By: John C on July 1, 2020, 8:11 p.m.
I have had several young players recently who shallow the club in transition but the hand path and trail arm move well away from their bodies. As the club approaches impact they raise the handle to lower the clubhead onto the back of the ball. What drills and concepts do you suggest? My standard toolbox, lead arm falling, trail arm drills, etc., is not getting the job done.
Thanks,
John Comninaki, PGA
By: Tyler F on July 3, 2020, 1:20 p.m.
+John C Do you have a video of one of these students? It would be helpful to see exactly what you mean.
In general, a golfer who is shallow early will be steep late and a golfer who is steep early will be shallow late. So if I saw late swallowing, and addressing it directly didn't fix it, then I'd look for steep and shallow balance in transition.
If the hands move away from the body with the shallow, then this is an indication that they are creating the shallow more from the back than from the abs. Usually the quadratus lumborum muscle or the latissimus dorsi on the right side. Since it's a power move, it can take some time to work through for most golfers. But getting the abs more involved in transition instead of the back. Beat the drum, delivery pumps, slow motion drills can all be helpful for working on muscle activation timing. 👍
By: Tyler F on July 5, 2020, 12:21 p.m.
+Tyler F
It would be easier to see from the face on view, but this golfer appears to be lunging forward with his upper body in transition. That creates the steep pattern that needs the extra shallow late. In his case, it also moves slightly closer to the golf ball, which causes the heel miss pattern. I do find a lot of juniors get into that style of transition. Shallowing with ulnar deviation is often easier than swallowing with side bend and axis tilt at first. I usually start with pivot drill to get the body more in position and then work in squaring the club face. Sometimes I start with the clubface, but I find juniors can respond well to pivot drills. :)
