10 Biggest Swing Killers (AMG)

[iacas]

This is an older article (April, 2020), but honestly one of the best ones I've seen, and I'm glad to have stumbled across it recently:

10 biggest golf swing killers, according to state-of-the-art technology

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Wondering why your golf swing is lacking power and pop? It might be because you have one of these 10 golf swing killer moves.

I'll list each one of the ten below, with their title and their picture, and then write a bit about it myself.

1. “Sitting” at Setup

I don't care about the measurements above… I like people to get the center of their hips over their ankles somewhere. Most people can do this — unless they're really bent over or something. Is it an absolute requirement? No. You can set up with your weight in the heels a bit, stay there, and still hit the ball well. There are a number of PGA Tour players who do just that.

But, as with many things… why make it harder on yourself? They grew up with that setup, most likely, but it's also their job, so they've grooved what they do. You? You should just make things as easy on yourself as possible.

2. Swinging the Club Inside

I don't think we have a specific thread on this, but if you combine it with number four, you'll see a link there that applies somewhat. Players who roll the clubhead in often also roll the face open and the momentum of the clubhead almost pulls their hands in (or lead arm in) too much, too. I generally prefer a lead arm that's thrown "up" a bit more early in the swing. I'm good with a clubface somewhere within a few inches of the hands on a good Down-the-Line view at A2.

3. Overly Shut Clubface

This clubface IS overly shut, but look at the left wrist — seeing this move from golfers is rare, IMO. I once had two golfers on back-to-back days who complained about hooks… and the leading edges of their club faces were literally horizontal to the ground at A2… but it's still rare. I'm generally okay with, assuming nothing else is super weird, a clubface that's somewhere between toe up and matching the spine angle at setup here ~A2.

4. Fishing For Depth

Arms = Up, Body = Around. Your shoulders lift your arms some, which early in the swing (before you've turned much) keeps the lead arm OUT… and if you combine that with the "right" amount of turn… your hands will often appear to gain almost no depth from A1 to A2.

5. Collapsing Your Trail Arm

BIG one here. It's why we have The Tube. It's what I work on with a LOT of golfers, all the time. The Tube® is great at showing you what you then have to be able to do on your own. It makes you do it, which makes it both good and bad. You want to use The Tube® so you know what to do, not to let it force you to do it without you doing anything.

6. Making a “Level” Turn

 

This is usually paired with a too-level shoulder turn, though there are occasional golfers who will just side bend a LOT to get down to the ball. Sometimes this is paired with a sway, too, as hips that sway have a hard time turning. Other times, the golfer's legs are almost like "stilts" — they don't do anything to really "dig into the ground" by spiraling (trail hip raises as trail knee extends a bit, lead knee flexes so the lead hip digs down and back).

7. Late-Loading Backswing

I see this fairly often, too. The golfer knows they need to get back a little. It feels powerful. But the golf swing is a shift, then a turn, then a shift, then a turn. Thing is… the shifts overlap the turns. Something like this (for a righty from face-on):

⬅️⬅️⬅️______➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️
__↩️↩️↩️↩️↩️↩️↩️__↪️↪️↪️↪️↪️↪️↪️|↪️↪️↪️↪️↪️

The vertical bar is roughly where impact is.

The timing is similar to how we do a lot of things: a quarterback is taking the arm back while stepping forward (or anyone throwing a ball will often step forward while the arm is still traveling back).

The first shift back happens very early, too, almost before the backswing has really begun.

8. Thrusting Your Hips

I don't entirely agree with the text on this one… because I see a lot of thrusting (center of pelvis toward the golf ball) during the backswing. They say in the text that they see it during the downswing because of what the golfer does on the backswing, but… it's often a bigger issue on the backswing. Ultimately, it's an issue during both.

9. Passive Arms

I don't really like the name of this, but I get what they're going for here. I might have named it "hand path travels out prematurely" or something like that. The trail elbow stays bent too long while the golfer turns, carrying the hands out rather than down quite as much as they should. It may be a combination of the over-bending of the trail elbow and the idea that "the downswing starts from the ground up" that has lead to "passive" arms, but… Yeah. This is a problem for many.

10. Chasing Lag

I've said "Lag Happens" as a result of doing a bunch of other things well, and I still believe that to this day. Lag is a result of sequencing, moving the hands fast at the right time, squaring the face the right way, etc. This bullet point in their list is more about how shallowing the club properly can lead to an illusion of sorts, but that feels like a small point to make in the larger whole.

Lag isn't often something you actively or directly work on, it's more a result of doing other things better. For example, when I put players in The Tube®, they often have more shaft lean and more lag at A6 than they do without The Tube®. Which blows their minds, often, but it's a result of the trail elbow not being stuck anymore.

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Which of these do you like the most? Which do you struggle to perfect or improve the most?

1. “Sitting” at Setup
2. Swinging the Club Inside
3. Overly Shut Clubface
4. Fishing For Depth
5. Collapsing Your Trail Arm
6. Making a “Level” Turn
7. Late-Loading Backswing
8. Thrusting Your Hips
9. Passive Arms
10. Chasing Lag

[saevel25]

For me...

4. Mine is a bit more late depth, where I right arm collapses and my right shoulder can retract to much, sucking the right elbow behind me.

5. The thing that I need to work on. Ton of late collapse, and lots of angle in my right elbow. Can't have this. 

7. Another thing that I did, and it just contributed to the ton of right arm bed and over swinging. Part of what I am working on is controlling my right elbow, working on how the club hinges, and also timing up that downswing shift towards the target. 

I think the biggest mind bending one is the last one. That you have to lose all that angle in your right elbow to effectively hit solid shots. Though you might maintain some wrist hinge down, but you do not want to increase right elbow bend in transition. What might feel as, gaining or holding onto lag. 

[Big Lex]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

Which of these do you like the most? Which do you struggle to perfect or improve the most?

For most of my golfing life including now, 8, 7, and 9 are my biggest faults I struggle with. The last 2-3 years, 3 has also crept in there. 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Big Lex

[Clemsonfan]

My issues are likely 1,2 and 5.  2 early in my golf life, and the other two later.  I work really hard on pushing my right arm away from my me on the backswing. As a former tennis player, sitting feels natural to me!

I do like the feel of a stable club face through impact, and my arms may be more passive since I try and rotate through impact.

[boogielicious]

1. 9 is a lot like what I’m working on right now with a little bit of wrist feel added. It combines a bit with 10 if I remember to turn faster. There is a good AMG on this and Erik also gave me several videos as drills.
2. 8 and 7 also apply and we worked on that in Erie. I want to break the plane in the backswing and have my upper center fall toward the target in transition. Moving the ball forward in my stance helped this a lot.
3. We’ve also worked on 1 a lot with moving my feet back to create space and to get my hips over my ankles more. I also tuck my butt a bit too.

[ChetlovesMer]

The only ones I really struggle with are 1 through 10. 

[StuM]

Afraid I have some level of issues with all of these.  @ 1-2 years ago Erik commented on #1 to me and I think I have that under control.  #5 is a real common problem for me, I know when I do it but I just keep doing it.  Maybe a trip to Lowes/Home Depot for Erik's DIY Training Aid.  

[iacas]

8 minutes ago, StuM said:

Maybe a trip to Lowes/Home Depot for Erik's DIY Training Aid.  

Thing is… I only ever really do this for a few swings at the start of a lesson. It's not a "training aid" in the traditional sense, it's a "force you to do it so you can feel it" aid, which you then have to be able to reproduce without the aid…

[Darkfrog]

In my lessons 3, 4, and 5 are continuous pain points for me. 

[WillieT]

8 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

The only ones I really struggle with are 1 through 10. 

Have to agree with Chet’s evaluation as I read the article, which is excellent @iacas, I could see where I have done all these incorrectly at one time or another.  Some way more than others.  Excellent material for me to work on! 

[Golfingdad]

I believe that 2, 4 (which seem to be pretty related to my untrained eye) and also 9 are the ones I struggle with the most.

Good info 🙂

[Vinsk]

21 hours ago, iacas said:

Swinging the Club Inside

Fantastically efficient at this. I really struggle with this one. So often I see the ‘dead zone’ where we don’t want the club to be coming into impact. Yet this is where we’re supposed to bring it back? Club head outside the hands is a very difficult feel for me as it just feels awkward and completely opposite of what I feel I need for control.

21 hours ago, iacas said:

Collapsing Your Trail Arm

I collapse both. I really need to try that DIY tool. Of course I’ll probably snap it in half on my first use. 
 

This is an excellent post Erik. Thank you.

[iacas]

26 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

This is an excellent post Erik. Thank you.

Ha! I didn't do much of anything here. 😉

AMG says "you're welcome." 😄

[marklemcd]

I know for sure 1, 2 and 6. 
 

I fear all of them would apply

[mchepp]

Wow, I am a violator of at least half of the top 10. 

1. Perpetual issue for me. Definitely a "feel is not real issue" for me. I will get myself dialed in at home in the mirror and then video my swing a few weeks later and bam, right back to the guy in the red pants in the image. 

2. Leftover messiness from S&T days.

4. This and number 2 seem closely related for me.

5. I find this issue is part in parcel with not turning enough in my backswing. I start faking the backswing with overfolding.

8. I don't know that I "thrust" but certainly my hips move closer to the ball as the first move on my downswing. It is almost immediately from the start. Once my body moves closer, I have no room for my arms to swing down. It then causes my arms to stop and I flip to save it. I think this is my biggest issue.

[dufferifick]

I purposely try to tuck the trail arm elbow.  Something I read somewhere I guess😀

Will have to experiment a bit.

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, dufferifick said:

I purposely try to tuck the trail arm elbow.  Something I read somewhere I guess😀

Will have to experiment a bit.

Here’s a good video on where your elbow should be and what it should do in the back and downswing. Tucking may not be the best thing to do.

[Williamturn]

2 & 4 for me. 

I wonder if anyone has any success in removing the inside takeaway and too deep issue? 

Lifting the arms doesn't appear to work for me. I need to find something else.

Please send help!