Limited right shoulder External rotation at top of backswing
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Eric Benson
3 months ago
When I motorcycle my with my wrists at the top of my downswing at best my right elbow stays in the same relative position into transition, at worst it slides back (which helps keep the club head behind hands). I have only about 70° of external rotation in my shoulder compared to parallel to the ground in my backswing (measured by foresight cameras). The club shaft flattens out as it enters delivery position because I gain external rotation, but this seems to limit the amount of wipe. My right arm is more by my side than in front of my body at delivery. This position allows me to keep the club head behinds hands, hands close to body, but limits my forward wipe.
Additionally, I have a larger chest from weight lifting, so sneaking my right arm in front of my chest is not usually possible without lifting my arms away from my body quite a bit.
I am a 4 to 5 Handicap trying to get to scratch.
Are there compensation positions I can try given my limited shoulder flexibility and difficulty getting arms in front of chest, and lacking shoulder flexibility to keep the club head behind hands from this position?
I am hoping maybe compensations some women need may apply to mthe golf swing may apply to me
1 Reply
Tyler Ferrell
Coach
5 days, 5 hours ago
Hi Eric,
Sorry for the delay, this fell through the cracks. But we have a new system for tracking comments that I think will help in the future!
Some of the descriptions are a little tough to follow. I'm not sure what you mean by "70° of external rotation in my shoulder compared to parallel to the ground in my backswing (measured by foresight cameras)" Perhaps a video of your swing would be helpful in defining what you are trying to describe. It would be helpful to see how the club shaft flattens out because you gain external rotation. Usually the shoulder external rotation happens early in transition, so it would be rare for it to start showing up mid downswing. Maybe there's another shallowing mechanism.
Did you see this video, is this a similar scenario to the one you're describing? https://www.golfsmartacademy.com/golf-instruction/trail-arm-stuck-behind
As far as getting to scratch, do you have any idea where you're losing the strokes compared to the scratch benchmarks? There are lots of ways to adapt, but you want to pick ones that likely will help solve the scoring issue you're trying to solve. There are a few ways that more barrel chested individuals can get good low point and club face control, so there's always some hope.
Happy Golfing,
Tyler