Why Don't I Rotate My Arms Through Impact??

Often times I will have people come in for a lesson with the issue of 'slicing' their shots. When I place them on camera to take a deeper dive into the swing, it's almost inevitable that you'll see the arms not rotating enough through impact. For correct rotation, you shouldn't be able to see the left hand at hip height after impact. If you only see the right hand, it means that you've fully released the club through the ball.

The reason why the arms haven't rotated through the ball is mainly due to two reasons. One is that they have never been told to rotate the arms, so it feels normal to prevent the clubface from rotating through the ball in an effort to hit the ball straighter. The other and more common reason is that it is due to an 'over the top' swing path. If you swing 'over the top', preventing the arms from rotating will be the body's way of trying to save you from missing the ball too far to the left. Therefore it will try and keep the clubface open to hopefully still end with a reasonably straight shot.

The first task to help someone rotate the clubface properly through the ball, is to focus on swing path. You want to feel the swing path move around the body on roughly a 45 degree angle during the backswing and into the downswing. I will often set up an alignment stick into a bucket on a 45 degree angle directly behind the ball and ask the student to feel as though they are swinging under this stick on the backswing and the downswing.

Once they have achieved this path, often times they start to rotate the arms and therefore the clubface naturally through the shot. If not we practice just swinging to hip height after impact and just make sure that the toe of the club is pointed to the sky. If it is we can be assured the clubface is rotating properly through impact. I will also often have a student use a heavy ball and pretend as though they are passing the ball to someone in front of them and behind them. As it is a heavy ball, they won't be able to help but rotate their arms as well as their chest, back and through.

If you'd like any further help in fixing your slice just contact myself at David Waters Golf located at Emerald Lakes Golf Coaching Centre.