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.
Meet your new instructor.
Subscribe now to watch the full video.
To play your best golf, you have to work with your body. For many golfers, this means finding ways to get the club to work properly in spite of what your body wants to do naturally. I commonly hear golfers blame their lack of openness on tight hips. While it is true that tight hips can influence your hip rotation, I rarely find tight hips to be the cause of the impact position. One simple assessment is to look at other times during your swing. If your body is truly limited by a physical barrier, then you will never make the motion you want. But if you see lots of hip rotation in the follow-through, or at the finish, then it's not a matter of capability but an issue of timing.
If you struggle with getting open at impact, a non-exhaustive checklist for factors to look at are:
- Trail elbow bend or timing of arm straightening
- Amount of side bend and spine rotation
- Lead arm pulling or bending through impact
Be sure to look at all areas of your swing to understand how the pieces fit together.
Tags: Impact, Concept, Intermediate, Beginner
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,000
This concept of video addresses the member question about overcoming a physical barrier
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,000
to getting open.
00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:17,000
So basically the question is, how do I know if I can get open or how do I know if I have
00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:18,000
a physical barrier?
00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:23,000
Maybe I have a tight hip, tight t-spine, limited trail-arm external rotation.
00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:29,000
These are always touted as barriers that you're never going to get open if you have
00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:31,000
that physical restriction.
00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,000
While there is some truth, you're never going to overcome what your body is capable
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,000
of doing.
00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:40,000
There's a lot more coordination built into these patterns than just purely your physical
00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,000
capability.
00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,000
If it is a true physical barrier, then you never get there.
00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,000
I'll let that sink in for a second.
00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,000
If it's a true physical barrier, then you never get there.
00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:59,000
So oftentimes, I will have golfers who hit a shot where their body is basically facing
00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,000
the golf ball like this.
00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:06,000
No rotation, stand up, flip, and then into the follow-through.
00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:12,000
Look, I've gotten into or I've rotated into my lead hip.
00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:19,000
Now if I was truly physically incapable of rotating into that lead hip, then it wouldn't
00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:20,000
be a timing issue.
00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:21,000
I would never get there.
00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:27,000
What I would typically see is more as I go through my whole hip and foot would spin together
00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:32,000
or I would go into the toe and rotate more at the knee.
00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,000
I wouldn't actually rotate into the hip.
00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:39,000
One of the ways that you can check and see if it's a true physical barrier or if it's
00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:47,000
just the coordination pattern is by looking at the follow-through to see if you get close
00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,000
to where you're trying to get to an impact.
00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:55,000
If that's the case, then it's more of a coordinating pattern of getting the arms to match
00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,000
doing the body movements earlier.
00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,000
That's where I often use the rewind from follow-through.
00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,000
If we go to this position and then I say bring the club back to impact.
00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,000
For a lot of golfers, you're going to feel like, wow, my body is way open.
00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:10,000
I feel a stretch.
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,000
I feel a pull.
00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,000
All my weight is forward.
00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,000
Those are more sensations helping you dial in the pattern rather than I didn't physically
00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,000
make you more flexible.
00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:29,000
If you do have, if you are worried about getting into a physical position at impact,
00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:35,000
the common places where I see the restrictions would be most likely in not being able to
00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,000
rotate your thoracic spine.
00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:45,000
The reason that becomes a barrier is it's very hard to hit a good quality golf shot if your
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,000
shoulders are way open like this.
00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:51,000
If you get your hips open and you don't have the flexibility in your spine to be able
00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:57,000
to have your shoulder square while your hips are open, which comes from a combination of
00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,000
rotating to the right as well as tilting to the right.
00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:07,000
You're unable to do that then it's unlikely that you're going to overcome that in the
00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,000
follow-through position.
00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:15,000
That would be one where I do think having some stretch and doing some mobility work or massage
00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,000
can really help open up that side.
00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:25,000
If you find when you do the merry-go-round drill that feels like 8 or 9 out of 10, it's
00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:31,000
a maximum stretch, then that might be a physical barrier to getting open.
00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:37,000
But rarely do I see a pure physical barrier in the hip that prevents you from getting open.
00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:42,000
Especially if you use a normal setup position where that front foot is turned out a good
00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:46,000
20 degrees or so.
00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:55,000
I don't actually have to get into my physical hip rotation until after impact or I don't
00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:59,000
have to get into internal hip rotation until after impact.
00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:06,000
So if you are worried that you're physically incapable because of either a trail shoulder
00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:11,000
or because of a hip, maybe because of thoracic spine, double check your follow-through position.
00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:15,000
If you're in a good body position and follow-through and it's not there at impact, then
00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,000
it's more of a coordination pattern and less of a true physical mobility issue.
