Right side bend "feel"

I'm trying to add more right side bend in the downswing. When I do this, or when I think I'm doing it, the feel that I have is that I'm staying on my right side. My head feels way behind the ball in the downswing (compared to my normal swing) and my arms feel like they race underneath my head through impact and into release. I know that this is a feel, but I was just wondering if anyone else who has tried to add more right side bend has felt anything like this.

BTW, I realize that "feel isn't real" and that feels are different for people. But for those of you who did not have enough side bend, and then added it, what was your feel...what did it feel like?

Feels like coming over the top when you’re not to me

OK. Thanks. I don't feel that. It's not so much an arm feeling that I'm experiencing, but more where my head is in space as my body rotates. I have the feeling that my upper body/head is staying back while everything else moves towards the target. Also, I feel that my head is slightly more horizontal at contact, like I'm looking down the target line, head bent slightly to my right. I mean, it's just a feel, but I'm wondering if any one else feels something similar.

Anyone?

Yes, just like this. (Who is this, BTW? Austin?) I feel there's definite weight shift or bump into the left side, but my torso/head stays back...when I feel like I'm increasing right side bend. My 'normal' swing does not feel this way, and I early extend.

In terms of right side bend, is it the amount/intent the same for all clubs on full swings, or do you need more or feel more for driver?

Trying to crunch the right side will make a lot of people stand up too early. In a perfect world, the key is setting yourself up to have the ability to regain flexion in the downswing beforehand. If you regain flexion and the head doesnt pop up or lunge forward from that point through impact, you don't need to try to side bend.

If you want side bend then get your hips open at impact. I would strongly advise for the longevity of your body that you don't worry about side bend! For sure it is best to finish standing straight up and relaxed with your weight on your lead foot and your ankle, knee, hip and shoulder joints aligned. Don't work on finishing bent over sideways as that can put a lot of stress on a lot of areas of your body! My two cents anyway...

Engage the right QL, quadratus laborum to create the downswing side bend. Side bend provides the holding force needed to resist the escape force of the club head. Without it your head will be pulled down the fairway. So the cure for lunging is to get the COM ahead of the C7.

OP you said you're trying to stay on your right foot. If you maintain weight on your right foot and leg your right side won't be able to rotate freely through the ball. Mike Austin's swing formula isn't compatible with most teaching, he was almost totally on his left foot, leg and hip at impact. Watch his right foot, knee, thigh and glute going out towards the ball. His right foot is dragged about a foot into the finish by his COM. Old school post and gate stuff.

How do you know you need more side bend? without seeing your swing it's just a guess as to what you are doing.

LOL, there is side bend and then there is side bend.

Take a look at some of the AMG stuff on "recentering" and what the arms/hips are doing throughout the swing, for example.

Don't go to extremes.

I'm not a fan at this new "side bend" stuff. Seems like the new hot buzz word for Spring 2020.

Sounds like a recipe for lower back pain and poor transitioning to the left side.

I've never once, ever heard of any good golfer say "I feel like I really dialed in my side bend".

This isn't a new concept. Been discussed here for many years. I think some of the reason you haven't heard anyone good talk about it is because lunging/lack of trail side bend is much more common among bad golfers (although many good golfer-goat humpers do it incorrectly). I agree, though, trying to throw right side bend into a swing on its own rarely ends well.

It's just an identification of something that happens in good golf swings in the context of the rest of the swing.

I guess I should clarify. I understand what they are looking for - somewhat.

But it's no different than saying - I want my hands in front at impact.

Chasing a position that is a result of everything else.

Fair question. I have videod my swing extensively. I know what I'm doing and should be doing. I'm not chasing positions, but I'm trying to add a critical component to my swing that I suspect I'm not doing or not doing enough. On video, there is little right side bend in my normal swing, and actually not enough left side bend either, but I can work on that because I know what that looks and feels like--that is in progress.

The main issue or consequence of my swing pattern is that I early extend. Massive G hump at impact, especially with longer clubs, and I don't generate the clubhead speed I'm capable of. A big part of that is the flat shoulder turn, followed by a steep transition, which necessitates the early extension. Clearly, there are a few things to work on, but I do know that adding right side bend can lead to a shallowing of the club and could prevent me from standing up so early. I've literally tried everything to rid myself of the EE, and there is less when I add right side bend, or when I think I am, which is the point of my post. It's not something I normally do, so I'm not sure if I'm doing it right, so I was looking for confirmation of the feels that people have for it. I've experimented with right side bend at times, but not consistently. I have had some success with it, but it wasn't consistent and I never stuck with it.

Not sure if OP is chasing a position and totally agree that's not productive (and he says he isn't, but still just sticking some in there and not really understanding it invites all sorts of issues - self diagnosis can be fraught with danger). My reference is only to the AMG discussions that include it - they don't advocate chasing positions, they are illustrating what is happening more than anything, but still in the context of an overall golf swing.

As you already know, no one knows what it will feel like to you. I am a big fan of filming yourself while trying things that feel "crazy" and checking to see what happens both with ball flight and camera.

I've been trying to get my club exiting more low and left. And as that improved a little, I also maintained my posture a little better - or u could say side bend.

No one's feel is same, but for me it felt like I was going upside down coupled with my hips feeling like they were further back (like montes zipper away drill i guess). Almost like, as you turn head up to look at ball flight, feels like same angle you would tilt your head at to get water out of your right ear.

And I agree with others, a lot has to go right for u to hit these positions. So, could be something in your setup or backswing preventing you from hitting these positions.

I am curious if this is the g humping move that you are trying not to make?

Thanks!

Minus the fashion, that's not far off how I look at impact..very similar, in fact.

I appreciate all the comments/advice. My OP will be frustrating for some of you because I'm asking about a feel for a particular part of the downswing and a body position that, if I'm doing it right, would probably happen naturally and without thought. And I am also aware that the self-diagnosis rabbit hole never ends well--perhaps, right side bend is not the problem, and/or there's something else in the chain that needs work. (Probably.) All I know is that there have been a couple of occasions on the course, when I implemented what I thought was more side bend, and made solid contact with increased clubhead speed and distance. But it was not consistent. I wasn't sure if the move was correct or just a manipulation, and I abandoned it quickly, which sadly, is my golfing modus operandi. Now I'm wondering if maybe I was on to something. I have not played in 2 months, and have not tried the "side bend" move in over a year, hence the query. So I guess my OP is to those who lacked right side bend, and then added more in. What did that feel like to you? Again, feels are personal/individual, but they can also be helpful. At present, I'm stuck in lockdown in Singapore. Courses are closed, and I have not had good experiences with instructors here...or anywhere. Once I'm able to hit balls again and video myself again, I'll hopefully be able to figure out a few things, but until then I'm just looking for some confirmation of the feel, or not.

Don't worry about abandoning feels that we are not certain about. Everyone does it. That's why changes take a long time and repetitions. But if you are going to describe feels, since it's different for everyone, you need to pair it up with a video of you doing that feel. Otherwise nobody can help you. Side bend is a good thing, but only if you are doing it as an effect of other things. In my experience it's more efficient and also promotes less curve on the ball flight. But done wrong it'll hurt your back. Swing Tip: Improve Your Body Moves - Robin Symes | Gryyny.comYou can try this drill to get a feel for the side bend.

@cyr67, well Payne Stewart won the US Open g humping so I guess that it can work okay. It is a real swing change to get more side bend and not one of the easier things to do I would guess. Might require some instruction to get it. I don't know if it is worth it or not.

Bummer that you are not able to hit balls or play at all, do you live in Singapore full time or are you there for work for some period of time? I would think that it might be a bit expensive to golf there?

On 5/11/2020 at 10:01 AM, MPStrat said:

Trying to crunch the right side will make a lot of people stand up too early. In a perfect world, the key is setting yourself up to have the ability to regain flexion in the downswing beforehand. If you regain flexion and the head doesnt pop up or lunge forward from that point through impact, you don't need to try to side bend.

Was the opposite for me.  It helps me maintain angles in downswing.  Just be careful not to right side tilt.  Eric Cogorno has a good vid on right side bend.

I know this thread is two years old but my experience with this is you can side bend using just the spine and leaving the hips neutral (bad). if you do this you will usually end up hitting it right or hooks if you get handsy to try and save the shot.

You can also side bend by bumping the hips forward at address which tilts your spine and hips together. For me this is the right way to side bend. Because your hips connect to your spine so if they are synced up it's easy to hit good shots. if you have bended your spine but kept hips straight then they are out of sync. Try and make a swing by just leaning your spine to the right at address. and then just setting up as normal but bumping the left hip slightly at address to tilt the spine. The latter feels much more functional.

A simple way to imagine the bio mechanics of this is to think of the gap between the top of the right hip and the spine. if you just side bend from the spine you will close this gap. if you bump/tilt your hips the spine will go with it and the gap will stay the same.
 

On 4/12/2022 at 7:37 PM, Barrygoesgolf said:

I know this thread is two years old but my experience with this is you can side bend using just the spine and leaving the hips neutral (bad). if you do this you will usually end up hitting it right or hooks if you get handsy to try and save the shot.

You can also side bend by bumping the hips forward at address which tilts your spine and hips together. For me this is the right way to side bend. Because your hips connect to your spine so if they are synced up it's easy to hit good shots. if you have bended your spine but kept hips straight then they are out of sync. Try and make a swing by just leaning your spine to the right at address. and then just setting up as normal but bumping the left hip slightly at address to tilt the spine. The latter feels much more functional.

A simple way to imagine the bio mechanics of this is to think of the gap between the top of the right hip and the spine. if you just side bend from the spine you will close this gap. if you bump/tilt your hips the spine will go with it and the gap will stay the same.
 

The above has the potential to be very bad. Side bend should come from the T spine or what feels like the shoulders. 

On 5/11/2020 at 3:25 PM, wagolfer7 said:

I'm not a fan at this new "side bend" stuff. Seems like the new hot buzz word for Spring 2020.

Sounds like a recipe for lower back pain and poor transitioning to the left side.

I've never once, ever heard of any good golfer say "I feel like I really dialed in my side bend".

Anyone who’s ever been good demonstrates lateral flexion in their swing…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CbYofB5AyEr/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
 

Pretty much the only way you will get pro level impact dynamics is with a good bit of trail side bend. 
 

That being said it’s probably the hardest thing to correctly implement at least for me as so many things other things in my swing need to be perfect before I see good results. 

I have been fortunate to work with excellent coaches and each of them say pretty much the same thing.
 

Side bend, like lag, should be a side effect of a properly sequenced swing. If your ball position is correct, your swing path is within a range, your face isn’t too open, your pressure shifts forward and the head stays behind the ball… side bend should happen naturally. 
 

I find that I have correct side bend with a shorter* swing and focus on keeping my head behind the ball.  If I have too long of a backswing, my momentum carries my weight too far to the target in transition and my only way out is to throw my torso out of position and back my head out to complete the shot.  Those shorter backswings produce 5+ mph more of ball speed depending on the club.  
 

* (feels like a half swing, looks like a 90% full swing on video)

2 hours ago, Gamble Gamble said:

I have been fortunate to work with excellent coaches and each of them say pretty much the same thing.
 

Side bend, like lag, should be a side effect of a properly sequenced swing. If your ball position is correct, your swing path is within a range, your face isn’t too open, your pressure shifts forward and the head stays behind the ball… side bend should happen naturally. 
 

I find that I have correct side bend with a shorter* swing and focus on keeping my head behind the ball.  If I have too long of a backswing, my momentum carries my weight too far to the target in transition and my only way out is to throw my torso out of position and back my head out to complete the shot.  Those shorter backswings produce 5+ mph more of ball speed depending on the club.  
 

* (feels like a half swing, looks like a 90% full swing on video)

I personally don’t believe it will ever happen naturally for 99% of people. I like to say…you can’t know what something feels like if you have never felt it before.
 

At impact having clubhead behind and below the hands with closed club face relative to set up is something that most people will never feel without someone showing them or instruction. 
 

https://m.facebook.com/golf/videos/lee-trevinos-2-tips-for-better-ball-striking/879760492676740/

About 1:50 in is where one of the kings of right side bend imo starts talking what someone needs to do if they want to start working on right side bend. 
 

Far too many people myself included are too fixated with “proper alignment” or everything square with the hole. If you start working on side bend and you are pushing shots 20 degrees out to the right….just play it. Most of the average golfers don’t have the flexibility to separate the lower and upper halves of their bodies to have plenty of side bend but a neutral club path.