We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Having trouble fixing early extension

~QQ~

~QQ~

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
480
Reaction score
369
Location
San Diego, CA
Handicap
7.5
I video all of my range sessions dtl. I've tried a couple of things on the range over the past few weeks to fix this but can't. Every single swing I can see myself gradually pushing toward the ball on the back swing and then fully diving into the ball on the downswing. Result, mostly heel hits with a slight fade.

I've tried holding the club out in front of me with my left hand and swinging under it with my right. I've tried the golf bag on the butt. I've tried swinging with my right foot back and heel on the ground through. I just can't seem to find that "feeling" I need.

Not sure if this a protection thing my body does for my lower back pain. So, looking for something different that might make my body do this.
 
~QQ~ said:
I video all of my range sessions dtl. I've tried a couple of things on the range over the past few weeks to fix this but can't. Every single swing I can see myself gradually pushing toward the ball on the back swing and then fully diving into the ball on the downswing. Result, mostly heel hits with a slight fade.

I've tried holding the club out in front of me with my left hand and swinging under it with my right. I've tried the golf bag on the butt. I've tried swinging with my right foot back and heel on the ground through. I just can't seem to find that "feeling" I need.

Not sure if this a protection thing my body does for my lower back pain. So, looking for something different that might make my body do this.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you're focusing a lot on what the club is doing vs. your body...my guess is that your balance points are off, and your SetUp needs help, at least that's where you should start. Let's take a look...Can you post a video, or send it to me? Thanks. Matt
 
TrueMotionMatt said:
Sounds like you're focusing a lot on what the club is doing vs. your body...my guess is that your balance points are off, and your SetUp needs help, at least that's where you should start. Let's take a look...Can you post a video, or send it to me? Thanks. Matt
Click to expand...

I'll try to send it to you. PM?
 
Sent you the video. LMK.
 
TrueMotionMatt said:
I'm on it...
Click to expand...
If there is a drill for this would love to see it posted on the THP area if possible, I know I suffer from this as well. If its too much of the secret sauce though I understand.
 
jdtox said:
If there is a drill for this would love to see it posted on the THP area if possible, I know I suffer from this as well. If its too much of the secret sauce though I understand.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, there is not one drill that will solve an early extension "EE", people do it for a number of reasons. Don't believe it if someone tells you otherwise.😉 And as I'm sure QQ can attest to, there are several things that were causing him to EE. Maybe if he's comfortable, he can post the video I made for him walking him through some of the things he can work on to stop the EE.

Here's what QQ needs to work on:
  1. SetUp - Get more balanced front to back. People often times start fixing what's happening with the club and continue to swing out of balance. This is typical of YouTube Self Helpers, or golfers who try to use YouTube to fix something that isn't going well for them.
    • QQ has 3 things relating to balance points & SetUp he can now work on.
  2. Sequencing - Getting the hands to outrace the body is the biggest one with higher handicappers, usually because #1, or because their clubface is open on the way down. They have no other way to square the clubface than to EE, tilt, & throw angles & power.
 
My take is your pivot is causing your issues. Like everything in golf the correct pivot doesn't come naturally, it has to be learned. Unfortunately popular golf instruction doesn't get into the nitty gritty of how to use our legs, pelvis and spine in the manner the body is designed for a powerful golf swing and a safe swing . Golfers are left to work it out themselves and inevitably get it wrong. We watch elite golf swings and form in our minds swing concepts based on really scanty information. The key parts of the body that elite players are working are hidden from the spectator in the one second it takes to play a golf shot.
Kelvin Miyahira's Articles are a wealth of knowledge on the subject . George Gankas's pivot and turn video's are another excellent source.
 
For ME this vid helped tremendously:

Make sure all the other parts prior to the downswing is good first off. The key thing to remember is that we all extend in a swing. We just don’t want to do it at impact. Good luck
 
Seems like a good helpful video, will put some work in for that
 
tinman143 said:
For ME this vid helped tremendously:

Make sure all the other parts prior to the downswing is good first off. The key thing to remember is that we all extend in a swing. We just don’t want to do it at impact. Good luck
Click to expand...


He leaves out one key piece of advice, and this is why you should watch this first:


Anyone know what that key point might be?
 
In my experience EE can be reduced and/or fixed by moving the left knee left to initiate the down swing which pulls the hips in more proper rotation.

Otherwise my hips tend to slow/stop and my arms outrace them to the ball. When that occurs my left knee thinks the swing is "over" so it pushes up early because....in fact....my swing did end early.
 
Grip? Are you using too strong of a grip?
 
Is it possible to watch Ernie Els practice tee swings a 1,000 times then swing like him? Lol. Look at his left knee movement. To me it juts out on the back swing, then turns left and straightens in a nanosecond after impact. So effortless.

 
Try this as well. Make a backswing and pause at the top. Take your lead hand off the club and put it on the top of the lead thigh where it meets the hip. Leaving your hand at that location, push it into your lead hip as you make a trail arm only swing. No need to hit a ball or swing hard. This is only to give you a feeling of what you’re NOT doing when you EE. Notice the feeling of the lead hip backing up AWAY from the ball vs our normal feeling of TOWARDS the ball. It’ll be a foreign feeling for us that EE our entire career. Get it on vid and see for yourself that you are now appropriately rotating your hips vs extending towards the ball. You’ll also notice that your head will naturally dip from the top and your inclination to the ground will stay relatively the same from address to the top of your BS though impact.
 
tinman143 said:
Try this as well. Make a backswing and pause at the top. Take your lead hand off the club and put it on the top of the lead thigh where it meets the hip. Leaving your hand at that location, push it into your lead hip as you make a trail arm only swing. No need to hit a ball or swing hard. This is only to give you a feeling of what you’re NOT doing when you EE. Notice the feeling of the lead hip backing up AWAY from the ball vs our normal feeling of TOWARDS the ball. It’ll be a foreign feeling for us that EE our entire career. Get it on vid and see for yourself that you are now appropriately rotating your hips vs extending towards the ball. You’ll also notice that your head will naturally dip from the top and your inclination to the ground will stay relatively the same from address to the top of your BS though impact.
Click to expand...
Interesting. If you could post a video of that it would be quite helpful.
 
tinman143 said:
For ME this vid helped tremendously:

Make sure all the other parts prior to the downswing is good first off. The key thing to remember is that we all extend in a swing. We just don’t want to do it at impact. Good luck
Click to expand...

I liked the video.
It also touched on what I was going to post. Do you notice how this pro does almost the entire instructional segment using his RIGHT hand only on the club? Notice also the connection his right arm has with his body. You can tuck a glove up under that right armpit and it won't fall out.
I was setting up using just the right hand and feeling that right arm just slammed against my body at setup and feeling that connection.
I could really feel how the stiff shafts in my bag need to go for regulars, as I was having a hard time holding my angles with them and extending early.
Especially as I got toward the end of a large bucket and started to get fatigued.
 
He's a good instructor. I like the video. However, I want to add one caveat that he didn't mention. If you watch his left knee movement, it bumps left and rolls-up very quickly. The reason I mention this is because I've done some trials to reduce or eliminate EE and hit a roadblock, but I found out why. This is nothing new for many folks but for me it was somewhat eye-opening after some experimenting.

Try this for yourself:

- Stand at address and rotate back. Your left knee juts-out and the right knee is slightly bent.
- Now don't move your left knee left and try to rotate your hips down while maintaining spine angle. Do your hips feel like they want to stop at the ball, or rotation is limited? Do you feel somewhat contorted?
- Now move your left knee left to start the down swing. Can you feel your hips being freed-up to rotate much more easily? Did your hips start rotating without thinking?

In the first scenario, or with no left knee leading movement, I simply cannot maintain spine angle AND rotate my hips because they want to stop at the ball, thus I have to stand-up and throw the club at the ball because my lower body is in the way. I've been blocking my hip turn due to faulty left knee movement, or lack thereof. The initial "left knee left" move allows my hips to more freely rotate, and my hips naturally start to rotate without trying. It's not an exaggerated "left knee left" throw-out, just enough to free the hips to rotate. The instructor is 100% correct about the club exiting low-and-left on the follow-through. You can actually check your divots to see the path.

Now the trick will be getting out of the mindset of stopping at the ball even with good left knee movement because my brain is used to my hips pointing at the ball at impact. Out of 100 shots yesterday on the range, I would say only 6 or 7 shots were hit with a more appropriate left knee lead, and those were towards the end after (I think) my brain got tired of trying to stop at the ball...LOL. I can tell if I did it right because my upper body is tilted to the right from DTL after impact. I was hitting a PW about 120 with the crappy knee, and on the shots with a more correct knee movement the ball carried at least 10 additional yards, if not more. I don't think it's an overnight change because this move is the opposite of what I've been doing for years, and my brain probably thinks there will be some "injury" if I don't EE. So I'm just working on short irons to get the feel. I do know that once I get to the driver the left knee will have to automatically move properly, and very quickly or all crap will break loose if not! :oops:
 
Just wanted to add to the above that I've tried thinking "rotate the hips" and the result was a slide which was even worse because I completely eliminated "hitting against, or into my left side". Plus, and don't ask me why, but sometimes my left shoulder, or right shoulder will try to "help" achieve rotation which results in tops and shanks. Many teachers talk about rotating the hips and for me it led to more bad stuff. I know a guy right now who is trying to think "rotate the hips" but he's not leading with his left knee yet he complains he can't engage his lower body.
 
As all things in golf, there is no ONE magic move. Here’s a vid that walks you through the process with a few drills in series as your body adjusts to no longer early extending. Again not EE’ing for life long humpers will feel so foreign and it takes time to adjust your feelings from the top.

 
GolfLivesMatter said:
Just wanted to add to the above that I've tried thinking "rotate the hips" and the result was a slide which was even worse because I completely eliminated "hitting against, or into my left side". Plus, and don't ask me why, but sometimes my left shoulder, or right shoulder will try to "help" achieve rotation which results in tops and shanks. Many teachers talk about rotating the hips and for me it led to more bad stuff. I know a guy right now who is trying to think "rotate the hips" but he's not leading with his left knee yet he complains he can't engage his lower body.
Click to expand...
The hips have to clear out of the way to swing from the inside.
So "rotate" "clear" "point the belt buckle" whatever imagery works for ya.
The spine angle has to be maintained or "early extension."
It can hurt like hell, but keep that feeling of a reverse "C" shape to the lower back/ spine and keep the chest up in athletic position. This is correct angle/posture. If the body allows. If you hold that spine angle, the hips have to clear or you'll break. But this is correct golf technique. :ROFLMAO:
Had a tough time coming out of my posture/angle with pain in left knee/hip and not wanting to extend after impact at the range a few days ago. Flared some to the right. Little toe side on impacts generally.

Was thinking of enviable postures and thought of Adam Scott's swing. This article they are talking about early extension (haven't read it yet) and they show Adam Scott's swing as exemplary for maintaining angles and posture and avoiding early extension. (y)

Maintain Posture and Eliminate Early Extension | Kansas City Golf Information - KCmetroGolf.com

Early extension causes the arms and club to get stuck behind the body during the downswing and causes the upper body to rise up through the hitting zone.
www.kcgolfermagazine.com
Here they have a yellow line for reference almost where the other guy had the alignment stick planted for his swing key. (y)
 
Last edited:
tinman143 said:
As all things in golf, there is no ONE magic move. Here’s a vid that walks you through the process with a few drills in series as your body adjusts to no longer early extending. Again not EE’ing for life long humpers will feel so foreign and it takes time to adjust your feelings from the top.

Click to expand...

I like that video too. And for sure change is not easy. However, if you watch his left knee, it moves left at the start of the down swing, caused by a slight squat move. My point is without that move the hips have nowhere to rotate. While there is no one magic move, there are certainly baseline fundamentals that are required to allow certain movements. Otherwise we're all just chasing stuff that will never work because our body simply cannot execute.
 
blueonblack said:
The hips have to clear out of the way to swing from the inside.
So "rotate" "clear" "point the belt buckle" whatever imagery works for ya.
The spine angle has to be maintained or "early extension."
It can hurt like hell, but keep that feeling of a reverse "C" shape to the lower back/ spine and keep the chest up in athletic position. This is correct angle/posture. If the body allows. If you hold that spine angle, the hips have to clear or you'll break. But this is correct golf technique. :ROFLMAO:
Had a tough time coming out of my posture/angle with pain in left knee/hip and not wanting to extend after impact at the range a few days ago. Flared some to the right. Little toe side on impacts generally.

Was thinking of enviable postures and thought of Adam Scott's swing. This article they are talking about early extension (haven't read it yet) and they show Adam Scott's swing as exemplary for maintaining angles and posture and avoiding early extension. (y)

Maintain Posture and Eliminate Early Extension | Kansas City Golf Information - KCmetroGolf.com

Early extension causes the arms and club to get stuck behind the body during the downswing and causes the upper body to rise up through the hitting zone.
www.kcgolfermagazine.com
Here they have a yellow line for reference almost where the other guy had the alignment stick planted for his swing key. (y)
Click to expand...
If you watched the Ernie Els practice tee video, does it look like anything is stressed in his swing? All I see is a slight left knee left move and it looks like he's not even trying. I'm sure his left knee moves faster on the driver, but holy cow there's no stress from what I see.
 
GolfLivesMatter said:
I like that video too. And for sure change is not easy. However, if you watch his left knee, it moves left at the start of the down swing, caused by a slight squat move. My point is without that move the hips have nowhere to rotate. While there is no one magic move, there are certainly baseline fundamentals that are required to allow certain movements. Otherwise we're all just chasing stuff that will never work because our body simply cannot execute.
Click to expand...

Agreeing with you. After all the knee is connected to the thigh which is connected to the hip . I’ve tried attacking EE through various body parts (right butt cheek, left cheek, left knee external rotation as you mentioned, squatting down) but none stuck for me. I’m going to try my latest epiphany at the range on Tuesday and video it. So far the swings in my backyard setup has produced good results but I have not hit balls yet so TBD. We all know the longer the club, the more exacerbated the fault is exposed. I can ‘hide’ my EE ok with the short clubs but boy o boy the driver is U G L Y....hide the goats! Below is a vid from yesterday where I focused on the feeling of my hand pushing the left hip back on the downswing. Not too bad but let’s see what happens with a ball there. Fingers crossed.

Again the hip feeling (for me) seems to work and may not for others. Just wanted to share my thoughts.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top