Click Here for a Lesson Coupon

Shoulders Square for Straighter Shots

A lot of golfers fight two bad shot patterns; a dead pull and a slice. Both of these errant shots can be caused by a poor setup and then improper position at impact.

Setup Position
A good golf swing starts with a good setup. Feet, knees, hips and shoulders should all be aligned parallel to the target line. Most golfers have a tendency to point their shoulders left of target (for right handed golfers) at address for a couple of reasons. First, as you take your normal grip, your right hand usually comes across your body rather than starting parallel to your target. This points your shoulders left of target.

To eliminate this setup flaw, put your left hand in its normal grip position, then put your right hand on your right leg and slowly move your hand over to the club and grip it in it’s normal position. This will do two things to get you in the proper position. First, it will align your shoulders in the proper angle with the right shoulder below the left shoulder. Second, it will align your shoulders parallel to the target line on the same line as your feet, knees and hips.

Shoulders Left	Set up Drill	Straight Set up

Impact Position
At impact, your shoulders should again be parallel to the target line or just slightly left of target with the left shoulder slightly higher than your right. Basically, in the same position as at setup. If you over-rotate your hips, you will usually turn your shoulders as well and end up with your shoulders pointed very far left of target at impact. This leads to a pull left as your hands try to catch up with your body and you “flip” the club at impact, or a slice if your hands do not catch up with your body and you leave the clubface wide open with an outside to inside swing path. Another cause of this swing flaw is the dreaded “chicken wing” where you pull your left elbow up and your left shoulder left of target at impact.

Pull at Impact	“Chicken Wing”	Impact Bag Drill

To get your shoulders square at impact, work on keeping your left arm straight through impact and allow the weight of the club to extend your swing and pull your body around to a good full finish. A good training aid to use is the Impact Bag. Another way to work on this is to video your swing so that you can check your alignment at both setup and impact to determine what you are really doing in your swing. Without visual feedback, it will be difficult for you to determine exactly the cause of your errant shots.

So hit straighter shots by getting your shoulders set up properly at address and returning to the proper position at impact. You will start seeing your shots go longer and straighter and your scores will start coming down dramatically!

Back to Top