Stop the Chicken Wing: Improve Your Follow-Through with L to L

The L to L drill is a simple way to clean up your release and improve the shape of your follow-through, especially if you tend to chicken wing through impact. Instead of letting the lead arm fold early and the elbows take over, this drill teaches you to let the club rehinge through the wrists while the arms stay extended longer. That matters because a better follow-through usually reflects better motion through impact: cleaner strike, better clubface control, and a release that looks athletic rather than cramped.

How the Drill Works

The idea behind L to L is straightforward. You make a shortened backswing to an L-shaped position, then swing through to another L-shaped position on the follow-through. On the through-swing side, the goal is to let the club rise because the wrists rehinge, not because your lead arm collapses.

If you struggle with a chicken wing, your pattern is usually something like this: the wrists stay too passive through the release, and the elbows bend too early to manage the club’s momentum. The lead arm starts folding, the club exits low and around, and the finish looks pinched or disconnected.

This drill helps you reverse that pattern. Instead of elbows first and wrists barely involved, you want the release to happen more like this:

• Wrists rehinge first
• Elbows soften later
• Body continues through

That sequence is important. On the downswing, the motion tends to organize from larger pieces to smaller ones: body, then arms, then club. But on the way through, the club’s momentum should help the wrists hinge back up before the arms finally soften and fold. If the elbows bend too soon, you get the classic chicken wing look.

For this drill, you are not trying to hold the club off low and left. This is not the same as a low, abbreviated finish used for a stall-and-flip pattern. Here, you are allowing the club to work up to a more vertical rehinged finish, because that is often exactly what a chicken-wing player needs to learn.

Step-by-Step

1. Set up normally with a short iron. Use a club that feels easy to control. A wedge or 8-iron works well. Start with small swings so you can focus on motion rather than power.

2. Swing back to a three-quarter position. Think of the club moving to about a 10 o’clock backswing. You do not need a full turn or full arm swing. The goal is to create a manageable rehearsal length.

3. Pause long enough to recognize the first “L.” In the backswing checkpoint, your lead arm and the clubshaft should roughly form an L shape. It does not need to be perfect, but it should be clearly shorter than a full swing.

4. Swing through while keeping the lead arm extended longer. As you move through impact and into the follow-through, focus on minimizing early lead-arm bend. You are not trying to lock the arm rigidly forever, but you do want to delay the fold.

5. Let the club rehinge upward. Allow the momentum of the club to create the second L on the follow-through side. The shaft should work upward as the wrists hinge, rather than staying low while the elbows collapse.

6. Finish in the second “L.” On the through-swing side, your trail arm and clubshaft should again resemble an L shape. This is your checkpoint that the club has rehinged and your arms have not folded too early.

7. Start at slow speed. Early on, make soft rehearsal swings or small shots. You are training sequence and awareness, not trying to hit perfect full shots.

8. Gradually add speed. Once you can consistently reach the through-swing L without the lead arm collapsing, begin adding a little more body speed. Keep the same structure even as the motion becomes more dynamic.

9. Then lengthen the follow-through. After you can hit the L position reliably, let the swing continue slightly beyond it. The key is that the arms should bend after the rehinge, not before it.

10. Use the drill to learn timing. Pay close attention to when your lead arm starts to fold. That awareness is one of the biggest benefits of the drill, because it helps you recognize the pattern when it starts to show up on the course.

What You Should Feel

If you are used to chicken-winging, the correct motion may feel unusual at first. In fact, it may feel exaggerated. That is normal.

Arms staying straighter for longer

The first thing you will likely notice is a sensation that your arms are staying almost too straight through the strike and into the early follow-through. For a player who usually folds the lead arm too soon, this is often the right correction.

You may even feel as if your hands are moving out toward the target longer than usual. That is a useful feel, because many chicken-wing players have the opposite pattern: the chest keeps moving while the elbows pull back and inward.

The club working up because of the wrists

You want to feel the clubhead’s momentum helping the shaft work upward into the second L. The key word is allow. You are not trying to flick the wrists aggressively. You are letting the club’s motion produce a natural rehinge.

If you force the wrists too actively, the motion can become artificial. The club may snap upward too early, and you will trade one compensation for another. A better feel is that the club is swinging into the rehinge rather than being manually placed there.

Late softening in the elbows

The elbows are not supposed to stay ramrod straight forever. They will soften eventually. The checkpoint is simply that the softening happens later, after the wrists have already rehinged. That is the opposite of a chicken wing, where the elbows fold first and the wrists contribute very little.

A more organized release

When you do the drill well, the through-swing should feel less cramped and more connected. The club will feel as if it has somewhere to go. Instead of getting trapped low and around your body, it will swing up with structure.

Good checkpoints include:

• Lead arm stays extended past impact longer than usual
• Clubshaft rises into a visible L on the follow-through
• Wrists rehinge naturally rather than being held off
• Arm bend happens later, after the second L is established

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Forcing the wrist rehinge. If you actively throw the club upward with your hands, the drill becomes too manipulative. Let the club’s momentum help create the shape.
• Bending the lead arm too early. This is the very pattern you are trying to change. If the lead arm folds before the club reaches the through-swing L, reset and go slower.
• Trying to hit full shots too soon. If you add speed before you own the structure, your old pattern will return. Build the motion at a speed you can control.
• Making the backswing too long. A full backswing adds complexity and makes it harder to monitor the release. Keep the motion around three-quarters at first.
• Holding the finish off low. That can be a useful pattern for other issues, but it is usually not the best fit if your main problem is a chicken wing. Here you want the club to work up into the second L.
• Locking the arms rigidly. “Stay straight” does not mean tense. You want extension, not stiffness. If your arms feel frozen, soften your effort level and let the swing flow.
• Ignoring body motion. The drill highlights the release, but your body still needs to keep moving through. If you stop turning and try to fix everything with your arms, the motion will not organize correctly.
• Letting the elbows get behind you. A common chicken-wing feel is that the chest outruns the arms and the elbows get pulled back. Counter that by feeling the hands extend more toward the target before the fold happens.

How This Fits Your Swing

The L to L drill is not just about making your follow-through look prettier. It helps you train a better release pattern, and that often improves what happens through impact as well.

A chicken wing is usually not an isolated finish problem. It is often a sign that the club is being managed inefficiently through the strike. When the wrists do not release and rehinge well, the elbows step in to save the motion. The result is a follow-through that folds too early and a strike pattern that can become weak, glancing, or inconsistent.

By teaching the club to rehinge while the arms stay extended longer, you are improving several pieces at once:

• Release sequencing through and after impact
• Arm structure in the early follow-through
• Awareness of timing for when the lead arm actually bends
• Club exit and finish shape that better matches an efficient swing

This drill is especially useful if you have a pronounced chicken wing and can already see that your lead arm is folding almost immediately after impact. It gives you a very clear checkpoint: can you reach the second L before the arm collapses?

It also helps you separate two very different release issues. Some golfers need a more held-off finish to reduce a stall-and-flip pattern. Others need to learn how to let the club rehinge upward because they are too restricted and elbow-dominant through the finish. If you are in the second group, L to L is often the better choice.

As you improve, use the drill in stages:

1. Own the shape at slow speed
2. Add body motion without losing the structure
3. Lengthen the swing beyond the second L
4. Notice when the arm bends in normal swings

That final point is important. The drill is not only a fix; it is also a diagnostic tool. Once you know what a correct release feels like, you can start to recognize the exact moment your old pattern returns. That awareness makes it much easier to make adjustments during practice and to catch the chicken wing before it takes over on the course.

In short, the L to L drill teaches you to replace an elbow-driven follow-through with a wrist-led rehinge. When you do that, your follow-through becomes more organized, your release becomes more functional, and your swing starts to look and feel much more efficient.