What causes the Left shoulder coming up and out ?

[macgolf]

Please help.
What causes the left shoulder to come up and out?. Maybe I should ask how do you keep your left shoulder down through impact?. When studying pro swings I noticed how well the left shoulder stays down and through the shot. Especially the better ball strikers. It "looks like" the left shoulder almost stops moving at impact and the right fires through. Any drills or suggestions on what to practice or where to refer to this in the book is much appreciated.

thanks
Mac.

[Yoda]

What causes the left shoulder to come up and out?. Maybe I should ask how do you keep your left shoulder down through impact?. When studying pro swings I noticed how well the left shoulder stays down and through the shot. Especially the better ball strikers. It "looks like" the left shoulder almost stops moving at impact and the right fires through. Any drills or suggestions on what to practice or where to refer to this in the book is much appreciated.

There are no geometric controls for the left shoulder. So, forget about it. (There now, that was easy, wasn't it?)



Focus instead on the right shoulder and its backstroke and downstroke planes of motion. Get this right, and you'll have no worries about the left shoulder . . .

It will 'go along' just fine!

[gmbtempe]

Please help.
What causes the left shoulder to come up and out?. Maybe I should ask how do you keep your left shoulder down through impact?. When studying pro swings I noticed how well the left shoulder stays down and through the shot. Especially the better ball strikers. It "looks like" the left shoulder almost stops moving at impact and the right fires through. Any drills or suggestions on what to practice or where to refer to this in the book is much appreciated.

thanks
Mac.

The movement of the left shoulder and its counterpart are so heavily influenced by other part of the swing that the reason could be endless. I have studied right shoulder motion a lot and the biggest reason I see for left shoulder up and right shoulder down has to do with a faulty pivot.

[macgolf]

Thanks guys.
Yoda great answer.
gmbtempe yes, I would agree with the pivot answer. I guess a faulty pivot can cause too much secondary axis tilt which would cause that shoulder to come up.

[Mike O]

Mac,
You can't fix it without changing your entire swing. It starts with your "faulty intent", then flows through your hands, arms, body, and finally your leftshoulder. Secondly, it's also influenced by any other faults - that require you to do that in order to hit the ball where you want the ball to go.

I can't speak for the intent in your case, however, the right hand under/ palm up through impact, then leads to parallel hips and shoulders, leading to axis tilt issues, creating your high shoulder. If you are looking for one piece to fix the puzzle - that's a problem. You need to understand the whole thing and be willing to change it. If something opens the blade then something else needs to close it - to keep it where you want it - same with clubhead path. So, you have alot of things that prevent the ball from going left i.e. the rear palm facing up through impact, you need to find the things that are wanting to make the ball go right and get rid of those- one such item is the lead arm coming across the chest too much during the downswing.

Here's the quickie thought - if you have better horizontal hand motion through impact (by the way that is something you would allow to happen - not just do it with you hands) then not changing anything else - the ball goes to the left , now if you learn to turn through it better, lag the left arm up the chest more - although you have more turn with the pivot - you actually keep the face from closing - as the more the lead arm (tired of getting the Smilies for you) hasn't come back across the chest the more the clubface stays open. That's why you see the strong grip guys have larger turns through the ball i.e. Duval, etc.

It's a long term project - if you measure it by day to day ball flight - you'll never make the change. You have to have a conceptual framework of how the different parts work together in order to really make the change - it's a pattern - not a movement of one part or position of one part that you are concerned with.

[Mike O]

I might add - for all forum members - that I have achieved one of my life goals. Yes, I have destroyed Bucket! For his friends on this forum - I have no apologies. For all the others, we are having a party at Hooters tomorrow night 7PM. His body has been prepared appropriately and for $5 you can take body shots from his belly button.

[macgolf]

Thanks MikeO.
This post wasn't for my swing in particular. A friends. I do fully understand what is involved and the process of change. I guess I came across as looking for a one line answer in the post. I guess its hard to answer vague questions without seeing the video of the swing. Thank you for the information though I appreciate it.
I would like to learn more about the pivot. Alignment Golf is amazing but I feel like they don't go in depth on the pivot. How the hips move and turn, weight shift etc... Heres a question. Assuming you are at a good top poisition(backswing)
When doing the slight lateral weight shift to the left do you then start to turn(rotate) your hips out of the way(or is that wrong) ? Is it the foot/knee action sequence that moves the hips out of the way? I also see so many tour players with their hips very open at impact. Then I hear that your not supposed to open your hips that much on downswing. (causes spinning/pulled shots to the left). For my own swing I would like to work more on my pivot and understand it better.

Thanks for taking the time this site has helped me a lot with questions.

Mac.

[Mike O]

Mac,
I don't have an interest in posting a detailed answer to your questions - as just too many things come up in my mind to be covered. Maybe others could help you with that.

If you have any interest - for my feedback - I might (and then again might not) be interested in taking it in smaller bites. If you want - you could elaborate on exactly what you mean by:
When doing the slight lateral weight shift to the left do you then start to turn(rotate) your hips out of the way(or is that wrong) ?

[innercityteacher]

I might add - for all forum members - that I have achieved one of my life goals. Yes, I have destroyed Bucket! For his friends on this forum - I have no apologies. For all the others, we are having a party at Hooters tomorrow night 7PM. His body has been prepared appropriately and for $5 you can take body shots from his belly button.

Mike I cannot miss the timing of your announcement with the death of Qsama Bin Laden! So, that man with the long beard at the Cuscowilla Waffle House was really Osama Bin Laden aka Bucket?

Was it the chili or the "scattered, smothered, covered and chunked" hash browns that did it? Their coffee is pretty darn good!

ICT

[Mike O]

ICT,
Yes, Osama Bin Laden AKA 12 Piece Bucket is dead! I've worked directly with the CIA and key White House personnel over the last few years to track him down and accomplish the task. Update: It was not a woman that he used for a shield but a goat.
Thanks