him. Woods knew exactly what that kind of pressure feels like and said the only thing that actually matters.
Kim hasn't texted him back yet. Said he's planning to send a photo of himself biting the gold medal instead.
Simple reminder buried in there for the rest of us: the advice that helps under pressure is rarely complicated. Just play your game.
Reader of the Week
My good friend Anthony Graham has been putting in some serious work on his golf game lately. I had a front row seat to see it come together.
I had noticed he was swinging from his trail side — hitting turf before he got to the ball, classic symptom of weight hanging back instead of moving forward. I mentioned it to him that he should make a deliberate push toward his lead foot while still striking down on the ball. First few swings, I could see him making the move, but the strike wasn't quite there yet. He said he could feel the difference, though, and that he'd work on it.
Next time out, we're at Old Fort, and it's a different player. Anthony's compressing the ball — smooth, rhythmic, balanced weight transfer, the real thing. He shot 74 that day, and I remember saying it more than once out loud: "Graham! You are putting some action on that ball today! That's what real compression gets you — ball control you don't have when you're hanging back.
Confidence was all over that round. He was racking up greens in regulation and rolling the putter like Tiger 2000. Genuinely a joy to watch a friend go low after putting in the work to get there.
Keep it going, AG.
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Hit 'em straight this week.
— Trent
