Previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/golftips/s/HasWd3LCVw
At the direction of many of you, I’ve improved my spine angle and shoulder rotation, which has generally increased my speed as I wished.
However, I’m now struggling with a wicked push/block-slice. It’s most prominent with driver (every shot), less so with irons (although I’m seeing a bit of an open face there as well). Shot trace on the screen at the start of the video is pretty typical, the shot captured here was marginally better. I’ve slowed everything down to 3/4 swings until I can figure this out.
I initially thought wrist action was my problem leading to a wide-open face, but after some video review I think it’s an arm path or rotational issue. Is this what getting “stuck” looks like? Because it sure feels that way. I’m seeing my right side bend excessively, with my right shoulder dropping low, and causing me to lose spine angle and block everything way right.
What’s the proper feel to get this fixed ASAP? I feel like I’m so close.
by Kg-42
2 Comments
Nice bro, you’re moving in the right direction here. The added hip bend is a real improvement and gives you a much better athletic base. Now the goal is to protect that posture throughout the swing instead of losing it later. Most of what’s breaking down for you starts very early in the takeaway and then snowballs from there.
Your trail elbow is folding almost immediately, which is exactly what The Arm Swing Illusion talks about. When the trail arm breaks down early, the arms disconnect from the chest and the club gets pulled inside. From there, your body has to make compensations to get back to the ball. Focus on keeping the trail arm longer and more connected for the first part of the takeaway. Think chest, arms, and club moving together for the first foot of the swing. It should feel wide and quiet early, not handsy.
Your trail leg is also straightening too much going back. When that leg locks out, your hips stop rotating properly and your upper body takes over. That loss of rotation is a big reason things collapse later. Keep a little flex in the trail knee and feel pressure stay on the inside of that foot. That allows you to rotate around a stable base instead of standing up to create room.
On the downswing, the collapsing trail shoulder is just the result of those earlier issues. Because the trail arm folded early and the trail leg lost its structure, your body has nowhere to rotate, so the shoulder dives toward the ball. This is where the trail arm concepts from your playlist come in. Keep the trail arm connected to your chest longer and feel the trail shoulder rotating around your spine, not dropping down toward the ground.
The early lift at impact is pure self defense. Your body knows the club is going to bottom out too early, so it stands up to avoid hitting it fat. Once your takeaway stays connected and your trail side stays stable, you’ll be able to stay in posture and let the club bottom out in front of you. The chest keeps turning, the trail shoulder stays tall, and the strike improves without forcing anything.
Big picture, you’re close. The posture improvement is a win. Now clean up the early takeaway and stabilize that trail leg, and a lot of the downswing issues fix themselves. Golf is unfair like that, but you’re definitely trending the right way.
Just wanted to chime in a say that I was one of the people who commented on your last post about your setup, and I already see an improvement in that, your posture is much better! I still think your arms are reaching out a touch too much, but just be diligent about nailing your setup cause it will take more than a day to make it automatic.