I often see people trying to swing the club head rather than allowing their hands and forearms to direct the club.

What this generally leads to is a dramatic flipping or over rotation of the forearms in the takeaway and backswing which makes it very difficult to get back down to impact in an efficient way. If your attention is in the club head your forearms may separate too much during the takeaway and backswing, which is not what we’re after if we want to stay connected.

The swing on the left shows a low club head and a high left shoulder. The swing on the right shows a higher club head and a lower left shoulder.

The answer is to start putting your attention in the butt end of the golf club and your forearms. As your hands move back, up and in your forearms will naturally rotate a little (as long as your right arms is attached to your side) and you’ll start to see the club in more of a slightly vertical plane rather than an overly rotated forearm takeaway position caused by focusing on the club head.

As mentioned in previous posts, as long as the right hip is rotating in the takeaway the hands can follow a path of moving inside, as well as backwards and upwards. 

Let the weight of the club head swing and hinge your wrists. This isn’t possible if your hands and forearms are tight and your fingers are squeezing the club to much. The most amount of squeezing should be in the last three fingers of the left hand to allow the right hand and wrist to hinge which is caused by the weight of the club head.

What also tends to happen when we focus too much on the club head is that the left shoulder moves too high in the takeaway. When we focus on the club head we tend to swing it too much around our body ‘flat’ and ‘low’ and the left shoulder moves too high. From here this generally leads to a lateral movement to the right with the head as the left shoulder will want to collide with the chin.

Drills

Place a Tee peg in the butt end of the club and focus on that during your takeaway, not your club head. The club head will start moving back, up and in because that is where your hands are directing it. Also, allow the club head to rise because of the swinging motion of your arms and hands and not because there’s an intent to do so.

Another good drill would be to pull the club up into your navel (belly button) and feel how your hands naturally move inside during the takeaway. See video below..

Hinging

We need to preserve the hinge in the right wrist all the way to the top because during the transition (change of direction) we want the wrists to hinge even more, which produces lag and a loading of pressure in the trigger finger of the right hand. That’s not to say there’s no hinge in the wrists going back – of course there is! but it’s because of the left shoulder moving down and the hands moving upwards. It feels almost like you’re dragging the club back with the butt end of the club. The weight of the club head provides the hinging action in the wrists and hands.

As soon as you start to get this idea of swinging the handle (the butt end/top end of the club) many other pieces also start to fall together. Setting up to the ball in a good way and starting the swing in a good way produces a ripple effect of good moves that follow.

Take a look at one of my students below and see how we changed his hand path in his takeaway.

If you’d like me to help you with your swing, Click here, join my online academy and start sending me videos of your swing. I’ll put your lessons in your members area for you to watch so you can learn on your own time.

Speak soon, as always please leave me a comment or question below and i’ll answer it personally.