What this amateur fixed to shave 10 strokes off their game (and how you can too)

Welcome to Shaving Strokesa brand new GOLF.com sequence wherein we’re sharing enhancements, learnings and takeaways from beginner golfers identical to you — together with a few of the velocity bumps and challenges they confronted alongside the way in which.

For those who’re a participant who has a “rooster wing” of their golf swing, you’re definitely not alone. As a common problem for many amateur golfersthe error happens when somebody contracts their arms in order that the elbows separate, inflicting the lead elbow to level up.

So what’s the issue with that? As anybody who “rooster wings” can attest, the standard of the shot is negatively impacted — so it’s essential to shallow the swing and pull the arms in towards the physique.

By correcting this concern, gamers will begin to see straighter photographs, longer photographs and, in fact, decrease scores.

In in the present day’s Shaving Strokes, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Mark Durland explains how he helped a scholar named Jeff shave 10 strokes off his recreation, all by correcting the rooster wing in his swing and readjusting his setup.

Have a look beneath to see how the 2 had been in a position to do it — and the way you need to use the knowledge to enhance your personal recreation.

In response to Durland, Jeff began taking classes with him earlier this 12 months, taking only a single, two-hour session every month from February to April — and by the third lesson, Jeff began to expertise “some astonishing outcomes,” per Durland.

“His handicap index dropped by 10 strokes, he added 20-plus yards to all of his golf equipment, and he had his first hole-in-one,” Durland mentioned. “What made his hole-in-one so superb is that it got here on a gap the place he would traditionally use a 5-iron, however now he makes use of an 8-iron.”

As I’ve written about in a earlier Shaving Strokes article, my first-ever golf lesson helped identify some bad golf habits of mine. The identical appeared to occur for Jeff.

“Jeff labored diligently between classes,” provides Durland. “He frolicked utilizing a Trackman simulator and put within the work by enjoying a number of occasions per week. It wasn’t at all times fairly by way of the method, however he saved pushing ahead and is now experiencing the rewards of his laborious work.”

Right here’s what Durland had Jeff do to assist appropriate his points — beginning with that rooster wing within the golf swing.

Correcting the rooster wing

In response to Durland, Jeff struggled with making stable contact and his membership path, which he says was the genesis of “a lifelong rooster wing along with his left arm by way of influence.”

Whereas there are other ways to repair a rooster wing, the video beneath from Durland’s YouTube channel helps clarify a few of the steps the golf trainer used with Jeff to beat the issue.

The best way to forestall a rooster wing golf swing

Slicing off the tee

After determining that the rooster wing in Jeff’s golf swing was inflicting points, Durland subsequent targeted on making Jeff’s setup extra cohesive.

“Like most beginner golfers, Jeff battled a slice,” Durland says. “Consequently, he would goal left to accommodate the curving proper ball flight. Nonetheless, the extra left he aimed, the extra left his membership path would shift, additional rising the slice.”

Redfining the golf setup

To assist with Jeff’s slice, Durland had the coed work on closing his stance — particularly when utilizing the motive force. With a slight proper goal, Jeff was in a position to ship the clubhead on a less-left swing airplane.

Stated Durland, “The setup helped quite a bit, however he was nonetheless battling an outside-in, over-the-top golf swing. This resulted in a fade and generally a slice ball flight.”

A greater swing airplane

Lastly, the 2 labored on getting Jeff to swing extra round “like a merry-go-round, and fewer vertical like a ferris wheel.”

Added Durland, “One of the best ways for Jeff to digest this was by preserving his arms decrease and nearer to the bottom on the backswing. After these modifications, a draw ball flight began to emerge, which saved Jeff impressed to make the modifications. His ball had at all times curved proper, so seeing it curve left was a welcome sight.”

By correcting Jeff’s rooster wing golf swing, in addition to addressing the setup and swing-plane points, Durland was in a position to assist him shave 10 strokes off his recreation in simply three months. It feels like the advance is simply getting began, and decrease scores might be in his future by later this 12 months.

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Nick Dimengo

Golf.com Editor