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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.

How to Visualize Shallow Arms for Better Golf Transition

After this video, you'll be able to:

  • Identify the key differences between steep and shallow arm movements.
  • Use your rib cage as a reference to improve your swing mechanics.
  • Understand how arm extension and club path influence your ball striking.

Learn to visualize the difference between steep and shallow arm positions in your golf swing. This understanding will help you achieve a smoother and more effective transition.

Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.500
This video is visualizing steep and shallow arms in transition.

2
00:00:04.500 --> 00:00:10.830
So it can be challenging to visualize the steepness or the shallowness in the

3
00:00:10.830 --> 00:00:11.160
arms.

4
00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:17.160
So I've got a couple of pieces of electrical tape to help use the rib cage as a

5
00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:18.160
reference

6
00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:21.830
instead of looking at the golf ball and the club to the ground because

7
00:00:21.830 --> 00:00:22.880
sometimes that can

8
00:00:22.880 --> 00:00:25.000
confuse things.

9
00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:28.820
The difference between a club that looks like that and a club that looks like

10
00:00:28.820 --> 00:00:29.480
that are pretty

11
00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:30.480
minor.

12
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:33.880
They can still be very significant but they're pretty minor when looking on

13
00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:34.360
video.

14
00:00:34.360 --> 00:00:39.500
So using just the club to the ground can sometimes be more confusing than

15
00:00:39.500 --> 00:00:41.360
necessarily helpful.

16
00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:45.820
When I'm talking about shallow arm movements, I'm using a reference of

17
00:00:45.820 --> 00:00:47.040
basically the bottom

18
00:00:47.040 --> 00:00:48.080
of the rib cage.

19
00:00:48.080 --> 00:00:51.930
So if we were to, I've got this piece of tape just kind of at the bottom of the

20
00:00:51.930 --> 00:00:52.560
rib cage

21
00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.320
and parallel to it.

22
00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:59.070
So if we were to review the components of steep and shallow, there's two major

23
00:00:59.070 --> 00:00:59.460
components

24
00:00:59.460 --> 00:01:01.760
too, shallowing the club.

25
00:01:01.760 --> 00:01:04.940
One would be the extension of the arms because getting the club far away from

26
00:01:04.940 --> 00:01:05.520
me shallows

27
00:01:05.520 --> 00:01:06.520
it out.

28
00:01:06.520 --> 00:01:10.430
And two would be, is the club working more vertically, so kind of straight

29
00:01:10.430 --> 00:01:11.960
along my spine,

30
00:01:11.960 --> 00:01:17.080
or is the club working more horizontally, kind of like so, which would be more

31
00:01:17.080 --> 00:01:17.920
working along

32
00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:19.760
the bottom of my rib cage.

33
00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:23.760
What you'll see when you look at a lot of really good golf swings or when you

34
00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:24.400
see some

35
00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:28.060
of the legends talk about the golf swing, you'll tend to see them demonstrating

36
00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:28.320
the

37
00:01:28.320 --> 00:01:32.100
club working more horizontally around their body.

38
00:01:32.100 --> 00:01:37.920
In fact, a lot of one common thought or drill that was given to a lot of golf

39
00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:39.380
ers was basically

40
00:01:39.380 --> 00:01:43.840
a baseball swing, right, which is essentially working those arms completely

41
00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:44.660
horizontally

42
00:01:44.660 --> 00:01:51.020
and then figuring out how to position that rib cage so that that horizontal

43
00:01:51.020 --> 00:01:51.900
movement

44
00:01:51.900 --> 00:01:54.820
would get down all the way to the golf ball.

45
00:01:54.820 --> 00:01:59.960
So what you'll see is the shallow arms and what we're trying to get in

46
00:01:59.960 --> 00:02:00.980
transition is

47
00:02:00.980 --> 00:02:05.690
basically trying to get this closest to parallel to the bottom of my rib cage,

48
00:02:05.690 --> 00:02:06.440
or close to

49
00:02:06.440 --> 00:02:09.420
this horizontal line.

50
00:02:09.420 --> 00:02:15.180
If you're in the steep category, the club will be tending to work more along

51
00:02:15.180 --> 00:02:15.900
almost the

52
00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:20.140
45 degree angle, maybe even creeping down towards 30.

53
00:02:20.140 --> 00:02:24.600
I would say that somewhere in that 30 degrees or above would be steep, so

54
00:02:24.600 --> 00:02:25.360
someone like Charles

55
00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:32.910
Barkley is almost vertical, where golfers closer to that 20 degrees, 10 degrees

56
00:02:32.910 --> 00:02:34.620
, 0 degrees,

57
00:02:34.620 --> 00:02:37.100
those are going to tend to look more shallow.

58
00:02:37.100 --> 00:02:41.380
So now you've got that kind of reference of what we're trying to look at.

59
00:02:41.380 --> 00:02:44.820
From the down the line, when you're looking at a lot of these videos, I want

60
00:02:44.820 --> 00:02:45.940
you to now

61
00:02:45.940 --> 00:02:51.690
see how if I do the shallow arm movements, this starts to kind of match the

62
00:02:51.690 --> 00:02:52.180
plane or

63
00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:55.620
the path that my rib cage is rotating around.

64
00:02:55.620 --> 00:03:00.080
Not technically rotating around a plane, but you can kind of use that as a

65
00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:00.820
reference when

66
00:03:00.820 --> 00:03:06.100
you're looking at the arm movements instead of comparing them to the golf ball.

67
00:03:06.100 --> 00:03:10.950
Because what frequently happens is a golfer will work the arms vertically, but

68
00:03:10.950 --> 00:03:11.380
at the

69
00:03:11.380 --> 00:03:15.450
same time have a little bit of loss of posture, a little bit of slide, and a

70
00:03:15.450 --> 00:03:16.620
lack of rotation.

71
00:03:16.620 --> 00:03:21.780
And now that vertical arm movement looks like it's coming well from the inside.

72
00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:25.660
So they'll say, how could I possibly have steep arms?

73
00:03:25.660 --> 00:03:27.060
I'm hitting big hooks.

74
00:03:27.060 --> 00:03:29.980
I'm getting too shallow.

75
00:03:29.980 --> 00:03:34.500
Hopefully looking at this grid and using the rib cage as a reference will help

76
00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:35.900
you visualize

77
00:03:35.900 --> 00:03:41.580
how very easily you could have vertical arm movement and still come well from

78
00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:42.460
the inside.

79
00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:48.400
So it's not totally about the club path because one common problem for golfers

80
00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:49.040
who tend to

81
00:03:49.040 --> 00:03:51.580
hook the ball is getting steep and deep.

82
00:03:51.580 --> 00:03:55.470
So the club well behind kind of like so, but working in more of a vertical

83
00:03:55.470 --> 00:03:56.500
fashion as opposed

84
00:03:56.500 --> 00:04:01.940
to working in a horizontal fashion and working more around.

85
00:04:01.940 --> 00:04:06.400
So if you've struggled with understanding kind of some of these shallow

86
00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:07.100
movements, the

87
00:04:07.100 --> 00:04:12.240
examples, the drills, hopefully this visual helps you tie together what I mean

88
00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:12.620
when I

89
00:04:12.620 --> 00:04:15.120
say shallow arms in transition.

90
00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:20.400
Use this little, just imagine this shirt or the grid on the golfers when you're

91
00:04:20.400 --> 00:04:20.980
looking

92
00:04:20.980 --> 00:04:24.400
at YouTube or if you're looking at any of my analysis videos and you'll have a

93
00:04:24.400 --> 00:04:24.820
better

94
00:04:24.820 --> 00:04:29.280
idea of whether their arms are working in a steep fashion or whether their arms

95
00:04:29.280 --> 00:04:29.620
are working

96
00:04:29.620 --> 00:04:32.020
in a shallow fashion during transition.

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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.

How to Visualize Shallow Arms for Better Golf Transition

After this video, you'll be able to:

  • Identify the key differences between steep and shallow arm movements.
  • Use your rib cage as a reference to improve your swing mechanics.
  • Understand how arm extension and club path influence your ball striking.

Learn to visualize the difference between steep and shallow arm positions in your golf swing. This understanding will help you achieve a smoother and more effective transition.

Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.500
This video is visualizing steep and shallow arms in transition.

2
00:00:04.500 --> 00:00:10.830
So it can be challenging to visualize the steepness or the shallowness in the

3
00:00:10.830 --> 00:00:11.160
arms.

4
00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:17.160
So I've got a couple of pieces of electrical tape to help use the rib cage as a

5
00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:18.160
reference

6
00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:21.830
instead of looking at the golf ball and the club to the ground because

7
00:00:21.830 --> 00:00:22.880
sometimes that can

8
00:00:22.880 --> 00:00:25.000
confuse things.

9
00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:28.820
The difference between a club that looks like that and a club that looks like

10
00:00:28.820 --> 00:00:29.480
that are pretty

11
00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:30.480
minor.

12
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:33.880
They can still be very significant but they're pretty minor when looking on

13
00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:34.360
video.

14
00:00:34.360 --> 00:00:39.500
So using just the club to the ground can sometimes be more confusing than

15
00:00:39.500 --> 00:00:41.360
necessarily helpful.

16
00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:45.820
When I'm talking about shallow arm movements, I'm using a reference of

17
00:00:45.820 --> 00:00:47.040
basically the bottom

18
00:00:47.040 --> 00:00:48.080
of the rib cage.

19
00:00:48.080 --> 00:00:51.930
So if we were to, I've got this piece of tape just kind of at the bottom of the

20
00:00:51.930 --> 00:00:52.560
rib cage

21
00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.320
and parallel to it.

22
00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:59.070
So if we were to review the components of steep and shallow, there's two major

23
00:00:59.070 --> 00:00:59.460
components

24
00:00:59.460 --> 00:01:01.760
too, shallowing the club.

25
00:01:01.760 --> 00:01:04.940
One would be the extension of the arms because getting the club far away from

26
00:01:04.940 --> 00:01:05.520
me shallows

27
00:01:05.520 --> 00:01:06.520
it out.

28
00:01:06.520 --> 00:01:10.430
And two would be, is the club working more vertically, so kind of straight

29
00:01:10.430 --> 00:01:11.960
along my spine,

30
00:01:11.960 --> 00:01:17.080
or is the club working more horizontally, kind of like so, which would be more

31
00:01:17.080 --> 00:01:17.920
working along

32
00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:19.760
the bottom of my rib cage.

33
00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:23.760
What you'll see when you look at a lot of really good golf swings or when you

34
00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:24.400
see some

35
00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:28.060
of the legends talk about the golf swing, you'll tend to see them demonstrating

36
00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:28.320
the

37
00:01:28.320 --> 00:01:32.100
club working more horizontally around their body.

38
00:01:32.100 --> 00:01:37.920
In fact, a lot of one common thought or drill that was given to a lot of golf

39
00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:39.380
ers was basically

40
00:01:39.380 --> 00:01:43.840
a baseball swing, right, which is essentially working those arms completely

41
00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:44.660
horizontally

42
00:01:44.660 --> 00:01:51.020
and then figuring out how to position that rib cage so that that horizontal

43
00:01:51.020 --> 00:01:51.900
movement

44
00:01:51.900 --> 00:01:54.820
would get down all the way to the golf ball.

45
00:01:54.820 --> 00:01:59.960
So what you'll see is the shallow arms and what we're trying to get in

46
00:01:59.960 --> 00:02:00.980
transition is

47
00:02:00.980 --> 00:02:05.690
basically trying to get this closest to parallel to the bottom of my rib cage,

48
00:02:05.690 --> 00:02:06.440
or close to

49
00:02:06.440 --> 00:02:09.420
this horizontal line.

50
00:02:09.420 --> 00:02:15.180
If you're in the steep category, the club will be tending to work more along

51
00:02:15.180 --> 00:02:15.900
almost the

52
00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:20.140
45 degree angle, maybe even creeping down towards 30.

53
00:02:20.140 --> 00:02:24.600
I would say that somewhere in that 30 degrees or above would be steep, so

54
00:02:24.600 --> 00:02:25.360
someone like Charles

55
00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:32.910
Barkley is almost vertical, where golfers closer to that 20 degrees, 10 degrees

56
00:02:32.910 --> 00:02:34.620
, 0 degrees,

57
00:02:34.620 --> 00:02:37.100
those are going to tend to look more shallow.

58
00:02:37.100 --> 00:02:41.380
So now you've got that kind of reference of what we're trying to look at.

59
00:02:41.380 --> 00:02:44.820
From the down the line, when you're looking at a lot of these videos, I want

60
00:02:44.820 --> 00:02:45.940
you to now

61
00:02:45.940 --> 00:02:51.690
see how if I do the shallow arm movements, this starts to kind of match the

62
00:02:51.690 --> 00:02:52.180
plane or

63
00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:55.620
the path that my rib cage is rotating around.

64
00:02:55.620 --> 00:03:00.080
Not technically rotating around a plane, but you can kind of use that as a

65
00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:00.820
reference when

66
00:03:00.820 --> 00:03:06.100
you're looking at the arm movements instead of comparing them to the golf ball.

67
00:03:06.100 --> 00:03:10.950
Because what frequently happens is a golfer will work the arms vertically, but

68
00:03:10.950 --> 00:03:11.380
at the

69
00:03:11.380 --> 00:03:15.450
same time have a little bit of loss of posture, a little bit of slide, and a

70
00:03:15.450 --> 00:03:16.620
lack of rotation.

71
00:03:16.620 --> 00:03:21.780
And now that vertical arm movement looks like it's coming well from the inside.

72
00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:25.660
So they'll say, how could I possibly have steep arms?

73
00:03:25.660 --> 00:03:27.060
I'm hitting big hooks.

74
00:03:27.060 --> 00:03:29.980
I'm getting too shallow.

75
00:03:29.980 --> 00:03:34.500
Hopefully looking at this grid and using the rib cage as a reference will help

76
00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:35.900
you visualize

77
00:03:35.900 --> 00:03:41.580
how very easily you could have vertical arm movement and still come well from

78
00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:42.460
the inside.

79
00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:48.400
So it's not totally about the club path because one common problem for golfers

80
00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:49.040
who tend to

81
00:03:49.040 --> 00:03:51.580
hook the ball is getting steep and deep.

82
00:03:51.580 --> 00:03:55.470
So the club well behind kind of like so, but working in more of a vertical

83
00:03:55.470 --> 00:03:56.500
fashion as opposed

84
00:03:56.500 --> 00:04:01.940
to working in a horizontal fashion and working more around.

85
00:04:01.940 --> 00:04:06.400
So if you've struggled with understanding kind of some of these shallow

86
00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:07.100
movements, the

87
00:04:07.100 --> 00:04:12.240
examples, the drills, hopefully this visual helps you tie together what I mean

88
00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:12.620
when I

89
00:04:12.620 --> 00:04:15.120
say shallow arms in transition.

90
00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:20.400
Use this little, just imagine this shirt or the grid on the golfers when you're

91
00:04:20.400 --> 00:04:20.980
looking

92
00:04:20.980 --> 00:04:24.400
at YouTube or if you're looking at any of my analysis videos and you'll have a

93
00:04:24.400 --> 00:04:24.820
better

94
00:04:24.820 --> 00:04:29.280
idea of whether their arms are working in a steep fashion or whether their arms

95
00:04:29.280 --> 00:04:29.620
are working

96
00:04:29.620 --> 00:04:32.020
in a shallow fashion during transition.

Have questions about this video?

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

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