Not sure where to start? Ask Mulligan
Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best
Young Teachers in
America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America.
Diagnose Your Arm Height for a Better Backswing
After this video, you'll be able to:
- Identify the role of shoulder flexibility in your swing mechanics
- Test your current arm height to see if it's optimal for your body
- Adjust your backswing to improve comfort and effectiveness based on your findings
In this video, you'll learn how to assess your shoulder flexibility to determine the optimal arm height at the top of your swing. Understanding this will help you adapt your backswing for better performance without forcing your body into uncomfortable positions.
Video Transcript
WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.200
In this video, we're going to look at testing your lats for arm height.
2
00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:10.830
So commonly golfers come in and they're making a backswing and their arms are
3
00:00:10.830 --> 00:00:12.080
more down than
4
00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:16.350
they see like a Dustin Johnson and they'll commonly say, "Well, shouldn't I get
5
00:00:16.350 --> 00:00:17.240
my arms
6
00:00:17.240 --> 00:00:18.240
up higher?"
7
00:00:18.240 --> 00:00:21.760
And I'll say, "I don't know, let's go test and figure out."
8
00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:26.590
So one thing that you can look at when you're looking at your arm height is the
9
00:00:26.590 --> 00:00:27.520
flexibility
10
00:00:27.520 --> 00:00:28.760
of the shoulders.
11
00:00:28.760 --> 00:00:33.980
So I don't want you to try to get an arbitrary position if your body, if you're
12
00:00:33.980 --> 00:00:34.560
going to
13
00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:38.280
be fighting against your shoulder flexibility in order to get there.
14
00:00:38.280 --> 00:00:41.980
It's better to stay within your comfortable range of motion and adapt the swing
15
00:00:41.980 --> 00:00:42.520
slightly.
16
00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:47.740
So one simple test is if I get into like a little quarter squat position, so my
17
00:00:47.740 --> 00:00:48.160
feet
18
00:00:48.160 --> 00:00:54.260
are a little bit away from the wall, and then I'm going to try and get my lower
19
00:00:54.260 --> 00:00:55.020
back flat
20
00:00:55.020 --> 00:00:56.020
up against the wall.
21
00:00:56.020 --> 00:00:58.660
I'm going to do a little pelvic tilt so that my lower back stays flat up
22
00:00:58.660 --> 00:00:59.940
against the wall.
23
00:00:59.940 --> 00:01:04.590
And then I'm going to try to keep my lower back flat up against the wall and
24
00:01:04.590 --> 00:01:05.240
bring the
25
00:01:05.240 --> 00:01:07.400
back of my head into the wall.
26
00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:10.740
So I'm not trying to touch the top of my head, trying to get the back of my
27
00:01:10.740 --> 00:01:11.280
head.
28
00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.960
So my spine is relatively straight, as straight as I can probably get it.
29
00:01:15.960 --> 00:01:19.890
So then once we're in this good straight position, next we're going to test
30
00:01:19.890 --> 00:01:21.520
your shoulder flexibility.
31
00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:25.940
So staying in this posture, you're just going to raise your arms up, keeping
32
00:01:25.940 --> 00:01:27.460
your arms straight,
33
00:01:27.460 --> 00:01:29.300
and even with your shoulders.
34
00:01:29.300 --> 00:01:32.710
So you've got to make sure that your arms aren't getting wide, that you're not
35
00:01:32.710 --> 00:01:33.180
letting
36
00:01:33.180 --> 00:01:35.920
them rotate this way, and that you're not bending.
37
00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:39.020
There are a few things that kind of monitor, so you might want to do this
38
00:01:39.020 --> 00:01:39.780
facing a mirror
39
00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:41.700
if you can.
40
00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:45.810
But then you're going to keeping your arms straight, raise your arms up, and if
41
00:01:45.810 --> 00:01:46.220
you have
42
00:01:46.220 --> 00:01:49.690
a hard time getting all the way to touching the wall while keeping your back
43
00:01:49.690 --> 00:01:50.340
straight,
44
00:01:50.340 --> 00:01:53.530
if you get to about here and then you feel the arms wanting to pull, the arms
45
00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:54.000
wanting
46
00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:58.000
to bend, or the back wanting to arch in order to raise it, then you're probably
47
00:01:58.000 --> 00:01:58.600
going to
48
00:01:58.600 --> 00:02:04.740
have a lower arm height than some of the guys you might be modeling after on TV
49
00:02:04.740 --> 00:02:05.160
.
50
00:02:05.160 --> 00:02:11.410
The normal is somewhere up around here, about an ear level, 160 degrees, but if
51
00:02:11.410 --> 00:02:12.240
you're not
52
00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:18.700
at least to about eye level, then you're fairly limited in your shoulder
53
00:02:18.700 --> 00:02:20.540
flexibility and that's
54
00:02:20.540 --> 00:02:23.660
going to have a big impact on your arm height at the top of the swing.
55
00:02:23.660 --> 00:02:27.850
You'll probably do better playing from a flatter arm position, otherwise you're
56
00:02:27.850 --> 00:02:28.620
really going
57
00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:33.450
to be trying to do something explosively from a position where your body is a
58
00:02:33.450 --> 00:02:33.980
little bit
59
00:02:33.980 --> 00:02:35.140
weaker.
60
00:02:35.140 --> 00:02:37.820
So if you're worried about the top of your backswing position, run through this
61
00:02:37.820 --> 00:02:38.100
simple
62
00:02:38.100 --> 00:02:43.670
little lat test and then adjust your expectations for your ideal top of the
63
00:02:43.670 --> 00:02:44.960
backswing based
64
00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:46.460
on your own individual flexibility.
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.200
In this video, we're going to look at testing your lats for arm height.
2
00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:10.830
So commonly golfers come in and they're making a backswing and their arms are
3
00:00:10.830 --> 00:00:12.080
more down than
4
00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:16.350
they see like a Dustin Johnson and they'll commonly say, "Well, shouldn't I get
5
00:00:16.350 --> 00:00:17.240
my arms
6
00:00:17.240 --> 00:00:18.240
up higher?"
7
00:00:18.240 --> 00:00:21.760
And I'll say, "I don't know, let's go test and figure out."
8
00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:26.590
So one thing that you can look at when you're looking at your arm height is the
9
00:00:26.590 --> 00:00:27.520
flexibility
10
00:00:27.520 --> 00:00:28.760
of the shoulders.
11
00:00:28.760 --> 00:00:33.980
So I don't want you to try to get an arbitrary position if your body, if you're
12
00:00:33.980 --> 00:00:34.560
going to
13
00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:38.280
be fighting against your shoulder flexibility in order to get there.
14
00:00:38.280 --> 00:00:41.980
It's better to stay within your comfortable range of motion and adapt the swing
15
00:00:41.980 --> 00:00:42.520
slightly.
16
00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:47.740
So one simple test is if I get into like a little quarter squat position, so my
17
00:00:47.740 --> 00:00:48.160
feet
18
00:00:48.160 --> 00:00:54.260
are a little bit away from the wall, and then I'm going to try and get my lower
19
00:00:54.260 --> 00:00:55.020
back flat
20
00:00:55.020 --> 00:00:56.020
up against the wall.
21
00:00:56.020 --> 00:00:58.660
I'm going to do a little pelvic tilt so that my lower back stays flat up
22
00:00:58.660 --> 00:00:59.940
against the wall.
23
00:00:59.940 --> 00:01:04.590
And then I'm going to try to keep my lower back flat up against the wall and
24
00:01:04.590 --> 00:01:05.240
bring the
25
00:01:05.240 --> 00:01:07.400
back of my head into the wall.
26
00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:10.740
So I'm not trying to touch the top of my head, trying to get the back of my
27
00:01:10.740 --> 00:01:11.280
head.
28
00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.960
So my spine is relatively straight, as straight as I can probably get it.
29
00:01:15.960 --> 00:01:19.890
So then once we're in this good straight position, next we're going to test
30
00:01:19.890 --> 00:01:21.520
your shoulder flexibility.
31
00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:25.940
So staying in this posture, you're just going to raise your arms up, keeping
32
00:01:25.940 --> 00:01:27.460
your arms straight,
33
00:01:27.460 --> 00:01:29.300
and even with your shoulders.
34
00:01:29.300 --> 00:01:32.710
So you've got to make sure that your arms aren't getting wide, that you're not
35
00:01:32.710 --> 00:01:33.180
letting
36
00:01:33.180 --> 00:01:35.920
them rotate this way, and that you're not bending.
37
00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:39.020
There are a few things that kind of monitor, so you might want to do this
38
00:01:39.020 --> 00:01:39.780
facing a mirror
39
00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:41.700
if you can.
40
00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:45.810
But then you're going to keeping your arms straight, raise your arms up, and if
41
00:01:45.810 --> 00:01:46.220
you have
42
00:01:46.220 --> 00:01:49.690
a hard time getting all the way to touching the wall while keeping your back
43
00:01:49.690 --> 00:01:50.340
straight,
44
00:01:50.340 --> 00:01:53.530
if you get to about here and then you feel the arms wanting to pull, the arms
45
00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:54.000
wanting
46
00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:58.000
to bend, or the back wanting to arch in order to raise it, then you're probably
47
00:01:58.000 --> 00:01:58.600
going to
48
00:01:58.600 --> 00:02:04.740
have a lower arm height than some of the guys you might be modeling after on TV
49
00:02:04.740 --> 00:02:05.160
.
50
00:02:05.160 --> 00:02:11.410
The normal is somewhere up around here, about an ear level, 160 degrees, but if
51
00:02:11.410 --> 00:02:12.240
you're not
52
00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:18.700
at least to about eye level, then you're fairly limited in your shoulder
53
00:02:18.700 --> 00:02:20.540
flexibility and that's
54
00:02:20.540 --> 00:02:23.660
going to have a big impact on your arm height at the top of the swing.
55
00:02:23.660 --> 00:02:27.850
You'll probably do better playing from a flatter arm position, otherwise you're
56
00:02:27.850 --> 00:02:28.620
really going
57
00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:33.450
to be trying to do something explosively from a position where your body is a
58
00:02:33.450 --> 00:02:33.980
little bit
59
00:02:33.980 --> 00:02:35.140
weaker.
60
00:02:35.140 --> 00:02:37.820
So if you're worried about the top of your backswing position, run through this
61
00:02:37.820 --> 00:02:38.100
simple
62
00:02:38.100 --> 00:02:43.670
little lat test and then adjust your expectations for your ideal top of the
63
00:02:43.670 --> 00:02:44.960
backswing based
64
00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:46.460
on your own individual flexibility.
Have questions?
Ask Mulligan for help
Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of
Best Young Teachers in America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America.
Diagnose Your Arm Height for a Better Backswing
After this video, you'll be able to:
- Identify the role of shoulder flexibility in your swing mechanics
- Test your current arm height to see if it's optimal for your body
- Adjust your backswing to improve comfort and effectiveness based on your findings
In this video, you'll learn how to assess your shoulder flexibility to determine the optimal arm height at the top of your swing. Understanding this will help you adapt your backswing for better performance without forcing your body into uncomfortable positions.
Video Transcript
WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.200
In this video, we're going to look at testing your lats for arm height.
2
00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:10.830
So commonly golfers come in and they're making a backswing and their arms are
3
00:00:10.830 --> 00:00:12.080
more down than
4
00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:16.350
they see like a Dustin Johnson and they'll commonly say, "Well, shouldn't I get
5
00:00:16.350 --> 00:00:17.240
my arms
6
00:00:17.240 --> 00:00:18.240
up higher?"
7
00:00:18.240 --> 00:00:21.760
And I'll say, "I don't know, let's go test and figure out."
8
00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:26.590
So one thing that you can look at when you're looking at your arm height is the
9
00:00:26.590 --> 00:00:27.520
flexibility
10
00:00:27.520 --> 00:00:28.760
of the shoulders.
11
00:00:28.760 --> 00:00:33.980
So I don't want you to try to get an arbitrary position if your body, if you're
12
00:00:33.980 --> 00:00:34.560
going to
13
00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:38.280
be fighting against your shoulder flexibility in order to get there.
14
00:00:38.280 --> 00:00:41.980
It's better to stay within your comfortable range of motion and adapt the swing
15
00:00:41.980 --> 00:00:42.520
slightly.
16
00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:47.740
So one simple test is if I get into like a little quarter squat position, so my
17
00:00:47.740 --> 00:00:48.160
feet
18
00:00:48.160 --> 00:00:54.260
are a little bit away from the wall, and then I'm going to try and get my lower
19
00:00:54.260 --> 00:00:55.020
back flat
20
00:00:55.020 --> 00:00:56.020
up against the wall.
21
00:00:56.020 --> 00:00:58.660
I'm going to do a little pelvic tilt so that my lower back stays flat up
22
00:00:58.660 --> 00:00:59.940
against the wall.
23
00:00:59.940 --> 00:01:04.590
And then I'm going to try to keep my lower back flat up against the wall and
24
00:01:04.590 --> 00:01:05.240
bring the
25
00:01:05.240 --> 00:01:07.400
back of my head into the wall.
26
00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:10.740
So I'm not trying to touch the top of my head, trying to get the back of my
27
00:01:10.740 --> 00:01:11.280
head.
28
00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.960
So my spine is relatively straight, as straight as I can probably get it.
29
00:01:15.960 --> 00:01:19.890
So then once we're in this good straight position, next we're going to test
30
00:01:19.890 --> 00:01:21.520
your shoulder flexibility.
31
00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:25.940
So staying in this posture, you're just going to raise your arms up, keeping
32
00:01:25.940 --> 00:01:27.460
your arms straight,
33
00:01:27.460 --> 00:01:29.300
and even with your shoulders.
34
00:01:29.300 --> 00:01:32.710
So you've got to make sure that your arms aren't getting wide, that you're not
35
00:01:32.710 --> 00:01:33.180
letting
36
00:01:33.180 --> 00:01:35.920
them rotate this way, and that you're not bending.
37
00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:39.020
There are a few things that kind of monitor, so you might want to do this
38
00:01:39.020 --> 00:01:39.780
facing a mirror
39
00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:41.700
if you can.
40
00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:45.810
But then you're going to keeping your arms straight, raise your arms up, and if
41
00:01:45.810 --> 00:01:46.220
you have
42
00:01:46.220 --> 00:01:49.690
a hard time getting all the way to touching the wall while keeping your back
43
00:01:49.690 --> 00:01:50.340
straight,
44
00:01:50.340 --> 00:01:53.530
if you get to about here and then you feel the arms wanting to pull, the arms
45
00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:54.000
wanting
46
00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:58.000
to bend, or the back wanting to arch in order to raise it, then you're probably
47
00:01:58.000 --> 00:01:58.600
going to
48
00:01:58.600 --> 00:02:04.740
have a lower arm height than some of the guys you might be modeling after on TV
49
00:02:04.740 --> 00:02:05.160
.
50
00:02:05.160 --> 00:02:11.410
The normal is somewhere up around here, about an ear level, 160 degrees, but if
51
00:02:11.410 --> 00:02:12.240
you're not
52
00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:18.700
at least to about eye level, then you're fairly limited in your shoulder
53
00:02:18.700 --> 00:02:20.540
flexibility and that's
54
00:02:20.540 --> 00:02:23.660
going to have a big impact on your arm height at the top of the swing.
55
00:02:23.660 --> 00:02:27.850
You'll probably do better playing from a flatter arm position, otherwise you're
56
00:02:27.850 --> 00:02:28.620
really going
57
00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:33.450
to be trying to do something explosively from a position where your body is a
58
00:02:33.450 --> 00:02:33.980
little bit
59
00:02:33.980 --> 00:02:35.140
weaker.
60
00:02:35.140 --> 00:02:37.820
So if you're worried about the top of your backswing position, run through this
61
00:02:37.820 --> 00:02:38.100
simple
62
00:02:38.100 --> 00:02:43.670
little lat test and then adjust your expectations for your ideal top of the
63
00:02:43.670 --> 00:02:44.960
backswing based
64
00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:46.460
on your own individual flexibility.
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.200
In this video, we're going to look at testing your lats for arm height.
2
00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:10.830
So commonly golfers come in and they're making a backswing and their arms are
3
00:00:10.830 --> 00:00:12.080
more down than
4
00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:16.350
they see like a Dustin Johnson and they'll commonly say, "Well, shouldn't I get
5
00:00:16.350 --> 00:00:17.240
my arms
6
00:00:17.240 --> 00:00:18.240
up higher?"
7
00:00:18.240 --> 00:00:21.760
And I'll say, "I don't know, let's go test and figure out."
8
00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:26.590
So one thing that you can look at when you're looking at your arm height is the
9
00:00:26.590 --> 00:00:27.520
flexibility
10
00:00:27.520 --> 00:00:28.760
of the shoulders.
11
00:00:28.760 --> 00:00:33.980
So I don't want you to try to get an arbitrary position if your body, if you're
12
00:00:33.980 --> 00:00:34.560
going to
13
00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:38.280
be fighting against your shoulder flexibility in order to get there.
14
00:00:38.280 --> 00:00:41.980
It's better to stay within your comfortable range of motion and adapt the swing
15
00:00:41.980 --> 00:00:42.520
slightly.
16
00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:47.740
So one simple test is if I get into like a little quarter squat position, so my
17
00:00:47.740 --> 00:00:48.160
feet
18
00:00:48.160 --> 00:00:54.260
are a little bit away from the wall, and then I'm going to try and get my lower
19
00:00:54.260 --> 00:00:55.020
back flat
20
00:00:55.020 --> 00:00:56.020
up against the wall.
21
00:00:56.020 --> 00:00:58.660
I'm going to do a little pelvic tilt so that my lower back stays flat up
22
00:00:58.660 --> 00:00:59.940
against the wall.
23
00:00:59.940 --> 00:01:04.590
And then I'm going to try to keep my lower back flat up against the wall and
24
00:01:04.590 --> 00:01:05.240
bring the
25
00:01:05.240 --> 00:01:07.400
back of my head into the wall.
26
00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:10.740
So I'm not trying to touch the top of my head, trying to get the back of my
27
00:01:10.740 --> 00:01:11.280
head.
28
00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.960
So my spine is relatively straight, as straight as I can probably get it.
29
00:01:15.960 --> 00:01:19.890
So then once we're in this good straight position, next we're going to test
30
00:01:19.890 --> 00:01:21.520
your shoulder flexibility.
31
00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:25.940
So staying in this posture, you're just going to raise your arms up, keeping
32
00:01:25.940 --> 00:01:27.460
your arms straight,
33
00:01:27.460 --> 00:01:29.300
and even with your shoulders.
34
00:01:29.300 --> 00:01:32.710
So you've got to make sure that your arms aren't getting wide, that you're not
35
00:01:32.710 --> 00:01:33.180
letting
36
00:01:33.180 --> 00:01:35.920
them rotate this way, and that you're not bending.
37
00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:39.020
There are a few things that kind of monitor, so you might want to do this
38
00:01:39.020 --> 00:01:39.780
facing a mirror
39
00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:41.700
if you can.
40
00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:45.810
But then you're going to keeping your arms straight, raise your arms up, and if
41
00:01:45.810 --> 00:01:46.220
you have
42
00:01:46.220 --> 00:01:49.690
a hard time getting all the way to touching the wall while keeping your back
43
00:01:49.690 --> 00:01:50.340
straight,
44
00:01:50.340 --> 00:01:53.530
if you get to about here and then you feel the arms wanting to pull, the arms
45
00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:54.000
wanting
46
00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:58.000
to bend, or the back wanting to arch in order to raise it, then you're probably
47
00:01:58.000 --> 00:01:58.600
going to
48
00:01:58.600 --> 00:02:04.740
have a lower arm height than some of the guys you might be modeling after on TV
49
00:02:04.740 --> 00:02:05.160
.
50
00:02:05.160 --> 00:02:11.410
The normal is somewhere up around here, about an ear level, 160 degrees, but if
51
00:02:11.410 --> 00:02:12.240
you're not
52
00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:18.700
at least to about eye level, then you're fairly limited in your shoulder
53
00:02:18.700 --> 00:02:20.540
flexibility and that's
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going to have a big impact on your arm height at the top of the swing.
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00:02:23.660 --> 00:02:27.850
You'll probably do better playing from a flatter arm position, otherwise you're
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00:02:27.850 --> 00:02:28.620
really going
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00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:33.450
to be trying to do something explosively from a position where your body is a
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00:02:33.450 --> 00:02:33.980
little bit
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00:02:33.980 --> 00:02:35.140
weaker.
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00:02:35.140 --> 00:02:37.820
So if you're worried about the top of your backswing position, run through this
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00:02:37.820 --> 00:02:38.100
simple
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00:02:38.100 --> 00:02:43.670
little lat test and then adjust your expectations for your ideal top of the
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00:02:43.670 --> 00:02:44.960
backswing based
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00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:46.460
on your own individual flexibility.
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