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Breaking Down Spinning The Shoulders

In this video, we break down the concept of "spinning the shoulders", highlighting its impact on swing mechanics and performance. By understanding the timing and mechanics of shoulder movement, golfers can improve their swing path, achieve better ball contact, and enhance overall consistency. We also discuss various drills to help manage shoulder spin and improve delivery position during the swing.

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This concept video is breaking down,

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spinning the shoulders.

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Uh, so spinning the shoulders is a term that we're gonna use

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for the shoulders, going from the right side of our body

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to the left side of our body, kind of going more like this.

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So, uh, right shoulder back, left shoulder, forward

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to left shoulder, back right sho shoulder forward.

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And in many actions that would be a kind of a big source

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of creating hand speed.

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It would be a big, um, power source for creating a whip

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of that trail side.

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Um, however, in my experience, um, for the golf swing,

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the later you can get that to happen,

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probably within reason, you probably do it too late.

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But in general, the timing of that, the later

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that you can get it to happen,

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typically the better your golf swing is.

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All else being equal. Um, many amateurs struggle with it.

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Uh, the shoulder spin happening either early in transition

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or dominating the release.

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So I wanted to talk through how that shows up, um,

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and what you can watch out for.

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Um, there's a bunch of drills

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that will work on the complimentary pieces, uh,

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but sometimes that, uh, shoulder spin is kind

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of the underlying mechanism that makes it really hard

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to break certain patterns in transition.

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If we get up to the top of the swing

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and at the top of the swing, the shoulder,

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the right shoulder's back,

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and the left shoulder is a little bit forward, kind

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of more like this, if I immediately start spinning the

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shoulders, then that's one

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of the classic steepening over the top type movements.

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Um, from the down the line camera angle, if you do this,

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you'll tend to see the, the hands travel well

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outward towards the golf ball.

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Um, and the shaft will tend to get vertical

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and out away from you, often accompanied

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with some early extension.

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Um, now the sneakier version is if we look at delivery

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position, if I do a little bit of this movement,

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if I do a little bit of that,

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then I would typically be steep

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unless I added an extra shallowing.

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So a lot of players who have more of this excessive tilt

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of the upper body back, um,

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or the arms getting more behind the body.

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So if you're tending to see more of this gap

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and throw there, this shoulder spinning might be one of the,

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the key components

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or the key, um, kind of culprits in order to get the arms

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to be in front of your body.

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Here you'll see if all I did was spin my shoulders,

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it becomes a lot harder to get that elbow in front compared

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to if I had my shoulders pointing more

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back behind the golf ball.

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So this is where, um, some of the ideas of kind

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of developing that scapular feel,

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whether you feel your chest

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or your shoulders back, that allows for the arms

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to get into a better delivery position.

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But it requires that you get more of your speed from kind

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of the, uh, below your chest

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or below kind like T six, middle of your thoracic spine,

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getting more of the motion there.

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Um, and some of the motion in the arms,

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but not so much in the,

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the shoulders getting that shoulder spin.

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Some people do a good job of getting into a more

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or less good delivery position,

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but then they spin the shoulders as a dominant mechanism

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during their release or through the ball.

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So they'll get into a position kinda like this,

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and then through the ball

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we'll see those shoulders tend to spin.

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That shoulder spin through the ball is often accompanied

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with more of an, uh, kind of a throw

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or an early release of that right arm, that right wrist

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or that right shoulder, or it'll accompany more

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that left wrist pulling, getting into more

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of a chicken wing pattern kind of like this.

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And almost always it's accompanied

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with staying in deflection, uh, longer.

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So that can cause on the way through the head

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to drift forward, um, or the body to stay more down

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and have more of kind of a disconnected look.

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Um, sort of like that where if I was to go up

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and prevent the shoulders from spinning there

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during transition

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and then prevent the shoulders from spinning there

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during the release, you can see that that will, um,

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create some of these looks of my body

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and my arms working more kind of in sync.

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Um, where when I do this shoulder driven motion,

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either early or late, it tends to have more of a

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kind of a disconnected look.

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Um, and often golfers will complain

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that the swing feels quick when the shoulders

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have spun too soon.

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So this can be one of the engines

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and one of the glues that drives a bunch of the looks that,

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uh, we hate when we see our swings on video

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and a bunch of the mist patterns that create a lot of,

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uh, inconsistency.

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So I highly recommend that you investigate a way

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to feel the shoulders staying a little bit more closed.

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It may be the missing link for either your transition

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or your release issues.

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So real quick, kind of shoulders

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or back saying to the target while I get into a good

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delivery position, and then more

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or less feeling like the whip

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of the shoulders is happening late through the ball,

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that gives the, the feeling of swinging

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through the ball more width on the follow through.

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Lots of good things that help with consistency

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of ground contact and consistency of ball light.

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