Causes of an Overly Long Backswing

[virtuoso]

5 minutes ago, iacas said:

 

A few of your listed items (could have put them in one post, you know… 😄)

I was only going to contribute one……and then I got this rapid fire ptsd response of all the long backswings I’ve seen. I kept thinking I was finished…..but I wasn’t. 

[PedronNiall]

10 hours ago, virtuoso said:

Left arm breaks down and golfer loses radius as the wrap the club around their neck.

 

Proper grip pressure for stability can play in there. When the club is gripped correctly and the grip is firm the lead arm won't break down like that very easily. 

 

Other edit: the hands not sitting together correctly at address once the grip is set can also make the lead arm more prone to break down and to the issue below of runaway hips/moving off the ball. 

 

Another thing is moving off the ball trying to chase a weight shift. Making a tight turn the way we see better players do on 3D limits this for many reasons,  on top of moving pressure where it needs to be for power. Moving laterally away from the target instead changes the dynamics of the hips in the backswing and lets them keep traveling outward instead of making a tiny move to the side then rotating back and creating hip depth. Once the hips get loose like that there are no brakes on the pain train and the backswing runs away. 

 

Edit: that lateral move also encourages late wrist hinge instead of an early set, which is also no bueno. Tight turn, the club is moving around the plane; lateral shift or sway and it's moving out away from the target instead, and momentum gonna momentum. 

Edited March 19 by PedronNiall

[MK7Golf21]

Grip coming lose, regripping at the top with trail hand is pretty common causing long swing as well. I think it feels more powerful possibly, people don’t even realize they are doing it. 

[Nard_S]

Basic one,  the chicken wing.

 

Another, hip falling towards ball line.

 

For me, the above and also been real clueless about proper axial rotations of joints. Holding good angles requires the freedom of joints to rotate in proper manner and when i'm rusty it becomes pretty obvious that i'm too passive or muted about this. So swing gets overly long, slappy & sloppy.

[Laaandry]

3 hours ago, virtuoso said:

Grip comes out of the golfers hand at top, can be left hand pad coming off grip or right thumb pad.

 

I notice this occasionally on my swing. What's the most common reason, is it a grip issue? Grip size issue? Grip pressure? Wrist hinge?

[virtuoso]

35 minutes ago, Laaandry said:

 

I notice this occasionally on my swing. What's the most common reason, is it a grip issue? Grip size issue? Grip pressure? Wrist hinge?

I’m sure there are some mechanical reasons, but the overriding origin story that gives way to those mechanics is that good players train in clubhead awareness—do a lot of outside circle work. When you start to connect to the clubhead, the grip coming loose suddenly feels really jarring. You can’t ignore it.

[TheDeanAbides]

1 hour ago, PedronNiall said:

 

Proper grip pressure for stability can play in there. When the club is gripped correctly and the grip is firm the lead arm won't break down like that very easily. 

 

Another thing is moving off the ball trying to chase a weight shift. Making a tight turn the way we see better players do on 3D limits this for many reasons,  on top of moving pressure where it needs to be for power. Moving laterally away from the target instead changes the dynamics of the hips in the backswing and lets them keep traveling outward instead of making a tiny move to the side then rotating back and creating hip depth. Once the hips get loose like that there are no brakes on the pain train and the backswing runs away. 

 

Edit: that lateral move also encourages late wrist hinge instead of an early set, which is also no bueno. Tight turn, the club is moving around the plane; lateral shift or sway and it's moving out away from the target instead, and momentum gonna momentum. 

Do you think this is more likely to happen when the shift is too late? For me it's a slight settling into the right leg as soon as my hands begin to move. 

[Andrews22]

5 hours ago, virtuoso said:

Golfer is working on backswing so they start to follow the clubhead back with their eyes, which causes too much freedom in the head swivel, which lets everything else turn way too much.

Any thoughts on solutions. Obviously I've tried not looking back but it takes too much of my focus and ball striking deteriorates. Otherwise, I've tried when making swing changes, particularly in the takeaway, to not look back at the club until I pause and then not move the club again until I look back at the ball

[virtuoso]

10 minutes ago, Andrews22 said:

Any thoughts on solutions. Obviously I've tried not looking back but it takes too much of my focus and ball striking deteriorates. Otherwise, I've tried when making swing changes, particularly in the takeaway, to not look back at the club until I pause and then not move the club again until I look back at the ball

A few guys on tour make a rehearsal takeaway and follow it with their eyes, and then not with actual takeaway. So do that, and in your head say to yourself “once back” during the rehearsal, bring it back, and then say “now go” to trigger the actual backswing. Your eyes have to stay on the back of the ball for the entire phrase……then they can chase. But it will be too late, the club will be gone. You’ll be so busy with your trigger routine, you won’t be able to follow back the real takeaway.

[PedronNiall]

2 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

Do you think this is more likely to happen when the shift is too late? For me it's a slight settling into the right leg as soon as my hands begin to move. 

 

I'd think it would be more of an issue when the shift is excessive and early. If the overall move is pretty good and there's some re-centering already going on then you could more likely get away with the hips getting too mobile a little late. 

 

It was a problem for me because I learned in the heights of the "shift your weight" era and we were taught to chase an active weight shift rather than a good turn and pressure shift.

[MK7Golf21]

I’ve regripped at the top. For me, it felt like an extra lever to add speed, was kind of subconscious doing it. I don’t think I did all the time, would just come every once in awhile when I would actually pay attention to it and notice. 

[GolfTurkey]

Trail elbow over-bending

[TheDeanAbides]

10 hours ago, PedronNiall said:

 

I'd think it would be more of an issue when the shift is excessive and early. If the overall move is pretty good and there's some re-centering already going on then you could more likely get away with the hips getting too mobile a little late. 

 

It was a problem for me because I learned in the heights of the "shift your weight" era and we were taught to chase an active weight shift rather than a good turn and pressure shift.

It can't be early, but it can be excessive. Remember, shift, turn, shift, turn. The weight does have to shift.

[PedronNiall]

5 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

It can't be early, but it can be excessive. Remember, shift, turn, shift, turn. The weight does have to shift.

 

It can be early cause humans gonna human as we do. There was a guy on here recently who started with a shift, paused, then actually got the swing going and shifted even more. Even when it's not to that extent some people, myself included at one point, initiate the swing with a forced weight shift because that was and still is the move according to some, and bad things follow. I think it's Stenson who has some quirk with doing a bit of a visible shift preset and gets away with it but still not a move anyone else should be chasing.

 

Making an active pressure shift is emphasized in sport in general now because it promotes better movement than trying to shift the weight. When we walk properly where weight is felt/acting changes as we step but it's not done by actively trying to force the weight forward. 

[TheDeanAbides]

6 minutes ago, PedronNiall said:

 

It can be early cause humans gonna human as we do. There was a guy on here recently who started with a shift, paused, then actually got the swing going and shifted even more. Even when it's not to that extent some people, myself included at one point, initiate the swing with a forced weight shift because that was and still is the move according to some, and bad things follow. I think it's Stenson who has some quirk with doing a bit of a visible shift preset and gets away with it but still not a move anyone else should be chasing.

 

Making an active pressure shift is emphasized in sport in general now because it promotes better movement than trying to shift the weight. When we walk properly where weight is felt/acting changes as we step but it's not done by actively trying to force the weight forward. 

Fair. What I meant was the correct sequence is shift, turn, shift, turn. Yes, you can mess up as in your example of shift, stop, shift etc. 

 

I understand what you mean about pressure shifts, but that does not negate that there is a weight shift and a pressure shift. It's important that players understand the difference, and that they learn that more is not better, but that's true of everything, as you so correctly opened with. 

[Brokensticks]

This topic could be about me, those who have seen my videos know. Ive tried to fix it but its like no matter what I do, I end up getting full radial deviation on my right wrist as my throwing motion, which cups the left wrist and Im way past both parallel and across the line. 
 

Doesnt help my case that Golfwrx latest instrucution video of a ”150mph swing” 2 hrs ago on the front page is both ”overswinging” and across the line. 
 

I love and hate golf. 

[me05501]

The first drill mentioned here has been super helpful to me and might also be useful in taming an overly long backswing. 
 

The general idea is to take as short a backswing as possible while hitting the ball as hard as possible. You don’t want to cheat your contact…hitting the ball squarely from the center of the club is still important. 
 

It’s helping me learn how to add speed at the right time. A helpful side effect is teaching my body that I don’t need a long, loose backswing to generate speed, contact or distance. 
 

 

 

 

[Ty_Webb]

This is something that I have struggled with. I tend to get too long and across the line. I think it comes about from a misconception that I need more wrist c0ck to get more power. My left wrist won't c0ck while it's flat, so I cup it, which gives it more leeway to move that way. I also have my arms rotated too much (my left arm too supinated). Those two things together create a long swing, but neither is particularly good. Fun part is I've been doing it for probably 35 years or so and it's really hard to stop doing it. Working on getting more pronation in my left arm, supination in my right arm and trying not to feel like my wrists c0ck. When I get it all about right, I'm back to about 45* short of parallel. The other thing is I'm fairly tall and therefore have to stand relatively close to the ball and at the top of my backswing, I can't see the ball past my shoulder, so I increase my left tilt at the top. That pushes the club more across at the top. I watch myself on video and I can get it right most of the way back and then at the last moment, my hands go and the club goes across and long. Going to keep working at it until it clicks.

[Ross_Albatross]

But don’t we want our opponents to have long backswings if they’re going to float load or Scottish lag?

[PedronNiall]

Reading back through because something came to mind and I didn't think I'd seen it mentioned, but a closed stance, especially aided by closed hips and/or closed shoulders can easily let someone's swing get day in the middle of summer long. Better players tend to have a square stance and slightly open hips and shoulders on GEARS IIRC. That would lean towards keeping the overall turn in a good place lengthwise. It's not crazy for us to do the human thing of pointing ourselves at the target after aligning the club at it as well if we're not careful, so never a bad thing to throw a club or stick down as a sanity check regularly and avoid a lot of bad times. 

 

When is the big reveal of all the fun ways to enter the house of pain that is a runaway backswing? 

[TheDeanAbides]

3 hours ago, PedronNiall said:

Reading back through because something came to mind and I didn't think I'd seen it mentioned, but a closed stance, especially aided by closed hips and/or closed shoulders can easily let someone's swing get day in the middle of summer long. Better players tend to have a square stance and slightly open hips and shoulders on GEARS IIRC. That would lean towards keeping the overall turn in a good place lengthwise. It's not crazy for us to do the human thing of pointing ourselves at the target after aligning the club at it as well if we're not careful, so never a bad thing to throw a club or stick down as a sanity check regularly and avoid a lot of bad times. 

 

When is the big reveal of all the fun ways to enter the house of pain that is a runaway backswing? 

It also encourages following the club back with a turn of the head. The stuff Monte posts on that is eye opening on how much it changes the backswing if you stop doing that.

[golferdude54]

3 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

It also encourages following the club back with a turn of the head. The stuff Monte posts on that is eye opening on how much it changes the backswing if you stop doing that.

 

Forrest Gump had it right all along... "No matter what happens, never EVER take your eye off the ball."