Forget Your Hips, Consider Your Knees

Knee position at the top.

We often hear that the downswing starts "from the ground-up." And then, we invariably hear that this means we should focus on our hips, which inevitably leads to debates about hips rotating versus bumping, ad infinitum. Amateur golfers develop all sorts of bad habits as a result of this debate.

But if we're focused on "ground up" sequencing in the downswing, doesn't that mean that we should start with the feet? And then ankles? And then the knees? Followed by the hips?

The first thing you should feel in a "ground up" transition and downswing is increased pressure in your left foot, almost as if squishing water from a sponge under that foot. This all occurs while your back is still turned towards the target (see "Knee position at the top" image).

Knee position at impact.

A few notable golf instructors and professionals have spoken or written about how weight should move in the feet. Some talk about "rolling the ankles" (which sounds painful). And a few have written about the knees' movement during the downswing. I'm proposing that you consider the lateral, "rotational" movement of the knees. Why? The knees are closer to "the ground," kinetically-speaking. And you don't have to worry over weight movement in the feet or twisting an ankle, as you haplessly try to figure out what rolling them means. It seems that, if you move your knees correctly to start the downswing (especially that right or back knee), the weight shifting sensed through the feet is correct, and the hips automatically, kinetically, perform the correct actions.

Knee position at finish.

Here's a tidbit that is not offered openly by very many teaching professionals: The knees move laterally, linearly, and "rotationally." The rotational part is an important, elusive tenet and one you may not have heard elsewhere, but the knees face the target line at address (i.e., towards the viewer in face-on view and parallel to the target line in DTL view) and turn to roughly face the target prior to impact. It's an optical illusion, or simply a misunderstanding, that leads weekend golfers to believe the knees remain in their address orientations throughout the swing; and put into practice in this way, it's a large power leak.

Note the images accompanying this post of touring professional, Jeff Overton, hitting an 8-iron in the face-on view. Using a golf swing analysis app, I drew red circles over the address positions of Jeff's knee caps to demonstrate how the knees shift and "rotate" during the swing. At or approaching the top, you can see that the right knee doesn't really move from its address position, while the left knee moves slightly toward the right knee (pointing at the ball). At or approaching impact, both knees have shifted toward the target considerably, both knees are still quite bent, and they have "rotated" more towards the target. At or approaching the finish, both knees are now facing the target. The right knee is bent, and the left is mostly straight. The right knee, though facing the target, has replaced the address position of the left knee. Both knees are nearly touching.

You may be thinking that the knees don't really "rotate" or turn, biomechanically speaking, and you'd be right. What actually occurs is that the left or forward hip joint undergoes external rotation (moving from an internally rotated position at the top of the swing), which allows the inside of the left leg to face the target line and the left knee to go from facing the target line at address to facing the target at impact.

The right hip internally rotates so that the right knee folds inward towards the left knee; during this movement, the right foot rolls to the inside but remains roughly on the ground, lengthwise, until it's finally forced onto the toe by continuing rotation. Both the "right foot roll" and the right knee "folding inward" occur together as a result of the correct lower body movement. It's possible that this "right foot roll" is the origin of the "ankle rolling" advice.

 

Regardless of which knee you choose to focus on, either knee is making specific movements and can lead the other knee to follow properly. Now, what about the knees moving laterally and linearly? If you should prefer thinking of the left knee: The bent left knee should move--laterally--out over the left foot (maybe even fractionally outside the left shoulder), separating itself from the right knee, causing the infamous "squat" look that Sam Snead made famous. It's also at this time when the left knee "rotates" to face the target, because the left hip externally rotates. This movement of the left knee forward begins WHILE the club is still setting at the top, which enhances lag on the way down.

The linear part of the movement really refers to the action of both knees. After the initial separation and lateral movement of the left knee, the right knee follows along the same line traveled first by the left knee; it appears to tuck in behind the left knee's address position when viewed down-the-line.

Not all pro golfers utilize a separated knee action and its pronounced squat move. But all of them have knees that move toward the target prior to impact and "rotate" to face the target.

Now to make a powerful transition in your golf swing from your backswing to your downswing you should transfer your weight from your back foot to your front foot.

A great way I have found to do this is to initiate the downswing by moving the front knee towards the target.

However, it’s a good idea when doing this to try and keep the back knee where it was in the backswing because this knee separation creates lag in the downswing, which helps to create the late hit that every golfer wants because it gives longer golf drives!

The Golf Swing: What Your Legs Should Be Doing To Hit Longer Golf Drives

If you're having trouble keeping your swing consistent when a match is on the line, key on your left knee to start your downswing. When you practice, remember to support your backswing with your right leg, then move your left knee and thigh laterally, then rotationally, to your left. This allows your arms to drop the club inside the target line on the downswing for long and consistent shots.

Jim Flick: Knees Are Key

Even as the wrists are completing their part of the turn, the lower body has moved into the backstretch. The left knee moves laterally into the downswing and pulls on the left hip which in turn pulls the left arm downward. At the same time, the right knee begins to drive toward the target, taking with it the shoulders, arms, and hands.

When you execute the swing properly, the leadership of the legs creates a lag of the hands and clubhead, resulting in what's commonly called a delayed release. In this position, just prior to impact, the wrists have not yet uncocked and there is a tremendous amount of club head speed ready to be unleashed.

Instruction Tip #50 - The Downswing | The Shark

Jim Furyk won the Tour Championship and the Fedex Cup in 2010—thanks to his left knee. As we show in this video, the most consistent winners in the history of golf also started their downswing with their left knee. This made them consistent winners because it helped to insure that their downswing sequence was in the right order and that their front spine angle remained fairly constant.

Furyk Wins $11.35 Million with Left Knee

Sequencing Drill: Place and hold a clubshaft behind your back just above the shoulder blades and a soccer ball between your knees, and assume your address position. Just before your shoulders reach the top, drop the soccer ball by moving your left knee toward the target. This move will produce the feeling of a correct transition and a "sitting-down" look in your lower body.

Automatic Transition

The idea is to make your backswing move, then get a real sense of 'squatting' and 'settling' in the lower body as you fuse the two halves together by reversing momentum from the ground up. Your weight shifts back across to the left foot, left knee working towards the target while left hip and left shoulder pull in that same direction. The result is a natural shallowing of the swing plane as the right arm and shoulder drop, setting up the desired inside attack on the ball.

Driving to Success

To do this the legs start by shifting both knees and ankles targetward. It is true that the head stays behind the ball, but the core of the body shifts and clears past the ball rather dramatically. This assists the hands and arms in making their initial drop to the waist high area while wrists are still fully hinged. At this stage the right wrist should still be bent back fully but the palm is now facing the ground not the sky. With the palm facing down this insures the clubface is also facing down or toward the ball and requires no scooping or manipulation to be squared up in time for the hit.

Golf Lag: Stop Casting, Lag like Tiger Woods

Use this image to check your weight transfer: Your right knee should point at or slightly in front of the ball at impact. That shows you've made a good shift. Here's the sequence: Left knee points behind the ball at the top; right knee points toward it at impact (above).

Tom Watson: Right Knee Power Key

As I transition my weight from my right side to my left side, I begin the necessary move of the right knee toward my left knee. You can see that happening here as I drop the club on the downswing and rotate my hips open. As the right knee gets closer to the left knee, the left knee straightens out.

Quick Tips To Play Better

 

Clarifying the Hips' Role

Typical sway (rear view).

The dreaded sway is a plague. For one thing, it's hard to discern if you're guilty of it if you're not paying attention, and an amateur golfer with a sway is usually focused on other parts of the swing. And the opposing sensation--the correct one--will feel wrong when first attempted. Let's face it. A sway feels powerful to a beginning golfer; after all, they're "shifting weight to the back foot" like they've been told to do. But they can't figure out why they're seeing all these weak, floaty, fat shots coming off their club. Must need to swing faster...or sway more. Nope.

I recently understood why--finally--I had thought that keeping my right knee bent was helping me during a particular round but didn't seem to help much subsequent to that. I had assigned the results I was getting at the time to the wrong aspect of my backswing. Yes, I was keeping my right knee more bent in the backswing, but the real help was that my pelvis was passively turning in a more centered fashion WHILE keeping my right knee bent! This is a prime example of how we golfers can go on wild goose chases for that "thing" that will always be with us on the course, when in reality we can only count on a few key fundamentals and physics. We must continue coming back to those and working on them.

First, there are some setup characteristics that encourage an over-active hip rotation and its more desirable opposite. The more closed your stance (as if presetting for a draw), the more likely you will over-rotate the hips going back. Conversely, squaring your stance (or even opening it a bit) will decrease the possible amount of hip turn going back; the caveat is that a more open stance increases your chance of hitting outside-in. A ticked-in right knee will discourage hip over-rotation, as will a right foot that is kept perpendicular to the target line. Finally (already alluded to this), keeping the right knee bent in the backswing will prevent the hips from turning too much going back.

Correct right hip pivot.

Even though you do shift weight to the right foot (for a right-handed player), the pelvis--and thus the right hip--should never move to the right from its address position. Instead, the right hip rotates both backwards and towards the target in response to the right shoulder pulling straight back (causing the left shoulder to turn behind the ball); the rear hip never moves away from the target or to the right, which is the textbook definition of a sway and probably some form of a reverse pivot. The weight automatically stays concentrated on the inside of right foot and right leg as its supposed to.

In other words, imagine a line drawn on the ground that extends from the ball to between one's legs at address (i.e., a line perpendicular to the target line). A correct backswing hip movement has the right hip rotating back and around towards that line while the left shoulder turns to point at or just behind the ball; the right hip should not move further away from that line. This is a key distinction. And when you first do it correctly--when you've been swaying away--it will feel wrong...until you actually hit the ball and feel what happens.

A sway usually involves a straightening right knee due to (or as a result of) active hip rotation, while the correct, passive hip pivot in the backswing--with the hips initially resisting and remaining stable during the takeaway--allows the right knee to stay bent in order to keep the hips level and prevent the upper body from leaning to the left. During the takeaway, you should strive for the feeling that the hips and knees stay parallel to the target line initially and only pivot back due to the shoulders continued turn; this creates tension in the body that can be used to add power to your swing, while the stable lower body contributes to more consistent contact.

Examine a professional golfer in their address and backswing positions and you'll see that their rear leg at the top of the backswing appears to keep the same angle it had in relation to the body at address: The rear leg appears--from the foot to the hip--to be angled towards the target throughout the swing, while a swayer's rear leg goes from the correct angled appearance at address to an upright or vertical appearance at the top of the backswing. Heck, a severe sway can even have the rear leg angled entirely in the other direction at the top!

It's that centralized pelvic motion brought about by the proper rear hip rotation that allows for an easy weight shift to the front leg, dynamic front hip rotation (that mirrors the rear hip rotation in the other direction), and powerful, compressive impact. This is what Shawn Clement refers to when he talks about the correct weight shift and hip pivoting action--his "braced tilt." As a matter of fact, the left hip in the downswing nearly mirrors the motion of the right hip's backswing movement. At the completion of the backswing, there's a subtle, small shift of pressure into the left foot (many call this shift a "hip bump"); following that subtle move, the left hip simply turns behind the golfer and away from the target, while the upper body and arms stay passive! In reality, the left hip pivots both away from the target and upwards, due to the straightening left leg. The upper body shortly follows, and this makes it easy to keep one's head behind the ball, swing inside-out, and hit a push-draw. Performed correctly, you will notice a distinct stretched feeling all along the left side of the rib cage; a line running along the side of the left leg and left torso will resemble a crescent shape at impact.

Also, keep this in mind: The correct sequence of the aforementioned rear hip movement for the takeaway and backswing always follows the turning of the shoulders. The shoulders, arms, and club make a centralized turn first while the lower body remains still, and the shoulders eventually reach a point where they can't turn further; it's here that the rear hip turns back and behind the golfer to allow a 90-degree shoulder turn. Don't turn the hips before the shoulders. The correct sequence is that the shoulders turn the hips going back, and the hips turn the shoulders on the way down.

Left hip and crescent shape.

You see, the term “shift” is all wrong for the backswing. “Pivot” is a better term. The right hip will pivot back like sitting back in a chair and then around – actually coiling back toward the target slightly, not drifting sideways to the right. The right foot will stay braced on the instep, and the leg will remain leaning inward like a ball player braced to push off for a throw.

Weight Shift in Golf Swing – Herman Williams Golf

Have you ever hit balls at the range next to someone who made an awesome sound when they hit the ball? That sound is compression. It makes other players turn and watch because obviously this is a great ball striker. The player has made his divot past the ball and transferred the energy efficiently from the clubhead to the ball. Distance control is one of the keys to scoring. Great golfers don’t always hit the ball accurately but they often hit the ball pin high which means they are making solid contact. Proper hip action on the backswing plays a major role in compressing the ball. A common swing thought is to transfer your weight to your right side on the backswing. Unfortunately, most players sway their hips back to do this causing fat and thin contact. The key is to allow your hips to truly turn, not sway.

Hip Turn | MySmartGolf.com Blog

 

Get Off Your Right Side!

One of a golfer's biggest potential errors is to get lazy and fail to shift or transfer the weight FULLY to the left foot before starting down. We all know we're supposed to do it--bump to the left and then rotate. Sometimes we think we're doing it when we really aren't. Some can get part way over at impact but not far enough; the weight ends up, maybe, in the center of the stance to the inside of the left foot at impact. Maybe it stays more on the right foot than imagined. Usually, it's because we're working on some other part of the swing and become distracted from this absolute essential fundamental. All sorts of wayward shots result, including slices and fat shots.

The reverse pivot is the other golf weight shift evil that's far worse than failing to get fully to the left; these folks (fortunately not my problem) do it all backwards; they shift their weight left on the backswing and then right on the downswing, all the while thinking they're doing it correctly. You'll know them by the way the lose their balance and fall backward at impact, with more weight on the right foot at the finish than at address. Sometimes you'll even see them take a step backwards with the left leg!

To get an idea of what "correct" feels like, use Shawn Clement's One Leg Drill to exaggerate the feeling of pivoting in a centered fashion and being firmly onto the left side to begin the downswing. At impact, most of the weight should be on the left foot. This is what is often called "hitting into a firm left side or left leg." Shawn calls it "bracing one's tilt against a firm left side." The inside of the right leg and foot should be the pivot point for a centralized backswing (with most weight movement to the right provided by the arms and club only--not a conscious shifting of body weight to the right), and the left foot and leg should be the pivot point for the downswing! The right leg's main function at impact is to ensure the tilted upper body doesn't fall over while mostly supported by the left leg. So, a key part of a great forward weight transfer is ensuring that you don't move too far off the ball to begin with! Make a centralized turn (you shouldn't move more than an inch of so off the ball during the backswing weight "shift." (really more of a turn than a shift) All sorts of GREAT shots result when getting off the right side by impact, such as power, slight draws, easier fades (with the right stance and grip adjustments), low shots played further back in the stance, hitting down, crisp contact, lower ball flights, great wedges, etc. The finish will be fully over the left side, with the weight concentrated toward the outside of the left foot, like it's supposed to be.

Notice frame 5 - shift before arms come down!

 

Other drills to instill this feeling include Gary Player's "hit and take a step after impact" drill and completely lifting the right foot off the ground at the finish while remaining balanced on the left foot. Either of these makes the point that the right leg should have minimal involvement in supporting the body weight at impact and beyond.

Here's another feel to get the point of shifting into a solid left leg and stable left foot: When bumping the left hip targetward, act as if the left foot becomes firmly planted onto the flat surface of a foot stool and that the next act has one stepping up by straightening the left leg while rotating to put something on a shelf behind and above oneself. All of this should be happening while the arms are still at the top or nearly there! Don't start down with the arms before planting into that left leg, because that left leg is the power engine for the arms to accelerate from the ground up! Get the feeing that your hands and arms are lazy and kind of pause at the top (with the back turned), while you shift firmly into the left leg. In reality, the club head will keep going for a second and set at the top while you shift. The head should stay tilted back behind the ball.

Shift into left leg then fire!

 

Characteristics of a proper weight transfer during the downswing: The weight shifts linearly (targetward) into the MIDDLE of the left foot, BEFORE opening the shoulders and starting down with the arms and club. As the left hip bumps towards the target, there's a distinct, solid feeling in left hip and bent left knee, as the weight settles into the left leg (again, before starting down with the club), though the upper body is tilted away from the target. The bent left knee will shift from pointing behind the ball to pointing ahead of it, automatically. The right knee will fold in (again, linearly) behind the left knee, automatically. When the weight first transfers quickly to the left foot, the left knee is bent but gradually straightens as the left hip gradually rotates backwards and upwards during the remaining downswing motions (the left hip rotates upwards because the left knee straightens). This move is NOT abrupt or "stomping" in nature; it's a very smooth but rapid transition into the left foot (almost a pressing down feeling) that gets the weight left. At impact, there's practically no weight on the right foot. The weight will be firmly in the middle of the left foot at impact and will gradually roll to the outside of the foot at the finish.

The weight transfers in the swing purely due to the motion in the arms hands and club as they travel away from the target. Think of it this way – if I swing my arms, which each weigh 15 lbs, and a club in my backswing you can be sure that I am transferring weight onto my back foot. There is however no conscious shifting or body move that gets the weight over there.

There is no lateral body move, yet many players often wrote or spoke about a sense of weight transfer. The body stays centered while the weight is transferred by the motion in the arms and the club. Video HERE

All the best ball strikers studied displayed a tendency to transfer the weight to the front foot in a smooth and continuous flow with no backing up or slowing of the transfer...This meant that they arrived at impact with an 80/20 split favoring the front foot and the weight continued to move smoothly over to the front side beyond impact.

The tendency with higher handicap golfers (above 18) was for the weight to get too far back and then remain there all the way through impact. It was not unusual to see one of these golfers have a split of 70/30 favoring the back foot at impact.

Weight Transfer and Positioning | Andrew Rice Golf

The hips play a very important role in the golf swing. The problem is that most people do not understand the correct motion that they must make. The correct move is NOT a simple turn of the hips from the top of the swing, as many would believe.

In fact, the correct move is a slight lateral shift, or "bump", and then a turn. If you look at players like Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo, you will see a perfect example of this. These guys don't just turn their hips away from the top. Instead, their weight shifts laterally to the left side, which drops everything (arms and shoulders) into the slot. From there, they can just turn and fire through the ball as hard as they want.

Golf Tips - Hip Movement During the Swing

Secondly, good ball-strikers make a full weight transfer to the left as they complete their swing. You can't finish low if you hang back on your right side. Proof of the weight shift is your right heel.

If you've turned your hips aggressively and moved to your left side through impact, your right heel should be off the ground and closer to the target than your right toe.

Stay Low After Impact - Butch Harmon

Start the downswing by stepping down on your left heel and letting your left hip move slightly toward the target. As your lower body starts to move, pull your hands down, keeping your right elbow close to your right hip as long as possible.

Take our advice: Put your golf slice in the past

This “bump then fire” action, which is present in the techniques of many elite players, requires considerable discipline in ensuring that the weight transfer is properly executed before commencing the downswing rotation.

Understanding golf swing weight shift

 

Pivot: Think Inside of the Right Foot

A golfer's hips and upper body should mostly pivot in-place, staying fairly centered with no lateral movement. If you're like me, you've struggled with a sway that moves the swing plane's low point all over the place, making it difficult to get back to the ball consistently and apply power efficiently and effortlessly. The body can sway moving right, but it can, unfortunately, sway too far left on the downswing--getting too far ahead of the ball.

At some point, I think a golfer MUST get this point to advance beyond high handicap status: The backswing pivot occurs on the inside of the right leg and inside the right foot (for right handed players). Now, you may have been told that before from many credible sources and thought you WERE doing it, but when you really learn to do this right, a major lightbulb will go on over your head.

If you discover that your right hip is moving outside of your right knee and placing weight towards the outside of your right foot, you are swaying. This is very subtle and sometimes difficult to catch. The hips and knees should turn inside the feet.

The right hip actually moves straight back and even inwards a bit towards the center of the stance; the hips and knees should always stay centered between the feet until the very end of the swing.

A drill that you can find throughout the internet works to teach this sensation: Simply place a golf ball underneath and to the outside of your right foot and take some practice swings. There are also more expensive training aids available that can teach the same feeling. See how the swing center (and therefore bottom of the swing) stays closer to where you established it at address? When you first hit some balls while concentrating on this move (when you've been a swayer), you'll immediately understand the difference.

When this is done properly, the outside of the right foot should feel like it's slightly off the ground during the backswing, and the right knee will kick inward toward the left knee ever so slightly during or just before the backswing. Some pros use the inward kick of the right knee as a way to start their swing, and it's not a bad idea--it helps remove the possibility that you will sway. Or you might consider just kicking in the right knee slightly and concentrating your weight into the inside of the right foot as part of your address procedure. This bracing maneuver concentrates the weight on the inside of the right leg where it should be, preventing a sway to the right during the backswing. As a result, ball-club contact is much more consistent and powerful, because no energy is lost trying to find the ball again.

But this can be taken further, because one should really be on the inside of the LEFT foot during the initial part of the downswing! Hank Haney states that the weight should feel, initially, as if it's moving from the inside right foot into the left big toe and then finishes on the outside of the left foot. Therefore, the left foot rolls from inside to outside during the downswing, while the right foot NEVER rolls to the outside on the backswing. Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus (two of the best players to ever hold a club) say that the game of golf is played INSIDE the feet! It's also easy to see how moving first to the inside of the left foot on the downswing can keep the head behind the ball where it's supposed to be at impact, instead of moving out ahead of the ball. But the kicker here is, you shouldn't TRY to stay on the inside of the left foot; just concentrate on staying on the inside of the right foot during the backswing (ensuring you maintain a flexed right knee) and the rest will take care of itself on the throughswing.

Achieving a centered pivot is possible when you recognize that the right hip does NOT move to the right at all during the takeaway: It moves straight back and even towards the body's center line, and the right leg stays angled towards the target (does not move towards a perpendicular-to-ground position). As a proper on-plane takeaway keeps the club head outside of the hands, the correct opposing move is for the right hip to move straight back. This thought should also keep you pivoting correctly.

Shawn Clement describes this feeling of playing on the insides of the feet as "bracing against a firm left side," because backswing energy is expended in making a centered turn, rather than wasting energy moving laterally backward and then forward again. Shawn says that any weight shift (back and then forward) is no more than a inch long! This is where the erroneous belief that the head doesn't move during the swing comes from: The head actually does move slightly right on the backswing, but it's such a small movement that the golfer doesn't always notice--it feels centered. Large movements to the right mean the swing bottom is moving well right of where it was set at address (probability to hit fat increases).

This works for ALL strokes: Drives, irons, chips, pitches, and even bunker shots (you can even dig the inside of the right foot into the sand to brace for those fairway bunkers, which helps pick the ball cleanly). For the short game and bunker shots, the weight on the inside of the right leg simply keeps one braced on the inside of the left foot (i.e., there's little to no rightward weight shift).

In an effort to keep your head still, your weight won't be able to shift to the right (for a right handed player) on the backswing unless you sway your lower body. This is not the way the tour pros shift their weight during the backswing.

Now, it doesn't take a lot of head motion to get your weight to shift, we measured it in centimeters. Most tour pros move their heads from 7 cm to 15 cm during a backswing.

Golf Instruction: Keep Your Head Still - Golf Tips

Keeping your weight on the inside of the right foot during the backswing is critical to shifting properly. Allowing the weight to get to the outside of the foot doesn't give you a strong base to push off from when "springing" over to the left side. This can also lead to the dreaded sway, which results in a lot of wasted movement and is corrosive to good swing mechanics. To find a proper position, keep the right knee over the inside of the foot at address and throughout the backswing. Obviously, it's not good medicine to think about this during the swing, but stop at the top of the swing occasionally and check your position. In time, this will pay off in added power and more solid hits.

Free Golf Lesson - Learn to Transfer Your Weight

The key to proper footwork is weight distribution throughout the swing. Good golfers play within their feet. In other words, their weight is on the inside of the back foot on the backswing and on the inside of the forward foot on the through-swing. The average player constantly fights the weight-distribution battle, falling to the outside of one or both feet. The result is a loss of balance, control and power.

A grounded approach to power - Brief Article | Golf Digest | Tiger Woods

 

Swing Sequencing and Passivity

I've learned that normal instincts and proper swing actions diverge dramatically. Golf is full of these contradictions (i.e., swing left to make the ball go right, hit down to make the ball go up, etc.). Understanding these tenets intellectually is easy; putting them into practice is tough.

The swing instinct of the beginning golfer is to use the hands and arms to hit the ball; that's what feels natural. The resulting swing sequence of that instinct is something well known to frustrated golfers: the upper body leads the downswing, club gets laid off or across the line, the shoulders spin out, the arms are thrown out and away from the body, posture is lost, club casting, coming over the top, the knuckles of the left hand point up, and the ball pulls, hooks, and slices, depending on the club face position at impact.

At some point, with enough effort, the beginning golfer begins to implement the fundamentals that all the great teachers espouse: upper body turn on backswing (lower body resists), arms stay in front of the body, lower body leads on downswing (shoulders and arms resist), hips bump and turn, the club comes from the inside (drops in the slot), lag is maintained (no casting), no flying elbows (chicken wings), full extension, good release, left hand knuckles turn down, square/closing club face, etc. The feeling is described as effortless, passive, and a good impact feels like the ball isn't even there. The ball flight is either straight or a controlled fade or draw in the target direction. Of course, it takes time to implement the elements of a good swing and then to learn the proper order or sequence of those events. At some point, they move from being separate thoughts and actions that may occur asynchronously to a free-flowing, coordinated, sequenced series of moves that result in a passive, effortless swing and great, consistent impact.

The golf swing has vertical movement and horizontal movement movement. The vertical movement comes from the arms lifting up and down in front of the body; the horizontal movement is provided by the turning of the body. The small muscles in the chest, shoulders, and arms ARE NOT INVOLVED in getting the club back to the ball. The golfer must surrender to the quite correct tenet that he is not controlling anything with the arms; he is merely setting up properly (so that the ball is in the way) and then assisting natural physical forces to propel an object; when you feel "out of control" with the arms and small muscles, you're starting to learn the right feeling, which runs counter to intuition to use the arms in order to hit the ball.

• One piece takeaway and backswing, where the arms stay in front of the body in a triangular formation and the right knee keeps the bend established at address.
• Completed backswing has the shoulders turned 90 degrees (back facing target) and loaded into inside of flexed right leg. The arms are extended away from but still in front of the chest in their triangle shape. The right elbow folds naturally and the wrists set naturally, creating a "box" shape at the top of the swing that one should try to maintain for as long as possible. The club is pointing at the target at the top (not laid off).
• Transition has the arms simply dropping (triangle still in front of the body) while the back remains turned and the weight shifts to the left leg and the left hip immediately rotates backward. The shoulders haven't rotated yet, so an X Factor is created between the shoulders and hips.
• Get the feeling that the arms get to the top and stay there while the lower body moves and the arms drop down from the top (maintaining the "box" shape); the arms, hands, and small muscles should be completely passive and make no effort to swing or steer the club!
• Downswing: As the still folded right elbow nears the right hip (from the arm dropping action), the hips rotate fully toward the target. This gets the arms coming from the inside--they cannot be thrown over the top in this manner.

The result is that the ball is hit effortlessly and the arms don't really do anything consciously (they're passive), which is the opposite of what one tries to do when beginning golf. The body can appear to move very slowly but the club head is actually moving quite fast; this is how pros like Ernie Els and Fred Couples can hit the ball far but appear to be moving in slow motion. A good ball flight with good distance results. The finish is natural and balanced (one can easily lift the right leg and remain balanced over the left). In short, it feels good, correct, and easy. Swinging faster is simply a matter of turning the hips faster; swinging harder is out the window, because there's no muscle tension involved. The body is learning to assist gravity and physics to let the club do the work. But the body's gut instinct is to tense up and rip it, which will result--consistently--in looking for one's ball in the trees.

It is important that a golfer understand that Hogan implied in his book that the arms/clubshaft are passively pulled down to waist level as a result of the lower body movement, and that a golfer shouldn't have to actively pull the arms/clubshaft down to waist level as a totally separate/independent action. Ben Hogan stated that his arms/hands "get a free-ride" down to waist level when he shift-rotates his pelvis at the start of the downswing [4].

[From Downswing]

Most amateurs try to help the club toward the ball by pulling on it from the top of the swing. They are, in effect, trying to help gravity—one of the greatest forces in the world. Mother Nature doesn’t need your help. She’ll get it done—if you don’t pull on the club.

When you’re at the top of the backswing in good balance, you literally let (key word even if it’s small) your arms drop through space as you turn your hips left and get your weight onto your left heel at the completion of what’s a lateral turn.

[From Golf Tips - The Fire Drill]

Williams, focusing on the speed of [Bobby] Jones's swing, calculated that from the top of his backswing to the point of contact with his ball Jones's hands and arms were accelerating at a rate of just over thirty-four feet per second per second.

What makes that interesting is that if you were to extend your arm and drop a golf ball, its acceleration rate as it fell to Mother Earth would be just over thirty-two feet per second per second. See where I'm going with this? It means that in the beautiful golf swing that propelled a ball 260 yards with a hickory-shafted driver, the great Bobby Jones did only a little more than let his arms fall out of the sky.

Bobby Jones depended on gravity to build his golf swing.

[From Ruthless Golf: Those Amazing Relaxed Swings]

Transferring your weight to start your downswing is crucial to an "inside" delivery-the key to cracking 90. From the top, you should transfer your weight from the back leg to the front. Resist the temptation to start your upper body or the club first. It's like a throwing or kicking motion.

[From Breaking 100-90-80: A monthly guide to the scoring basics - golf tips | Golf Digest | Find Articles]

A Changing Radius

The radius of a golf swing can change due to a number of swing flaws. But the bottom line is that it's usually a BAD thing when the radius lengthens or shortens in relation to the swing center that was established at address. After all, the club face is only a few inches high and the sweetspot is very small. If the radius lengthens, fat shots and/or deep divots can result. If it shortens, thin and topped shots can result. I've gone back and forth with first thin, then fat, and now thin again. Not fun, especially when that thin shot goes straight. Difficult lies can aggravate changing radius problems.

So what are the swing flaws that I've seen in myself?

I think the top one for me has been flipping the wrists at impact, such that the left wrist cups instead of bows. This is an unconscious reflex of the beginning golfer, who deduces that this motion will help the ball into the air. When the ball is caught flush, it will increase the loft of the club and make for a higher shot (basically turning a 7-iron into an 8 or 9-iron). Distance suffers as a result. But when the ball isn't caught flush, a thin or topped shot results. This, I believe, is what's currently causing me the most trouble. The cure is to work on the opposite, correct feel--a flat left wrist at impact. Think of turning the knuckles down at impact (or revving a motorcycle throttle). This delofts and closes the club face, turning a 7-iron into a 5-iron and resulting in a straighter, longer, lower trajectory ball flight. The right wrist, analogously, stays cupped or bent back more through impact, so one can also try bending the right wrist back more at impact to counter the instinct to flip the right wrist forward. Doing this also increases lag in the downswing. Hank Haney says that this needs to be a conscious swing thought for most golfers, though others feel it happens naturally. It makes sense, however, that if flipping is part of my muscle memory that I'll have to consciously work to make the correct move.

Maintaining the posture or "spine angle" is an oft-cited fundamental. Basically, losing one's posture changes the radius created at address. A basic example is losing the bend from the waist, which can occur in the backswing or the downswing. One of my bad habits is that I occasionally raise up slightly from the waist on the backswing. It's possible to compensate for this one by returning to the bend established at addressed…not easy, but possible.

The knees also play a role in a proper return to the ball. Many beginning golfers like me think the right leg should be straight on the backswing and the left leg straight at impact. Not true (unless you're after the S&T swing). I have a tendency to over straighten the right knee on the backswing , but I usually compensate by rebending the knee before impact. The left knee should also stay slightly bent in the downswing and only fully straighten into the followthrough.

Finally, the elbows. Chicken-winging can result for a variety of reasons and can occur on the backswing or downswing. I do this less now, but I need to work on extending more in the through swing and followthrough.

Right Leg: Too Straight in the Backswing?

A swing mistake that has caused me grief (left over from my S&T days) is straightening my right leg too much on the backswing. I had an outing once in Panama City, FL where I focused on keeping the right knee bend established at address into the backswing, and I had very good results throughout the round--fewer mishits and even more distance. As with anything in golf, inattention to one part of the swing can allow old habits to return.

Note Palmer's Right Knee and Level Hips

 

I never completely straighten it now, but I occasionally (unconsciously) do it enough that it is changing the angle of my pelvis, which tilts the body left and causes a slight, unintentional reverse weight shift to the left. This requires a compensation on the way down which can lead to toe shots and other mishits. Obviously, straightening the right leg is desirable in S&T but not in a conventional swing.

To fight this, I like to feel like I'm sitting down (into my right hip) when I turn (see Paul Wilson's video below); in a way, it feels like I'm bending the knee more, when I'm actually just maintaining very close to the same bend I had at address (because I've been used to straightening it excessively). When performed correctly, the right hip moves straight back (not up or to the right) and feels very loaded and the pelvis feels very level--just turning, not tilting. The lower body feels very coiled, ready to unwind in its own flat plane, and capable of producing tremendous torque once you let it go. You will find no end of material on the internet that addresses this subject: keeping the bend in that right knee all the way through is important.

Properly executed, you can feel an unmanufactured, correct weight shift forward into the ball, where the weight goes from inside the right foot, first into the left big toe, and then around the outside of the left foot and into the left heel, just as many great golf instructors (like Hank Haney and David Leadbetter) teach.

This is one of those areas of golf instruction where there is debate among reputable teachers and professionals; new, popular swing methods require a straight or straighter right leg on the backswing. Examples of old golfing experts like Bobby Jones completely straightening the right leg on the backswing are used as proof for the validity of straightening the right leg. However, watching the video of Jones from behind, you'll notice that he regains the original address flex of his right leg during the downswing, well before impact. Many amateurs like me fail to execute this compensation, and instead, we straighten the left leg too much coming down to level the pelvis and end up catching the ball fat and thin; in essence, we're unitentionally "standing up" at impact. One avoids having to regain the right knee flex of the address position if one simply keeps the original bend--or close to it--in the right knee into the backswing; it is eliminating the need for a compensation.

There are, of course, a few words of caution. First, be wary of swaying. The right hip can feel loaded but still exhibit a sway, where the right hip moves rightward (away from the target) of its address position; if the right hip sways, the left shoulder will often tip towards the target. The right hip should move backwards while staying close to the same level during the backswing, never towards, over, or outside the right foot. The correct address position should form a "reverse K," meaning the right leg should be slanted away from the target at an angle that makes the entire address position of the body look like an inverse K.

A simple check: After address, place the club down the middle of your chest mimicking the spine without moving. If you are in the proper Reverse K position, the handle of the club will touch the inside of your left thigh. The position of the sternum should be behind the pelvis at address and all points during a standard full swing.

The right leg should really never move from this angle from the front-on view during the backswing; the right hip moves back ONLY (not up, down, or sideways). From the golfer's perspective, just focus on keeping the right hip inside the instep of the right foot at all times. The right leg braces against a firm left side, as Shawn Clement teaches. Your right leg, from your perspective looking down, should be angled outward to the right or away from the target--it shouldn't lose that angle while the right knee stays bent in the backswing.

Next, watch out for the tendency of the head to drop too much. The head SHOULD drop some on the backswing when correctly loading into the right leg; according to Jim McClean (video below), 70% of tour players drop their heads in the backswing some. Some professionals have so much lag that they drop even more on the downswing. Too much of a drop can happen if you're overzealous with focusing on keeping the bend of the right knee. You may unintentionally bend it more and drop the upper body too much into the right hip. This squat feeling definitely loads for power and torque but increases the chances of hitting fat behind the ball without enough compensatory action in the downswing. Be especially careful when hitting the driver; it's better to keep a very steady and somewhat level head when using longer clubs. Will the head move? Yes. But steady is better with the driver for most amateurs. Just be wary of going to far; anything in golf can be taken too far.

If you rotate properly into your right hip, your hips should remain level, allowing you to make a downswing that is on plane, and compresses the golf ball.If you’re like me, you may slide off the ball during the takeaway, then your right hip gets higher than your left at the top of your swing, causing you to come up, and back out of the shot to even make contact with the ball. If you hit thin shots, off the toe, you may be making this mistake.

[From Correct Hip Movement In The Golf Swing]

Although a full shoulder turn is vital to a powerful golf swing, be sure not to compromise one key fundamental: right knee flex (for right-handed golfers).The role of the right knee in the backswing is very simple, but incredibly important. The importance of the flex in the right knee is undeniable. The flex in the right knee helps keep the hips more level in the backswing. If the right knee straightens, it pushes the right hip up and consequently the left hip down resulting in too much left-hip tilt in the backswing.***Another key reason to keep the right knee flexed is how it is used in your transition into your downswing. Your right knee is a key source of driving power of your lower body in the downswing. It's very difficult to drive off a straightened right leg in the transition. Therefore, the upper body tends to dominate the downswing resulting in poor swing plane and loss of power.

[From Looking for a way to make your golf swing more repeatable? Remember knee flex]

There are many important facets to a good golf swing, but maintaining the bend in the right knee is one that simply can’t be overlooked. When a student comes to me with a common complaint (slicing, poor ballstriking or a general lack of consistency), I always take a close look at his or her body angles, and make certain that their posture and knee position are constant throughout the swing.

[From Golf Tips - Maintain The Bend]

Here is another great swing thought - and one that is inter-related with that idea of turning the Right Pocket Back. Maintaining a level belt line as you turn your shoulders and upper body allows your weight to go fully on o the right heel, which gives you more time to fully wind and unwind your swing for maximum clubhead speed.There's nothing worse than seeing a golfer with a short, quick swing which chops down on the ball. And the last thing you want is a tilted belt line, like this above, where the right hip/right pocket is very high and the weight hangs on the left side.

[From What the pros do - Robert Baker]

Other tips to increase power in your golf swing: Flex the back knee during the backswing: Keeping your back knee flexed during the backswing does two things. First, it restricts your hip turn so you can coil your upper body (the upper body continues to turn against your hips), this builds energy in the backswing. Next, it allows you to drive your weight off your back foot during the down swing so you can release the club head through the impact area.

[From Golf tip: Remember, in your backswing, width equals power - GolfInstruction.com]

If you’ve been struggling with consistency, and you find yourself hitting thin, fat, and even topped golf shots, I want you to pay attention to what your right knee is doing in your backswing.Many times a golfer will either straighten the right knee in the backswing, or let it move to the side (away from the target), which results in a sway off the ball. This may seem like a minor issued in your swing, but let me tell you from firsthand experience, it WILL cause many faults in your swing unless you fix it right now!

The Role Of The Right Knee In Your Backswing

If and when the right knee flex is lost, as is the case with so many amateur swings, weight is thrown from the right side back to the left (reverse pivot). That’s a big no-no. Second, straightening the knee moves the backswing plane to the inside, which can lead to all kinds of downswing misery. Third, losing the right knee flex gives your lower body too much room to turn, in addition to allowing it to sway away from the ball on the backswing. As a result, you lose all of your coil. Potential energy is nil, and all you’re left with power-wise is what you can generate by moving your arms as fast as you can back down to the ball. It’s an unleveraged motion that’s both weak and inconsistent and certainly no part of a successful swing.As far as maintaining flex, I advise my students to preset a solid, bent right knee. This preset goes beyond simply flexing the knee and holding it there. At address, and without lifting your right foot, bend in your right knee slightly, like you’re trying to point your kneecap at the golf ball. It’s just a slight kick in to the right.

The Key Ingredient | GolfTipsMag.com

All-time golf great Jack Nicklaus believes a player’s knee action is important to a proper backswing. As you take the club back the front knee should move forward and to the right (for a right-handed player) to allow your hips to rotate properly. At the same time, the back knee should remain stiff to brace the right leg and prevent your body from sliding to the right. When your back leg remains firm during the backswing, "the body is coiling like a spring around the knee," Nicklaus says.Tiger Woods says if you slide your right hip outside of your right foot "you’ve cut your power by about 50 percent." Woods focuses on keeping his weight over the inside of his right foot during his backswing while keeping the angle of his right leg steady.

Coiling In the Backswing | Golfsmith

The key to achieving this effortless backswing is keeping the spine angle you establish at address a constant. The spine angle and right-knee bend are closely related, and it’s necessary to maintain both angles for a solid golf swing.

Maintain The Bend | GolfTipsMag.com

The way you will know that you start the backswing properly in the lower body is that there will be tension in between your right thigh and right hip flexor.

Golf Lessons 101: Knee Action Basics | Golf Lessons 101

Recently, I was working with a student (we will call him Allen) on this very move and I noticed that his rear leg was straightening in his backswing. I have seen this before in golfers and this error can cause a number of swing errors like reverse pivoting, or can cause you to top the ball or hit it thin. Often I will try to create a swing error with my own body to help me to feel what the student is feeling which allows me to explain why a particular problem is occurring. As I made a backswing and straightened my right leg, as my student did, I noticed that I had no way of pushing off my back side to move my hips through. Allen had no way of rotating his left hip backwards because he couldn’t push-off his right side.

The Right Knee and my Upcoming Article | Guru's Golf Blog

Most players never load their butt muscles during the swing properly. In fact, many golfers straighten or lock the right knee completely before they even finish their backswing. If you straighten up during this phase, it causes an "over the top" move so common to amateurs and saps all the power from the trunk or core muscles. Ideally, you should maintain a slight knee flex at the top of your golf swing or think of maintaining the same knee flex that you started with at the address posture. This should feel like a semi squat.

Unlock Your Power

 

 

 

Let the Hips Drive the Swing

Going "hand-in-hand" with the idea of finding the "slot" by making a "reverse loop" downswing, the golfer should fire the hips forward to get the required power. The feeling I have is that my right hip leads my arms into impact, while the arms make ZERO muscle movements once set at the top of the backswing (they simply fall and rotate out due to momentum of the lower body). Both butt cheeks should be visible from DTL at impact due to this hip rotation (most beginning golfers commit the error of returning the hips to the address position).

Another thought is to use is to think of the knees, which may cause less problems than concentrating on the hips. If the swing is driven from the ground up (as we've heard countless times), the knees should turn and drive towards the target first while the upper body stays back. The hips and everything else will follow in sequence. Consider the footage below of Rory McIlroy. Pay attention to his knees at the top of the backswing and then as he transitions into the downswing; the knees move around and towards the target first and everything else follows. This also helps keep his head behind the ball and prevents too early a weight shift.

All of the golfers that can hit the ball a long way have one thing in common. They are firing their hips around on the downswing. Another common fault I see in teaching is the student's hips not being open enough at impact. GolfTEC's motion analysis computer measures how many degrees the hips have turned open (towards the target) at the impact position.

[From Get hip to drive the ball farther - Tips at GolfInstruction.com]

Here are some swing thoughts that a handful of my students think of when trying to turn the hips more through impact.

"Fire the right hip around."
"Fire the right knee towards the left knee."
"Get my left leg straight and left hip turned behind me"
"Get my right pocket turned to the ball as soon as possible."
"Turn my belt buckle towards the target"
"Hit the ball with my right hip."

[From Get hip to drive the ball farther - Tips at GolfInstruction.com]

Exaggerate the hip rotation for a fade and hold off the forearm rotation by tightening the grip.

I call it "holding off the shot." I'm keeping my arms quiet with far less forearm rotation and delaying the closing of the clubface. I think of it as squaring the face with my body rotation. You can see here my hips have turned significantly toward the target before the club has reached the ball. That's a good fade feel for me.

[From Adam Scott: Steal My Feel: Golf Digest]

Consider the images below of Mattero Mannasero and Jim Furyk. Both use a reversed loop downswing to hit from the inside, and look at how open their hips are at impact. The right hip clearly leads them into the ball, much like Ben Hogan's timeless swing.

Full Shoulder Turn

A full shoulder turn (90 degrees)--with hips that turn only to 45 degrees--has been described as a top backswing fundamental. I believe that, when performed the correct way (see Pull vs. Push below), it may very well be THE top fundamental for the full swing and pitch shots.

I feel that making a complete shoulder turn is one of the most important fundamentals in the golf swing. I think between having a good grip, a smooth tempo and a full shoulder turn, you can really play solid golf--and that's without thinking about "swing positions" or anything else!

So what do I mean by a full shoulder turn? I mean that on a full shot, strive to turn your shoulders 90 degrees. Your lead shoulder (left shoulder for a right-handed golfer) should be under your chin, and your back should be facing the target.

[From The Importance of a Full Shoulder Turn]

Check to see if your back is turned to the target. When you make a full 90-degree shoulder turn, your target should be directly behind your back.

[From How to Tell If You Are Making a Full Shoulder Turn | Golf Tips | Golfsmith]

Most golfers know that a full, 90-degree shoulder turn is a crucial element of a solid golf swing. Without it, a proper weight shift and a correct swing plane are almost impossible to achieve. A good shoulder turn not only ensures that your shoulders and chest are behind the ball at the top of the backswing, but helps maintain consistent balance throughout your motion. Before you can master a proper shoulder turn, however, it’s important to understand what it entails and exactly what it is.

[From Golf Tips - Turnstyle]

How does one know what "correct" looks like? Examine any professional golfer at the top of the backswing in the front-on view. Note in the photo the lines drawn on Ernie Els' beautiful backswing. The line drawn on his right shin is angled back towards him and towards the target; also, note how the line separates from his waist, demonstarting that his right knee is well bent at the top, ensuring no hip over-rotation and no sway to the right. Then notice the line drawn on his left lat; it is angled in toward the right leg and away from the target! This is a good solid pivot behind the ball, with no sway and no reverse pivot. If you can draw these lines on your backswing at the top with the same relative angles, you have a solid pivot.

Push vs. Pull

The correct takeaway or early backswing feeling is to "pull" the right shoulder 90-degrees straight back until it's behind one's head, with the left shoulder just going along for the ride, until it's behind the ball; the incorrect feeling is to reach over with the left side, or "push," to get the left shoulder behind the ball. It's as if there's a wall just outside the right side of the golfer's torso (not legs), and there's nowhere for the right shoulder to go except straight back. This is the correct shoulder rotation; don't even think about the left shoulder...it will follow. A really cool result of this line of thinking is that the upper swing center (the middle of your chest) will NOT move off the ball, and when you shift your weight into the left leg to start down, the upper swing center will be just in front of the ball, ensuring you hit ball then ground.

Chuck Quinton's Rotary Swing offers this great idea for easily achieving a 90-degree shoulder turn (even older players); I tried this, and I was amazed at how different (and great) it felt. Basically, Chuck is saying that a "pull" shoulder turn keeps you more centered and simplifies the movement, while a "push" shoulder turn moves you off of the ball. Pulling the right shoulder straight back uses a different group of muscles than the pushing the left shoulder back. And according to Chuck, this efficient movement will even take care of the takeaway. And a little digging around on the interwebs validated this concept; there are many others who are teaching this pull the right shoulder back versus push the left shoulder back method.

Performed correctly, you will get a nice, centered, one-piece takeaway, where the right arm stays above the left for most of the backswing, when viewing face-on. The wrists and right elbow seem to fold up naturally, the hands don't get too close to the right shoulder, and the left arm doesn't collapse. There should be no thought given to moving the arms, wrists, or hands to get the club started back and to the top--just consciously move the right shoulder straight back and let everything else follow. This is where maintaining the triangle formed by the arms and club head for as long as possible comes into play: the right wrist shouldn't dorsiflex backwards here (which would yank the club inside), the right elbow should not bend yet (it stays straight and above the left arm for as long as possible), and the wrists shouldn't cock upwards yet (which would shorten the backswing width). The right shoulder is pulling the stable, intact triangle assembly back in one swoop--a one-piece takeaway.

Now for the "gotchas." Doing this is a distinctly different feeling than pushing the left shoulder over and back as you may have been taught. And if you're not careful, it can lead to some other problems (this is true for any positive change you might make to your golf swing).

First, it's important to keep the right elbow pointed down at the top; don't let it chicken wing, fly, and point out behind you, as this can cause the left arm to collapse and other errors. Pulling the right shoulder back immediately doesn't mean the right elbow should do the same thing. Just focus on turning the right shoulder back and keeping both arms straight for as long as possible. Then simply allow the right elbow to fold such that the right hand goes straight up, the right elbow point pit points straight up, and the right elbow stays pointing downward. Next, be aware of the potential for the right leg to straighten too much, causing a lean to the left at the top. This can show up as a feeling of too much weight on your front leg at the top and a pull or slice ball flight. To fight it, remember that more weight should be on the inside of the right foot at the top, and the left shoulder should point behind the ball; you should start your downswing by bumping the left hip slightly and then turning left using the left lat as "center" of the downswing. This should get the path going inside-out and a ball flight starting out to the right before slightly drawing back onto target.

 

To get the proper shoulder turn, has a very simple solution: Turn your right shoulder back (not your left) and behind you. So many golfers have been told to turn their left shoulder back that their left shoulder might be pointing behind the ball, but the right has stayed were it was. Bio-mechanically your shoulders can squeeze together which is what most amateurs do. I call this a false turn.

Make a Better Shoulder Turn - Marc Minier

The right shoulder contains arguably the most powerful set of muscles that could help start the swing and concentrating on them can override mistakes that the smaller fast twitch muscles might make. Concentrating on turning the right shoulder away from the ball helps stop excess hand action, which is one of the most common backswing faults.

Golf Swing Shoulder Turn Drill | Suite101

When you start the club back, the right shoulder does NOT move sideways (to the right)…at all! This is a lateral movement that will create all sorts of compensations coming down.

The right shoulder moves BACK immediately!

Golf is a rotational movement, so the rotation of your shoulders early on is critical to getting to the top of your backswing in the correct position, in order to have a full golf swing loaded with power. So from now on, I want you to think of your right shoulder going back when you take the club away, NOT to the side.

Golf Backswing: Right Shoulder Motion Is A Must

Does it really matter if we pull or push? Yes, it does. People say that we should use the “big” muscles in a golf swing. These big muscles work by pulling, so pulling is bio-mechanically correct. They never tell us where these big muscles are, but they are primarily in your back.

Guest Column #2 (The Biomechanics of the Golf Swing) | Monte Scheinblum's Blog

In [Kuchar's] takeaway he gets a nice width off the ball. This gives him the proper angle coming down. You can already see how he’s turning his right shoulder behind his body.

Effective Shoulder Turn – Matt Kuchar Swing Analysis

The role of the left arm in the backswing is...pretty much nothing. Your left arm stays right in front of your chest. You'll pull your right shoulder blade back, and the left arm will elevate a little bit. That's it.

Left Arm in the Golf Swing | RotarySwing.com

The takeaway actually starts with no wrist action at all. It should be a one piece move that is best performed by letting the right shoulder blade begin moving back.

Right Wrist Action for the Perfect Golf Swing – Herman Williams Golf

The right shoulder initiates the swing, while the right wrist follows in unison. When this occurs, the club's handle and the shoulder move together as a unit. This is known as swinging the handle, and it widens the swing arc going back.

Widen Your Arc to Increase Your Driving Distance - Golf.com - GOLF.com

The start of your first move is to draw your right shoulder and armpit area back towards your right heel--in a straight line. The completion of this move will place you in a position which features: The front of your shoulders closely in line with your right foot. Your shoulder blades facing the green or fairway area where your ball will land.

One Piece Takeaway (Part 2)

Another good way to [turn your left shoulder behind the ball] is by turning your right shoulder back on the backswing. Try this next time you are on the practice tee. Make some practice swings and try turning your right shoulder directly behind your head at the top of the backswing. When I do this, it is easier to get coiled behind the ball and it is easier to complete my backswing-it feels longer.

When you turn the right shoulder back, check to make sure the left shoulder is past the ball(or to the right of the ball). If the left shoulder does not get back “behind the ball”, then you may not be shifting your weight to the back leg at the top and will not have the power coming back to the ball.

Golf Tips - US Golf School Guide

Your first move away from the ball if you’re a slider is to ROTATE your right shoulder immediately behind you! This will get you turning and not sliding to the right. Once you feel the rotation in your core, you will be able to unwind with a much higher clubhead speed.

Fix Shoulder To Turn In Golf Swing

Start the swing with the right shoulder. This keeps the hands in front of the chest and guarantees a full shoulder turn. By initiating the swing with the right shoulder, the entire body stays connected. Conversely, starting the swing with the left shoulder doesn’t necessarily turn the right shoulder, creating a myriad of potential problems, chief among them, limiting the range of motion.

Start the swing with the right shoulder | My golf store

Another good feel for me on the backswing is to pinch my right shoulder blade in toward the middle of my back. This is my way of keeping my shoulders turning on a steep angle and making a full windup.

How To Make Your Swing Repeat: Matt Kuchar : Golf Digest