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.

Top Corner of the Strike Zone

Some golfers respond more to feelings while others respond more to visuals. This is a visual drill for helping you dial in your backswing arm motion. If you naturally swing the club well underneath in the takeaway and then across the line at the top, you are essentially taking the club only horizontally at first, and then only vertically during the setting phase of the backswing. For most golfers, it's better to blend the movements into a more diagonal pattern. This is similar to moving the handle to the top corner of a baseball hitters strike zone.

Show more

Some golfers respond more to feelings while others respond more to visuals. This is a visual drill for helping you dial in your backswing arm motion. If you naturally swing the club well underneath in the takeaway and then across the line at the top, you are essentially taking the club only horizontally at first, and then only vertically during the setting phase of the backswing. For most golfers, it's better to blend the movements into a more diagonal pattern. This is similar to moving the handle to the top corner of a baseball hitters strike zone.

Hide
Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.560
This backswing drill is top corner of the strike zone.

2
00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:12.540
So this is more of a visual of where I want your hands to move when your arms

3
00:00:12.540 --> 00:00:12.960
are making

4
00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:14.920
a really good backswing.

5
00:00:14.920 --> 00:00:20.220
So I have other drills where I kind of break through rotating the arms in this

6
00:00:20.220 --> 00:00:21.240
direction,

7
00:00:21.240 --> 00:00:25.720
but I've had a visual that I use for a number of students that seem to help.

8
00:00:25.720 --> 00:00:29.030
When you're practicing the backswing of just the arms, I want you to imagine

9
00:00:29.030 --> 00:00:29.600
you're playing

10
00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:31.760
baseball and you've got the strike zone.

11
00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:35.450
So we've got kind of the box, the strike zone from about your knees to your

12
00:00:35.450 --> 00:00:36.280
shoulders kind

13
00:00:36.280 --> 00:00:37.280
of like that.

14
00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:42.660
We are going to move our hands in a slight rotation up towards the top corner

15
00:00:42.660 --> 00:00:43.200
of the

16
00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:46.960
backswing while keeping that right arm in front of the body.

17
00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:50.400
So it tends to be more like this.

18
00:00:50.400 --> 00:00:56.320
Two common patterns that I see in takeaways are basically doing all of the

19
00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:57.440
linear and then

20
00:00:57.440 --> 00:01:00.040
all of the vertical in one order of the other.

21
00:01:00.040 --> 00:01:06.800
So the most common poor backswing pattern is you bring your arms across and

22
00:01:06.800 --> 00:01:07.880
then you lift

23
00:01:07.880 --> 00:01:08.880
them up.

24
00:01:08.880 --> 00:01:13.120
That often is accompanied with flying elbow and getting really steep and across

25
00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:13.680
the line,

26
00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:17.480
but that takeaway was across and then up.

27
00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:23.450
The less common one, but the one that I'll still see is a little bit of up and

28
00:01:23.450 --> 00:01:24.800
then rotate.

29
00:01:24.800 --> 00:01:27.480
So it's kind of a straight up almost over.

30
00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:32.860
Like I said, it usually that second one is definitely less common, but it

31
00:01:32.860 --> 00:01:33.920
happens more

32
00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:38.120
with golfers who are really kind of knee dominant, knee active.

33
00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:42.480
So let's look through those couple examples and then the good one that we like.

34
00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:47.680
So the first one's going to be bring it over and then bring it up.

35
00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:51.620
If I turn, especially with a flat shoulder plane, if I do that, if I bring it

36
00:01:51.620 --> 00:01:52.080
over, that

37
00:01:52.080 --> 00:01:53.840
brings the club way inside.

38
00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:57.680
If I bring it up, now it's getting across the line and steep.

39
00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:02.920
And so now when I turn to come down and pull down, this club is in a very steep

40
00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:03.800
position.

41
00:02:03.800 --> 00:02:09.220
So even though it's got a shallow, it's almost vertical when I get into arm

42
00:02:09.220 --> 00:02:11.480
parallel or P5.

43
00:02:11.480 --> 00:02:16.170
And from there, I'm going to have to do some type of major body shallowing to

44
00:02:16.170 --> 00:02:17.320
make contact.

45
00:02:17.320 --> 00:02:24.660
So you'll see if I demonstrate that one, if we go across and then up, I'll have

46
00:02:24.660 --> 00:02:25.000
a lot

47
00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:26.280
of trouble making contact.

48
00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:30.640
That's kind of where the classic over the top steep pattern and I tried to re

49
00:02:30.640 --> 00:02:31.360
route it,

50
00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:34.280
but wasn't able to do that made really poor contact.

51
00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:40.450
So the second one would be usually no real rotation at first, but kind of a

52
00:02:40.450 --> 00:02:41.560
pickup move

53
00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:42.760
more like this.

54
00:02:42.760 --> 00:02:47.930
And then sometimes some rotation, but oftentimes it's just a pickup and then

55
00:02:47.930 --> 00:02:48.560
pull the arms

56
00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:53.440
down typically hits a really weak slice like I did there.

57
00:02:53.440 --> 00:02:55.600
So again, that would be compared to the strike zone.

58
00:02:55.600 --> 00:03:01.580
I'm just basically lifting the hands straight up and then having a little bit

59
00:03:01.580 --> 00:03:03.520
of body rotation.

60
00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:09.110
That one's hard for me to ignore or exaggerate because I'm such a body dominant

61
00:03:09.110 --> 00:03:09.880
player.

62
00:03:09.880 --> 00:03:14.740
Okay, so then the last one, which would be the one that we want, is a little

63
00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:15.400
bit more

64
00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:18.160
of a blend of up and out.

65
00:03:18.160 --> 00:03:21.670
So I'm going to move up towards this corner of the strike zone and I'm going to

66
00:03:21.670 --> 00:03:22.000
feel

67
00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:26.090
like my left arm does a little bit of a barrel roll or a little bit of a

68
00:03:26.090 --> 00:03:27.240
rotation this way

69
00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:30.440
so that the elbow is pointing more away from me.

70
00:03:30.440 --> 00:03:34.720
And I'm going to feel like the trail arm does a little bit of that jazzy Jeff

71
00:03:34.720 --> 00:03:35.320
move or

72
00:03:35.320 --> 00:03:37.520
the shoulder external rotation.

73
00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:42.900
So if I do those two together in one movement, it will end up looking kind of

74
00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:44.000
like that.

75
00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:50.540
So if I control the clubface and get it into that position, that tends to set

76
00:03:50.540 --> 00:03:51.440
me up where

77
00:03:51.440 --> 00:03:54.880
I can have a pretty neutral transition.

78
00:03:54.880 --> 00:04:00.090
I could hit draw, hit a fade, arms are in position to drop in shallow, body is

79
00:04:00.090 --> 00:04:00.720
in position

80
00:04:00.720 --> 00:04:02.960
to power the swing.

81
00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.060
So if you're struggling with your backswing, off season is a good time to clean

82
00:04:06.060 --> 00:04:06.480
it up.

83
00:04:06.480 --> 00:04:10.320
You can tell by the weather here it's off season in California.

84
00:04:10.320 --> 00:04:14.300
So working a little bit on the backswing, I thought I'd share with you a visual

85
00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:14.720
that's

86
00:04:14.720 --> 00:04:18.920
helped a number of students who struggle with the arms getting a little bit out

87
00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:19.880
of sorts

88
00:04:19.880 --> 00:04:20.880
during their backswing.

89
00:04:20.880 --> 00:04:33.720
It's one more good one for the down the line, just like that.

90
00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:35.720
(silence)

Have questions?

Ask Mulligan for help

Unlock everything. Start improving today.

Subscribe to get full access to all videos, courses, and progress tracking.

Related topics
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.

Top Corner of the Strike Zone

Some golfers respond more to feelings while others respond more to visuals. This is a visual drill for helping you dial in your backswing arm motion. If you naturally swing the club well underneath in the takeaway and then across the line at the top, you are essentially taking the club only horizontally at first, and then only vertically during the setting phase of the backswing. For most golfers, it's better to blend the movements into a more diagonal pattern. This is similar to moving the handle to the top corner of a baseball hitters strike zone.

Show more

Some golfers respond more to feelings while others respond more to visuals. This is a visual drill for helping you dial in your backswing arm motion. If you naturally swing the club well underneath in the takeaway and then across the line at the top, you are essentially taking the club only horizontally at first, and then only vertically during the setting phase of the backswing. For most golfers, it's better to blend the movements into a more diagonal pattern. This is similar to moving the handle to the top corner of a baseball hitters strike zone.

Hide
Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.560
This backswing drill is top corner of the strike zone.

2
00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:12.540
So this is more of a visual of where I want your hands to move when your arms

3
00:00:12.540 --> 00:00:12.960
are making

4
00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:14.920
a really good backswing.

5
00:00:14.920 --> 00:00:20.220
So I have other drills where I kind of break through rotating the arms in this

6
00:00:20.220 --> 00:00:21.240
direction,

7
00:00:21.240 --> 00:00:25.720
but I've had a visual that I use for a number of students that seem to help.

8
00:00:25.720 --> 00:00:29.030
When you're practicing the backswing of just the arms, I want you to imagine

9
00:00:29.030 --> 00:00:29.600
you're playing

10
00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:31.760
baseball and you've got the strike zone.

11
00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:35.450
So we've got kind of the box, the strike zone from about your knees to your

12
00:00:35.450 --> 00:00:36.280
shoulders kind

13
00:00:36.280 --> 00:00:37.280
of like that.

14
00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:42.660
We are going to move our hands in a slight rotation up towards the top corner

15
00:00:42.660 --> 00:00:43.200
of the

16
00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:46.960
backswing while keeping that right arm in front of the body.

17
00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:50.400
So it tends to be more like this.

18
00:00:50.400 --> 00:00:56.320
Two common patterns that I see in takeaways are basically doing all of the

19
00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:57.440
linear and then

20
00:00:57.440 --> 00:01:00.040
all of the vertical in one order of the other.

21
00:01:00.040 --> 00:01:06.800
So the most common poor backswing pattern is you bring your arms across and

22
00:01:06.800 --> 00:01:07.880
then you lift

23
00:01:07.880 --> 00:01:08.880
them up.

24
00:01:08.880 --> 00:01:13.120
That often is accompanied with flying elbow and getting really steep and across

25
00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:13.680
the line,

26
00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:17.480
but that takeaway was across and then up.

27
00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:23.450
The less common one, but the one that I'll still see is a little bit of up and

28
00:01:23.450 --> 00:01:24.800
then rotate.

29
00:01:24.800 --> 00:01:27.480
So it's kind of a straight up almost over.

30
00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:32.860
Like I said, it usually that second one is definitely less common, but it

31
00:01:32.860 --> 00:01:33.920
happens more

32
00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:38.120
with golfers who are really kind of knee dominant, knee active.

33
00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:42.480
So let's look through those couple examples and then the good one that we like.

34
00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:47.680
So the first one's going to be bring it over and then bring it up.

35
00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:51.620
If I turn, especially with a flat shoulder plane, if I do that, if I bring it

36
00:01:51.620 --> 00:01:52.080
over, that

37
00:01:52.080 --> 00:01:53.840
brings the club way inside.

38
00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:57.680
If I bring it up, now it's getting across the line and steep.

39
00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:02.920
And so now when I turn to come down and pull down, this club is in a very steep

40
00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:03.800
position.

41
00:02:03.800 --> 00:02:09.220
So even though it's got a shallow, it's almost vertical when I get into arm

42
00:02:09.220 --> 00:02:11.480
parallel or P5.

43
00:02:11.480 --> 00:02:16.170
And from there, I'm going to have to do some type of major body shallowing to

44
00:02:16.170 --> 00:02:17.320
make contact.

45
00:02:17.320 --> 00:02:24.660
So you'll see if I demonstrate that one, if we go across and then up, I'll have

46
00:02:24.660 --> 00:02:25.000
a lot

47
00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:26.280
of trouble making contact.

48
00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:30.640
That's kind of where the classic over the top steep pattern and I tried to re

49
00:02:30.640 --> 00:02:31.360
route it,

50
00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:34.280
but wasn't able to do that made really poor contact.

51
00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:40.450
So the second one would be usually no real rotation at first, but kind of a

52
00:02:40.450 --> 00:02:41.560
pickup move

53
00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:42.760
more like this.

54
00:02:42.760 --> 00:02:47.930
And then sometimes some rotation, but oftentimes it's just a pickup and then

55
00:02:47.930 --> 00:02:48.560
pull the arms

56
00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:53.440
down typically hits a really weak slice like I did there.

57
00:02:53.440 --> 00:02:55.600
So again, that would be compared to the strike zone.

58
00:02:55.600 --> 00:03:01.580
I'm just basically lifting the hands straight up and then having a little bit

59
00:03:01.580 --> 00:03:03.520
of body rotation.

60
00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:09.110
That one's hard for me to ignore or exaggerate because I'm such a body dominant

61
00:03:09.110 --> 00:03:09.880
player.

62
00:03:09.880 --> 00:03:14.740
Okay, so then the last one, which would be the one that we want, is a little

63
00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:15.400
bit more

64
00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:18.160
of a blend of up and out.

65
00:03:18.160 --> 00:03:21.670
So I'm going to move up towards this corner of the strike zone and I'm going to

66
00:03:21.670 --> 00:03:22.000
feel

67
00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:26.090
like my left arm does a little bit of a barrel roll or a little bit of a

68
00:03:26.090 --> 00:03:27.240
rotation this way

69
00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:30.440
so that the elbow is pointing more away from me.

70
00:03:30.440 --> 00:03:34.720
And I'm going to feel like the trail arm does a little bit of that jazzy Jeff

71
00:03:34.720 --> 00:03:35.320
move or

72
00:03:35.320 --> 00:03:37.520
the shoulder external rotation.

73
00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:42.900
So if I do those two together in one movement, it will end up looking kind of

74
00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:44.000
like that.

75
00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:50.540
So if I control the clubface and get it into that position, that tends to set

76
00:03:50.540 --> 00:03:51.440
me up where

77
00:03:51.440 --> 00:03:54.880
I can have a pretty neutral transition.

78
00:03:54.880 --> 00:04:00.090
I could hit draw, hit a fade, arms are in position to drop in shallow, body is

79
00:04:00.090 --> 00:04:00.720
in position

80
00:04:00.720 --> 00:04:02.960
to power the swing.

81
00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.060
So if you're struggling with your backswing, off season is a good time to clean

82
00:04:06.060 --> 00:04:06.480
it up.

83
00:04:06.480 --> 00:04:10.320
You can tell by the weather here it's off season in California.

84
00:04:10.320 --> 00:04:14.300
So working a little bit on the backswing, I thought I'd share with you a visual

85
00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:14.720
that's

86
00:04:14.720 --> 00:04:18.920
helped a number of students who struggle with the arms getting a little bit out

87
00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:19.880
of sorts

88
00:04:19.880 --> 00:04:20.880
during their backswing.

89
00:04:20.880 --> 00:04:33.720
It's one more good one for the down the line, just like that.

90
00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:35.720
(silence)

Have questions about this video?

Ask Mulligan for personalized guidance on technique, drills, or how to apply what you've learned.

Ask Mulligan
Related topics
Subscribe now for full access to our video library. Subscribe now