Left Shoulder Locked
No, I haven’t lost my marbles, left shoulder locked (for right handed golfers) is a necessity for consistent shot making and solid strikes.
Most of us have probably heard about drills where you put a handkerchief or golf glove in your left armpit, trying to keep it there while hitting balls.
You’ll often see VJ doing this on the range. Besides creating ‘attachment’ what is this drill really designed to do? The original idea was to keep the shoulder locked in its socket.
Perhaps you still don’t get it. Try making a full relaxed swing with a club. Can you feel how your left shoulder wants to release and move out a bit? Now try the same swing while squeezing your upper left arm into your upper body.
If you do this correctly you’ll see that the shoulder remains locked and doesn’t slide out keeping you ‘locked’ in. Why is this important?
When the shoulder is locked you don’t have to pull it in on the downswing to return to your setup position at contact – a simpler swing is a better more consistent swing. Also, and this is equally important, you transfer power better from your core to the club face to the ball.
If you want some more information about this try searching Google videos for “brian manzella”. You should find some links to instructional videos that are very interesting. You can also go to www.brianmanzella.com.
I hadn’t heard of Brian before I started doing some research on the teaching philosophy of Jimmy Ballard. I was immediately struck by Brian’s straightforward, down home approach to golf instruction.
I also liked what I heard in his videos, which demystify a lot of bunk that surrounds the golf swing. Take a look for yourself!
Related posts:
- Golf Tip – Flat Left Wrist at Takeaway
- A Sure Fix For Improving Your Swing
- Why Amateurs Don’t Get Better
- Looking for Golf DVDs?
- My 2008 Golfing “Tip of the Year”
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