Stop Chicken Wing Issues with the Flipper Hug Drill

The Flipper Hug drill is designed to clean up a release pattern where your arms separate, collapse, and finish with a visible chicken wing through impact and into the follow-through. If that sounds familiar, you may also fight pulls, toe strikes, steep or diggy contact, and a generally inconsistent strike pattern. This drill gives you a simple way to train a better release: instead of the elbows moving apart as the club passes through, you learn how to bring the arms closer together through the strike and into the follow-through. That narrowing helps the club release more efficiently, supports better body motion, and improves the lengthening of the swing through the ball.

How the Drill Works

Many golfers with a chicken wing pattern do one of two things through the bottom of the swing: the lead arm bends and pulls inward, or the trail arm works too far behind them. In both cases, the elbows move away from each other when they should be doing the opposite.

In high-level ball strikers, the space between the elbows usually decreases through release. The arms are working more together, not more independently. The club is being delivered with better structure, and the body can keep rotating without the arms having to throw the clubhead past the hands too early.

That is the purpose of the Flipper Hug. You create the feeling that both arms are meeting in front of you and then continuing to stay connected as the club moves into the follow-through. A useful image is to imagine you are a penguin with your “flippers” working inward rather than flying apart.

The basic motion is simple:

• Your arms stay longer and more organized through release.
• Your elbows feel like they are squeezing closer together.
• The back of your hands can feel as if they move toward each other in the follow-through.
• Your lead arm feels more across your body instead of folding and disappearing behind you.

For many golfers, the most helpful version is to feel the arms working slightly more on the right side of the body in the early follow-through. That may sound exaggerated, but if you normally pull the arms behind you and separate the elbows, this opposite feel often brings you back toward a neutral release.

You can rehearse the drill in a short swing first, such as a 9-to-3 motion, then gradually extend it into a 10-to-2 style swing. The key is not speed. The key is training the shape of the release and follow-through.

Step-by-Step

1. Start with a short club and a small swing. A wedge or short iron works best. Begin with waist-high to waist-high swings so you can focus on the release without worrying about power.

2. Set up normally. Take your usual posture and grip. You do not need to manipulate the club at address. This drill is about what happens from the delivery position through the follow-through.

3. Rehearse the “penguin” arm motion without swinging. Stand upright and let your arms hang straighter in front of you. Then bring them inward so they feel as if they are hugging together. A good checkpoint is to feel the backs of your hands moving toward each other while the elbows narrow.

4. Move into a mini follow-through position. Bring the club into a short follow-through and pause. From there, exaggerate the feeling that your elbows are close together and your arms are wrapping in front of your torso rather than separating apart.

5. Identify your best feel. Ask yourself which sensation helps more:

   • The lead arm staying more across your chest
   • The trail arm working more across and in front of you
   • Both elbows squeezing together

   Most golfers respond best to feeling the lead arm stay across the body longer.

6. Use a stop drill first. Make a small backswing, swing down slowly, and stop in the early follow-through. Check whether the elbows are closer together than they were before impact. If your trail elbow is flying behind you or your lead arm is folding away from your body, reset and do it again.

7. Exaggerate toward the right side if needed. If you have a strong chicken wing pattern, rehearse the release with the arms feeling as if they are meeting more on the right side of your body in the early follow-through. This often counteracts the tendency to pull the arms behind you.

8. Hit soft 9-to-3 shots. Swing back to about hip height and through to about hip height. Your goal is to maintain the Flipper Hug feeling from just before impact until the club has clearly moved into the follow-through.

9. Progress to 10-to-2 swings. Once the shorter motion feels natural, lengthen the follow-through. Keep the same sensation of the elbows staying narrow and the arms working together well into the finish.

10. Blend it into fuller swings. As you add speed, keep the same release pattern. You are not trying to hold the club off. You are training a more connected release so the club can pass through with better structure.

What You Should Feel

The Flipper Hug is a feel-based drill, so the right sensations matter. Here are the main checkpoints to look for.

Elbows Narrowing Through Release

The biggest checkpoint is that the elbows feel as if they are getting closer together from the delivery area into the follow-through. If you filmed your swing face-on, you would want to see less daylight between the arms as the club exits.

Lead Arm Staying More Across Your Body

If you chicken wing, your lead arm often bends and pulls behind you too soon. In this drill, the better feel is that the lead arm stays connected across the chest longer. It should not look like it is peeling away from your torso immediately after impact.

Trail Arm Not Flying Behind You

Your trail arm can still fold, but it should fold in a way that stays more in front of your body rather than disappearing behind your right hip. The sensation is more “around and with” the body, not “back and away” from it.

The Release Happening With the Body, Not Instead of It

When the arms separate and flip, the clubhead tends to pass too early. With the Flipper Hug, you should feel that your body can keep turning while the arms remain organized. That gives you a more stable through-swing and a more predictable strike.

A Longer, More Stable Exit

Good release patterns create a longer flat spot through impact. You may not think of it that way while doing the drill, but you should feel that the club is traveling through the hitting area with less abrupt hand action and less collapse. The exit should feel more extended and less cramped.

Useful Ball-Flight and Contact Feedback

When you are doing the drill well, you may notice:

• Fewer toe strikes
• Less digging or heavy contact
• A more centered strike pattern
• Less tendency to pull the ball from an overly handsy release

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Trying to force the elbows together too early. The narrowing should happen through release and into the follow-through, not during the backswing or from the top.
• Pinning the arms rigidly to your sides. This is not about locking everything in. The arms still swing; they just work more together.
• Confusing “across the body” with “around behind you.” The lead arm should stay connected across your torso, not whip behind your back.
• Overdoing the hands. If you aggressively roll or twist the forearms to create the look, you can add a different kind of timing problem. Let the arm structure improve the release rather than manufacturing it with the wrists.
• Skipping the slow rehearsals. If you go straight to full speed, your old pattern usually returns. Start with pauses and short swings.
• Ignoring body rotation. The drill helps the arms, but your body still needs to turn through. If you stop rotating, the arms may bunch up and the club can get trapped.
• Using too much ball-flight judgment at first. Early on, focus more on the motion than the perfect shot. The visual change in your follow-through is often the first sign that the drill is working.
• Making the feel too small. If your chicken wing is severe, you may need a very exaggerated sensation, even feeling the release more on the right side of your body, to create a normal-looking result.

How This Fits Your Swing

The Flipper Hug is not just a follow-through drill. It influences the entire release pattern. If your elbows separate through the strike, that usually means the club is being thrown with poor arm structure, and your pivot often has to react to that. The result is a swing that depends on timing rather than one built on solid mechanics.

By training the arms to narrow and work together, you improve several important pieces at once:

• Release structure: the club exits with better organization instead of a flip-and-collapse pattern.
• Body motion: your torso can keep rotating instead of stalling while the arms rescue the strike.
• Strike quality: a more stable through-swing helps center contact and reduces extremes like toe hits and heavy shots.
• Follow-through shape: your finish begins to reflect a more efficient release rather than a compensation.

This drill is especially useful if video shows your lead arm bent and separated after impact, or if your trail arm works too far behind you in the follow-through. It is also a smart choice if your miss pattern suggests that the clubhead is overtaking too soon.

As you improve, remember that the goal is not to create a stiff, artificial-looking finish. The goal is to teach your swing a better through-motion. The arms should narrow, the club should release without collapsing, and the follow-through should look more connected. Once that pattern is in place, your release can become both more powerful and more reliable.

If you tend to chicken wing, think of the Flipper Hug as a simple but effective reset: instead of letting the arms fly apart, teach them to work together through the strike. That one change can dramatically improve the shape of your release and the quality of your contact.