Josh’s Tips & Tricks: Control Right Shoulder

Intro

Hello golfers, welcome to this week’s tips & tricks. This week is one for the slicers. If you tend to spin the ball left to right through the air or pull it straight left this will really help. Hitting across the ball rather than through the back of it will cause inconsistencies in striking and flight and more often than not lose distance. This often occurs from the upper body, specifically the right shoulder taking over in the downswing.

Lets get straight into the drill. Have a look at the following video and then I will explain how to practice it.

Control Right Shoulder

The first thing to notice in the video is the right shoulder pushing forwards to start the downswing. We want the shoulders to stay back as we start the downswing so the hips lead. Getting the right shoulder back underneath in transition will help to get the path more inside (to the right). This will help to start the ball closer to the target line with less side spin. Now lets have a look at the drill.

Anti-Slice Drill

Take normal set up to the ball with a mid iron (7 or 8 iron). Then take your right hand off the club and rest the club so its 90* to the floor. The feeling is that the right hand is freely passing under the left with the shoulder staying back. Try to extend the arm out to the right of the target as it passes under the left. Allow the hips to turn in the backswing and the follow through.

When you have done this with some rhythm a few times grab a ball. The idea is to then release the ball straight towards the target. It doesn’t have to be a big hard throw, just a rhythmical movement with a relaxed arm. Keep going until you can release the ball perfectly straight every time.

Summary

The downswing should start with the lower body and not the shoulders. If the shoulders stay back and hips turn to face the target the path should move more inside, giving you a better chance of hitting those high draws. Get the feeling that the right arm and right hand are coming from behind the right pocket and not in front of it. If you have a big gap between the right hand and right pocket in the downswing the chances are you’re going to chop across the golf ball slicing it off to the right or pulling it straight left.

If this sounds familiar and you would like me to take a look then CLICK HERE TO BOOK A LESSON NOW.

See you soon.

Josh