Shoulder Turn In Back Swing

[parplease]

My problem is my shoulders tend to block my view of the ball as I enter the impact zone. I've read numerous books and watched videos, but no one seems to have this problem or discuss it. Should the shoulders rotate in the backswing like a door opens (left to right) or up and down (like a U)??? I've taken a few lessons and the pro says my spin around (like a baseball swing) rather than down. But didn't tell me how to fix it!

As I'm about to hit the ball, I feel as though my shoulder lifts my head and takes my eyes off the ball. Any tips, drills or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance to those who reply

[Zeph]

You mentioned like a door or like a U, neither of which are correct. What you are looking for is between those two. A baseballswing is straight out, like a door.
Look at the video below. The contraption is hinged in three different ways. At first like a door, second at a 45º angle, and third straight up and down, like a hammer. The correct one is the middle one, 45º angle from the ground.



The angle will change depending on which club you use and how high a person is, but it should be around 30-40º. That's the shoulders angle. The spine angle should be around 60-70, which will give an angle of 30-40 perpendicular to the spine.
What I suspect you do is standing too upright and rotating the shoulders like a door. This will cause the left shoulder to bump into the chin and move the head. Watch some videos on Youtube and you'll see what I mean. I don't know how you setup at address, but in any case you probably want to push the left shoulder more down than you do today. When taking your address position, tilt the upper body toward the ball so that you don't have to look down on the ball. The eyes should stay in the middle of your eye socket, looking straight down at the ball. Don't try to keep your chin up to avoid the shoulders. When looking straight at the ball, you must be able to rotate back without the left shoulder bumping your chin up.

If you can, record a video of your swing or take a picture of your address position. That will help.

I would show some pictures and graphics too, but don't have the time now. Hope this helps a bit.

[Fatphil]

maybe you got punched in the head by Snooki and the Situation...haha...just kidding...
Believe it or not golf is actually a very physical game..takes some eye hand coordination and some stretched out muscles...Technique and lessons are important but you still need motor skills. Rather than thinking about a baseball swing (if you are a baseball guy) you may want to think about a pitcher. Create torque, eye on the target, proper body control and above all stretch out so you don't tear anything.

[Rexx]

Your spine is tilted at address. You turn your shoulders perpendicular to your spine. The effect is that your left shoulder will 'drop' and your right shoulder will 'rise', but you don't perform any side-to-side bending of the waist to either increase or decrease the left shoulder drop. In other words, if you stood perfectly vertical and turn your shoulders, there is no change in shoulder elevation. But if you make this same motion with a tilted spine (like at address), it is only natural that the left shoulder will be lower and the right shoulder higher (when you turn clockwise 90 degrees). You are supposed to pretty much retain that spine angle throughout the swing. If you did that, I'm not sure why your shoulders would be blocking your view. The only way I can see it is if you are standing too vertical, then maybe...

[parplease]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the tips. I will try to get some pics up soon.

[iacas]

Your spine is tilted at address. You turn your shoulders perpendicular to your spine. The effect is that your left shoulder will 'drop' and your right shoulder will 'rise', but you don't perform any side-to-side bending of the waist to either increase or decrease the left shoulder drop.

That's not entirely correct. Every good golfer does three things on the backswing: they extend their spine (at their hips) a little, they rotate their shoulders about their spine (in their shoulder blade region), and they tilt their spine to their left (which, at the top of the backswing, is towards the ball).

If your head moves, it's because there's some lack of balance between those three. And I'm not saying that's bad - some golfers do well with their head moving back a bit or whatnot.

You are supposed to pretty much retain that spine angle throughout the swing. If you did that, I'm not sure why your shoulders would be blocking your view. The only way I can see it is if you are standing too vertical, then maybe...

:cringe:

I'm not a fan of the term "spine angle." And the advice above corresponds to more than just Stack and Tilt - every good golfer tilts to the left and extends the spine on the takeaway to some extent (and extends again and tilts to the right through impact and the follow-through).

[Rexx]

Very good, I stand corrected. Golfers should maintain their spine inclination to the ground throughout the swing. The forward hip bend is not maintained (if that is your definition of spine angle), but moves to a side hip bend in order to maintain that initial inclination to the ground when the shoulders turn, with the reverse happening on the forward swing. Never thought of it that way. Thanks for the correction/clarification!

I could make the argument that the change of hip bend from forward to side is the result of the shoulders turning around the tilted spine and not some conscious action to bend to the side. And while not clear, I never said that the hip bend does not change, only that you don't perform any side-to-side hip bend to increase or decrease the shoulder tilt. Nice backpedaling there...

[Gioguy21]

lol...seemed like full on reverse to me...i was a pitcher playin baseball growing up...and batted. A golf swing only relates to baseball in that of the shoulders i think. spine 'inclination' as it was corrected has no bearing really in a baseball swing. i was told while hitting, your chin would lie on your right shoulder (i was lefty) and as you rotated while swinging your chin would then lie on your left shoulder if you correctly roll the wrists or 'snap' on the ball through impact. this i feel, (erik may or may not agree) is similar to that of golf however in golf you're spine inclination is static, and your shoulders rotate around that axis...such as a baseball swing in this case. instead of starting however on any given shoulder you start in between, and on the backswing put your chin on your left shoulder...only to swing and replace it with the right. this is merely speaking of shoulders, not including lower body movement. since i played ball, i relate that specific drill from baseball to golf, hopefully it may help?

[naflack]

first of all, i would go back to the teacher who gave you the original lesson(s) and continue working with him on this matter.

INSIST to him that you are struggling with an interpretation of how to fix this problem.

teaching pros are only as good as the communication of the students they are trying to help.

he has seen your swing and would best know how to help you...give him that chance.

best of luck!

i would add...do not make any drastic swing changes based on posts from anyone who hasnt seen your swing, it will only complicate things further.