Left shoulder riding up

[picrig]

I just started working at the course where I take lessons (private club in town) and during some down time, the pro and I went out to the range and put my swing on video really quickly. I had developed a bad case of the shanks over the previous couple of days.

It's amazing how bad your swing looks on video when you see it. We only reviewed it quickly since I was on the clock and will go over it a little more tomorrow when I have a lesson (I'd post it here, but it's still just on his computer), but here are the main things we saw. My backswing and position at the top look pretty good (in fact, my instructor even said Hogan-esque...haha). I'm a tad below plane on the backswing, but nothing unreasonable with a slightly open clubface. Here's where the problems begin. On the downswing, my lower body gets out in front of my arms (unlike good players where the arms are almost constantly in front of their chest) and my arms end up trapped a little behind my body, I end up pushing my hands out (causing the shank) and having to flip A LOT to get the club to the ball. Then, through impact and the follow through, my left shoulder works up instead of around my body.

I know it's a lot w/o video and I'll try to get video up tomorrow after work, but does anyone have and drills to work on for those particular problems?

[jambalaya]

I control the position of my arms with respect to my body by keeping my right arm pinned against my side until impact. You have to have an anchor or some reference that is constant. I just couldn't think my way into keeping the arms in front of the body. I needed something that just kept them there. Now I don't worry about it. You keep the arm in the position and just let the right arm fold as you take the club back. You can still roll your forearm, bend your wrists, lift the club but it limits the radius and the entire movement of the arms either lifting too much or dragging the whole triangle back behind you. Don't let your right elbow slide behind you, just keep it there. You still get plenty of swing radius and backswing and it ties your arm movements to your body movements.