Josh’s Tips & Tricks: Right Shoulder Under
Intro
Hi guys, welcome to this weeks tips & tricks. This week I want to try and help you with ball striking. I want to give you a simple swing thought that you can practice on the range and take onto the golf course. I see lots of people topping and thinning and fatting golf shots, especially with irons. This can be frustrating, especially in the winter months when the ball doesn’t run as far and ball striking as a whole is much harder.
Right shoulder to chin
When people struggle with ball striking it’s often to do with a change in height during the swing. Loosing height and dropping can lead to the club hitting the ground too much and lifting the opposite. Without seeing it on video or someone telling you it is very hard to identify. Lots of you would have been told by me to practice swings with a club across your shoulders with your head on the wall. Keeping your head still and rotating around your shoulders in crucial to maintaining height and dynamic posture. Dynamic posture is how well you can keep the angle of your spine in the swing and stems from good posture which we have covered before. Take a look back at previous tips & tricks if you would like a reminder for how to find good posture.
The movements I have demonstrated for you in the video will help you understand how to work your shoulders and hopefully maintain height and dynamic posture. This will help to prevent poorly struck golf shots. The thought and feeling for this is to rotate the shoulders under the chin and then allow the right shoulder to get under the chin before turning with your head to face the target. When you hear people saying “keep your head down” this is generally what they mean. I never tell people to keep their head down because this can stop crucial body rotation and weight transference.
Warm up
As part of your warm up get a club and put it across your shoulders. Then take your golf posture. Trying to keep your head still rotate your shoulders under your chin in both directions as far as they will go. This will loosen up the muscles around your spine and keep you centred with your body.
When you have done this, take normal set up and try to do the same thing. Try to feel as though you stay over the ball for longer and only lift up to face the target when your right shoulder touches your chin. Remember you’re still trying to turn the body to face the target and transfer weight into the front foot.
Summary
This tip was one of the first bits of advice my dad gave me as my coach many years ago. Good ball striking comes from holding good dynamic posture and maintaining good height during the swing. If you drop, the club will hit the ground too hard and likely before the ball. If you lift, you’re likely to hit the top of the ball.
If any of this sounds familiar and you would like to improve your ball striking you know where I am…
FREE GAME ASSESSMENT
It’s not too late to book in for your FREE GAME ASSESSMENT. The 30 shot Trackman test along with video analysis and a questionnaire can help us identify the strengths and weaknesses in your game. We can then work on them through the winter months to help get you prepared for the spring.
For more information and to book CLICK HERE
Cheers,
Josh