Twisting instead of rotating

[Broadus]

My besetting fault appears to be twisting my upper body instead of a proper rotation of my shoulders around my spine. I will finally get it right for a month or two, and then, lo and behold, I cannot even may decent contact with the ball. It gets so bad that I go from a 120-yard 9 iron to slicing it 40 yards away to the right. I don't mean 40 yards offline, but 40 yards total. It's so frustrating that I'm tempted to put my clubs on eBay.

Then, I will start focusing on my shoulder turn and come out of it, but I've lost a couple of weeks in the meantime and increased my blood pressure too much.

After another month or two, I'm back to no contact.

My question is this: How can I learn to make a proper shoulder turn around my spine? I'm having trouble "seeing" it in my mind and I get confused over-thinking it.

BTW, I've tried such things as putting my club behind my neck and making a shoulder turn but haven't found it very helpful.

Thanks,
Bill

[LowPost42]

Re: Twisting instead of rotating

Hi Bill,

I've recently come across the same trouble - rather than turn my shoulders, I simply reach across my body with my arms.

The key that works for me is to make sure I turn the small of my back away in the backswing as well. Go ahead and try it - the shoulders automatically want to move back with it. When I do this, I really feel the difference between reaching back with my hands and turning back with my body.

[BrianW]

Re: Twisting instead of rotating

Hi Bill,

I understand what you are saying. As LP says it can be easy to simply pull the arms across the chest instead of making a full shoulder turn, probably because it feels more comfortable.

I can only suggest what helps me here and that is to make sure I can see and feel my left shoulder under my chin.

Hope this helps.

[GregJWillis]

Re: Twisting instead of rotating

Wow, you got some things going on there...and each fix you think you have correctly diagnosed causes something else to break.

I talk about this exact thing here for a casual read if you want.
Golf Lessons - GregJWillis

But the main thing is that regardless of the problem, be it your shoulders, or hands and grip or balance...you are taking some chances by trying to determine the right fix for what ails you...kind of like walking into a hospital because of a pain in your side, and telling a doctor you have a appendicitis and demand an operation without the doctor running tests and looking at you.

My long winded-coffee induced response is that I would suggest taking a series of lessons from your local pro. Get their real-time on hands evaluation. It may be something so simple that you never thought of, or tried, or even heard of...but the key is that they should be able to determine it right away. They should provide the correct fix that shouldn't break everything else, and give you drills to reinforce the fix to help you progress successfully.

I hope you took this the right way. I do not mean to say you don't know what you are doing. But sometimes, everyone needs to get a second opinion from time to time. I took a lesson just a few months ago, a 2 hour lesson with Ben Doyle (the grand master TGMer) in Carmel CA and determined 3 things I could do to improve. And now after about 2 months of time to let it sink in, I have ingrained it to be a natural part of the swing. They where things I already knew existed as things to do, but I didn't have the slightest idea that I wasn't doing them correctly. What felt right ...wasn't. Now it feels different, but I know with confidence it is what was needed.

[Broadus]

Re: Twisting instead of rotating

Thanks LP, Brian, and Greg. It may very well be that I am letting my hands and club move faster than my shoulders/torso. Through the years, a couple of partners have observed that I have a "hitch" in my backswing. It could be that a part is trying to catch up with the rest instead of all turning together.

Greg, I agree about the value of going to a good pro. Unfortunately, personal budget prohibits doing so. I feel that I should be able to learn on my own enough to play consistent bogey golf and enjoy an outing, but your counsel is doubtlessly right.

Thanks again.

Bill

[LowPost42]

Re: Twisting instead of rotating

OMG Greg! You're a TGM'er?!

***Runs away screaming***





Just kidding. I've been told (because I'm a mechanic) that TGM may be right up my alley.

[Broadus]

Re: Twisting instead of rotating

Greg,

I tried to PM you, but your box is full. I sent you an email instead.
Thanks.

BTW, your article represents my constant trouble. Fix something for a couple of weeks and then something else, probably related, comes up. I'm like a drunk needing to give up the bottle that causes me constant frustration and self-loathing, but I can't put the bottle (of golf, that is) away.

Bill

[GregJWillis]

Re: Twisting instead of rotating

OMG Greg! You're a TGM'er?!
***Runs away screaming***
Just kidding. I've been told (because I'm a mechanic) that TGM may be right up my alley.

Not a classic TGMer, only the general concepts I happened to match up well.