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How to reduce your handicap (and your back pain) with these simple backswing keys

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One of the most common faults I see among recreational and competitive players is that they believe they should attempt to keep the lower body and hips still in the backswing and turn the shoulders as much as possible to create the maximum amount of separation, or “X Factor.”

Previously, this was thought to be the proper way to create power in the golf swing. As golf instruction has moved forward with the help of technology, however, we now have the ability to measure the club and the body in great detail. Research has shown that this extreme separation between the hips and shoulders is not actually what separates the power players from the shorter hitters, and that it is also a major contributor to lower back pain.

Here are some keys that will lower your handicap… and save your back.

The Takeaway

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After getting into the setup position, you can see here that my first move in the takeaway involves the lower body remaining stable with minimal pressure shift in the feet, and my chest turning away from the target and the clubhead still outside of my hands. At this point, my hands still have not traveled very far, only to my right leg.

Allowing the pressure in the feet to shift and the hips to open a large amount this early in the swing causes problems with sequence and also gets the club inside or “under the plane” too quickly.

Swing to the Top

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As your hands pass your trail leg, allow your hips to open and the right leg to straighten. From the down-the-line view, you should be able to see your lead knee in front of the trail knee, an indication the hips have made a nice turn.

I feel here as if my back foot is turning clockwise against the ground. A good feel at this point of the backswing is that the arms and hands work up to the sky, not around your body, allowing the turn of the body to create the depth. Stay tall and feel a nice stretch in your lead lat. With your trail foot turning against the turf, as opposed to feeling a lateral move, you should get a very powerful feeling from the ground up through the legs and core as if you could jump or do a 360 spin.

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Delivery

This nice turn with the body gives us plenty of room to deliver the club from the inside easily without having to use as much right bend away from the target with the upper body, which over time will lead to injuries. This will also be very helpful for those who having trouble drawing the ball or tend to take very steep divots. We can deliver a big hit from here.

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Finished Product

With all this space and rotation, we can now pivot through the shot freely with our hips more open than our chest, but not to an extreme. This will make the clubface very stable through the bottom of the arc and creates a very powerful strike.

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Make these adjustments to your backswing and your handicap, and your body, will thank you.

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Wills began coaching golf at the age of 19. After moving from Bluefield, Virginia, to Orlando, Florida, at the age of 21, he began to study under swing coach Foley, and has worked as his assistant since 2011. Wills worked as an assistant professional at Lake Nona Golf Club in 2013, which at the time featured 5 of the top 50 players in the world, to study tour players practice and playing habits. Prior to joining the Foley Performance Academy at Eagles Dream, Wills worked as an independent instructor. Clients include elite junior, collegiate, mini tour and LPGA players. Credits one of his students, former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz, as well as golf instructor David Lee as his other coaching mentors.

20 Comments

20 Comments

  1. Tanner

    Sep 18, 2017 at 8:01 am

    Thx, Jim. wouldn’t it be rotate the shoulders, closed?

  2. N

    Sep 17, 2017 at 2:14 am

    Just looking at these photos makes my left leg, hip and ribs hurt

  3. Bob Jones

    Sep 16, 2017 at 9:08 pm

    The X factor has to be the dumbest idea going. Look at Bobby Jones’s swing. He has a tiny X factor, but he hit the ball a ton by the standards of his day.

  4. Chris B

    Sep 16, 2017 at 1:01 pm

    The open club face at the top is circa 1970. It’s not going left!

  5. Bob Pegram

    Sep 15, 2017 at 4:58 pm

    One thing I seldom see addressed in articles about the golf swing and back pain is whether the clubs are long enough. For tall golfers (or golfers with short arms) clubs that are too short will cause the golfer to bend over too far. It takes more flexibility to swing when bent over a lot. Standing more upright with longer clubs is much easier on the back and something older golfers should look at. In my case, it may me a more consistent ball striker. It also took the stress off my back.

  6. Speedy

    Sep 15, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    Bottoming out is a back-killer. With today’s clubs, most can choke down a couple of inches and get more solid strikes, as well as saving the back.

    Weight properly dispersed on feet (slight lead foot emphasis) will help govern the swing’s length. A 3/4 swing is another back saver.

  7. Laugh

    Sep 15, 2017 at 1:48 pm

    Sorry but I had to LOL this article.
    I can’t feel a thing ur talking about, as I HAVE to move my lower body and engage the legs and ankle lift to throw my weight forward and down into the strike otherwise your method is showing me that I have to keep my legs planted and rigid and then stretch upwards with the torso into the finish which will wreck your ribs and hip joints.
    I had to laugh

    • Laugh

      Sep 15, 2017 at 1:53 pm

      Because there is no way that I can keep my left foot planted like that and twist on it as I have no flexibility on that leg or ankle and need to eject it soon after the hit. Otherwise I will end up breaking my ankle or the calf strain will be way too immense to be able to use it the next day the pain will be unbelievable

      • Speedy

        Sep 15, 2017 at 2:20 pm

        Then you’re likely stubborn, out of shape, and/or swinging way too hard. Flexibility can be learned. It must be learned to save the back.

        • Phys

          Sep 15, 2017 at 10:43 pm

          Actually, no. There is a limit to things, just like anything else. Some people are more naturally limber and soft in their tendons than others.

  8. AllanA

    Sep 15, 2017 at 1:29 pm

    The source of the back pain is usually found in the transition from the thoracic to the lumbar sections of the spine (T12-L1). The lower lumbar vertebrae do not rotate, only the upper thoracic vertebrae twist around.
    If you are a sedentary type your lumbar vertebrae and muscles are continuously overstressed and the strain causes pain. When you try to rotate your thoracic spine against the rigid lumbar spine you aggravate the pain. You can develop sciatic pain too.
    A normal healthy spine assumes an ‘S’ shape while an unhealthy spine looks like a hunched over ‘C’ shape. Sedentary people invariably have ‘C’ spines and develop back pain. These people should not be playing golf for obvious reasons.
    Excessive sitting will also shrink and tighten the muscles in the back of your legs and weaken the front muscles. If your legs are weak your golf swing attempts will suffer.
    All good golfers have strong legs and good feet….. which is the true foundation of the golf swing. The hips and torso generate and transmit energy to torque the shoulders that whip the arms and club. Simple, and if you have doubts visit a sports chiropractor.

    • Zu Qu

      Sep 16, 2017 at 2:01 am

      Good points. But every single tour pro on any tour worldwide, spends a significant time sitting down – whether its travel, work or other forms that normal people face. Their bodies are just better equipped at handling it. I’ll also assure you many tour pros especially on the champions tour have very deformed postures and the C shape spine you’re talking about, but they still get it done. There are many ways to play the game. If you limit your mind and get lost in this biomechanic mumbo jumbo, then of course you’re doomed to fail before you begin. Hell, there are guys with severe physical disabilities playing at a high level. This isnt as much of a cookie cutter sport as some make it seem. While a healthy spine, strong legs and feet may help give a foundation for better golf, it doesnt guarantee the touch required for the short game or the nerves. You can have great strategy and know-how of how to play the game even with compromised health. There’s a reason the 70 year olds at my club clean up the young bucks.

      • AllanA

        Sep 18, 2017 at 2:50 am

        Most of the pro golfers started playing golf at an early age, like 6-7 y.o., or like Tiger as a toddler. Their golf swing neuro-muscular system is hard wired into their body and brain.
        They can make compensations to their golf swing and maybe get away with it, but most suffer and give up the game for a living.
        Also, your body shape affects how well you can compensate for a wonky spine. A tall slim golfer will have problems while a short stocky golfer may get away with it.

    • Tim

      Sep 17, 2017 at 1:33 am

      I am a sports specific chiropractor, and you are somewhat on the right track. Sedentary lifestyles are definitely bad for a number of reasons, but they are not the main contributor to low back pain in golfers, or even general back pain. Don’t get me wrong, lack of meaningful movement is a huge contributor to negative health conditions, but as far as back pain specific to golf, it is more complicated than comments on Golfwrx can cover. I would say 60% (maybe more) of clients from more than a dozen different sports and age ranges of 14-42 have had lower back (lumbar) pain at some point in the past. All of these clients are on the high end of “fit” by today’s standards. As an aside, I would ask you to consider how it is possible for handicapped (one legged) golfers to still hit the ball a respectable distance (approximate 250 yd. driver carry) and play solid (single digit handicap) golf. I’ve known a couple of guys who over the years who could do this. I think they would agree it comes down to centrifugal force.

      • AllanA

        Sep 18, 2017 at 2:44 am

        Of course you are right about back pain in the general population, but back pain cause by rotatory sports such as golf and tennis can show up at T12-L1 the transition from the twisting thoracic vertebrae to the rigid lumbar vertebrae.
        Lumbar pain due to a sedentary lifestyle is a chronic condition and such people should avoid rotatory sports where demands on posture and torsion are extreme.
        Please understand that the momentum of the hip mass must be transferred as kinetic energy through the core and to the shoulders. If the spine is compromised anywhere, rotation is also compromised.
        (p.s. there is no such thing as ‘centrifugal force’ in rotation, only ‘centripetal force’ and ‘torque’… per Newtonian physics.)

        • Tim

          Sep 19, 2017 at 10:19 pm

          AllanA,
          I should have assumed you knew what most people refer to as centrifugal force is actually centripetal force. I apologize.

          Your comment regarding “back pain cause by rotatory sports such as golf and tennis can show up at T12-L1” is a broadly generalized statement. Back pain from rotatory sports presents itself in a variety of ways and is not always CAUSED by rotation in the sport. The T12-L1 focus makes sense on paper and is good for textbooks but in real practice the human body compensates differently than most (99.99999999%) of the population realizes. I guess you’ll just have to take my word on it.

          “Please understand that the momentum of the hip mass must be transferred as kinetic energy through the core and to the shoulders”. (I hope after 16+ years in sport specific practice and hundreds of hours in post graduate work I’m starting to). Your statement assumes the sedentary people you mentioned in your first post and latest post actually swing in the same fashion as tour pros. I don’t have specific numbers, but I’m willing to bet that essentially no 10+ handicap golfer does. I’m sure you’ve seen and could describe the stereotypical weekend golfer swing with the super tight grip, right arm dominance, and almost no lower body involvement. In reality, the common instinctual weekend golfer swing has little to do with a professions in the areas of weight transfer, proper rotation, flexibility, balance, rhythm, or consistency.

          • AllanA

            Sep 20, 2017 at 1:45 am

            Sorry, Tim… in my haste to post I should have said that spinal injury can cause back pain. I tried to verbally illustrate how the spinal column can be injured due to the golf swing and omitted all the other causes that you no doubt have experiences professionally.
            My engineering assessment is that an irregular column undergoing rotatory stress has weak points, particularly in transitions from rigid to flexible sections… ergo T12-L1.
            The supporting musculature, deep and surface, also contributes to potential back pain due to vigorous rotation torque … and particularly when the column is tilted like a cantilever. Regardless, most of humanity is out of shape to play any sport.

  9. Jonesy

    Sep 15, 2017 at 8:43 am

    Very good article.

  10. Jim

    Sep 15, 2017 at 8:24 am

    I’ve recently seen some other pros that suggest that after you’ve completed your one piece take away, that you should feel your trail shoulder rotate open. That movement allow your trail elbow to get closer to vertical rather than flying open and then allow you to lead with that elbow in the downswing and create more clearance. I’ve been trying this recently and it really works. I’ve noticed a reduction in back pain by accentuating the one piece take away and then this shoulder rotation move too (which is good for someone with a bad back like me). Good points on the article.

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic

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My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.

As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.

The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.

Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply.  Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:

Mis-aligned hands

By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.

The position of the grip in the upper/left hand

I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean.  Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.

To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.

Too much lower (right) hand on the club

It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.

Gripping too tightly

Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.

So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.

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Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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