Greatest video I have ever seen on Early extension

[LukeDonaldsTiger]

Sent the first video to my pro, who’s generally very skeptical of my YT findings. He was impressed and today’s lesson revolved around the issue. It’s exactly my main problem right now.

There‘s hope again...I was very clueless where to go next. Great timing. Thanks.

[BrysonD400]

@LukeDonaldsTiger great to hear and hope it helps u too!

[Guest]

So is it basically saying to stay more centred on backswing? I struggle with a say which may be causing my early extension too.

[BrysonD400]

I like the AMG setup, stop thinking about the hips rotating, and malaska just moving trail hip back on backswing then lead hip back on downswing. since EE is usually done to shallow ur swing u may need to couple this with an arm shallowing move.

[LukeDonaldsTiger]

My pro explained it very well today. The gist of it was: staying centered in both the left-right and front-back axis helps getting the hips out of the way, squaring your shoulders (or even better, turn them more open) at impact and hit it out of the middle.

He‘s a former long drive champ with an average build, so he’s got great mechanics.

The drill he gave me: on course, take practice swings with my right foot in front of my left, intentionally raise right toes and left heel in backswing and vice versa in downswing, WHILE staying roughly 50/50 with weight distribution.

Same for the range, but hit golf balls in that setup.

Helps opening the left side at impact and getting the feel for a proper pivot.

[Justmuckit]

THANK YOU!

Just had my best range session of the year tonight after watching the video this morning. I’ve been fighting the shanks off and on for 3 months and 150 balls later, not a single shank. Ball was going further, and I was even taking a slight divot - always been a picker.

I’m actually excited to go play again, it’s been a chore of late.

[BrysonD400]

Awesome to hear @Justmuckit I know that this shows up in a lot of swings and can be VERY challenging to find the right feel/thought pattern to make some headway in resolving it. Cheers to better scores all!

[FairwaysToHeaven]

biggest thing i noticed was the forward lean at setup in the shins. i've never had this. always felt centered in balls of feet, but tush line is well behind heels. this is the first part of the change that i feel i need to focus on as the new setup feels incredibly awkward. anyone else doing the same?

[Golfbeat]

This video of AMG describes it as leaning over a picket fence.

[BrysonD400]

yes! at first i felt like i was bending too much but on video u barely notice the ankle bend tbh. but it FEELS very different. after about 2 hours hitting balls I felt actually very athletic in this new stance. Like I was a football player ready for action. I have now built in the Malaska "cable pull" action into my reshot routine. Was out there with my buddy showing him it and he had an "ah ha" moment too!

[marlon]

I'm go outside right now and try this. I am tired of impregnating goats! Two takeaways from this video:

At setup, have a little ankle bend to get hips more over the center of the foot (aka better balance, duh!) instead of over the heels.Try to have that right butt cheek smear the glass at the top, both touch at impact, and left cheek smear at impact. (in my mind, this means on the way back, my hips are moving slightly backwards due to head perhaps dipping towards the ball - great, now I create some space in front of me so my arms can work better and not feel choked up).I also learned a lot from this other video on lag:

The lead arm adduction at the top for me was ridiculous - left arm needs to stay in FRONT of the damn chest not across it - pros are like 5-18 deg away from address vs amateurs at 36 deg. This requires more work to get the lead arm back to impact. Less moving parts means less things an go wrong while in transit.Work on a more bowed left wrist at the top. Will get back with my results.

[mcputter]

Looking forward to putting this into practice- the new address position already feels good. Hopefully it won't rain all weekend.

[marlon]

Just came back from the range. The setup with weight moving to the balls of the feet is the magic move. It gives you a more athletic setup.

The pelvis moving backwards is a deliberate move and I can't rely on that. Instead, for me at least, on the way back if I drop my head lower (like Justin Thomas, Tiger etc) closer to the ball, this opens up some space for arms in the DS and my hips "should move back" away from the ball like in the video. The dropping of the head slightly should cause the hip to move away from the ball. I tested this concept against the wall, and it does. happen.

My irons into a 160 green was more consistent than ever.

WIth the driver, it will take some time but I see hope here. I suffered from coming out of spine angle, goat humping etc especially with the driver. Today, I managed to stay balance, to some degree.

I am also not overswinging, by allowing my left arm to not cross over my chest at the top. I may lose power but right now, I'll take consistent flight over power.

[Oldboy]

There used to be a LOT more of this type of discussion on swing theory ... back in the day

[GungHoGolf]

Great thread, thanks OP! Added it to our HOF threads post at https://forums.golfwrx.com/discussion/1677582/hall-of-fame-instructional-threads-an-ongoing-compilation

[hurley999s]

The point was to use video for confirmation, which is smart to do because the feel can be overdone if you aren’t verifying it. Yeah you can get the right hip super deep, but if that’s all you’re focusing on, you can end up turning hips level and sway left while doing it and end up with a reverse pivot. Important distinction here. The AMG guys even show in the subsequent video.

[indianagolf2]

Suprised all the free content AMG gives...

[i*windows]

why do people get so worked up about early extension, its not the end of the world, watch this video or Payne Stewart, stick a cursor on him bum and see where it goes.https://youtu.be/yLZzA6W9EHs?t=56

[MC21]

I'm just getting back into the game after a 7 year layoff. Last time I played I was in my early 20s and was playing somewhere between a 6-8 but was always a very good ball striker. Scoring was typically my issue. But physically I'm much different than I was back then. In simple terms I was fit and more flexible where now I'm out of shape and stiffer than a board.

I started going to the range again last week. I had the shanks, was hitting a weak push-fade, or flipping and hitting pull hooks. I couldn't hit the ball with any consistency until my last few swings. On those swings I literally felt like my left hip was 45 degrees open to my target. After that, I left the range with a pretty good idea of what I was doing wrong. Found this thread a few days later and voila, I had something to work on and this thread has provided more video and feels than I would have ever found on my own.

I've been working in my basement on the feelings described here and my hip mobility. Took some videos of my swings to make sure that what I'm feeling matches up with what I'm doing and everything looks good. Looking forward to getting to the range this weekend to see if it carries over.

[BrysonD400]

I see what u mean. yes very good point @hurley999s . really need that angled up Malaska movement for sure going back.

[BrysonD400]

agreed that u can be a very good golfer with some EE. for me personally, i think eliminating it will give me more consistency in my swing as most do.
@MC21 great to hear and glad ur getting back into the game!

[RichieHunt]

Gankas talks about this and it's really the centerpiece of his teaching. That's why he harps on the setup so much. The last time I went to see GG for an in-person lesson, he was still working with long time student, Johnny Ruiz, on his setup. Essentially it's just like you wrote..if your body isn't aligned properly with your posture at address it will ruin your balance and your body will do things to early extend and balance itself instead of rotating.

 

Mac also talked about ankle flexion at address. But what has helped me with this video is getting the center of the hip in line with the ankle bone and getting the shins tilted in order to do it. This video kind of put all of those pieces together.

 

 

 

RH

[Krt22]

Because most people actually want to get better and this sort of mentality is what prevents so many golfers from doing so. Just because certain pros get away with certain flaws, doesnt mean your avg amateur has the time or talent to effectively compensate for them.

[marlon]

@RichieHunt In your lsat sentence concerning hip positioning, for me, simply moving weight to the balls, instead of the heels at setup would require a bit of hip movement and shin bending towards the ball. I try to keep things simple.
I really do feel my arms having a little more room coming into impact after watching this video. I need 3-4 days of honing in before I play. Thanks OP for this great vid.

[sbjinx]

After hitting some balls practicing this move I noticed for me moving the hips over the middle of my feet v. over the heel made a big impact to the swing. To avoid EE I used to push my butt out at set up to create space but by doing the opposite ( now more upright with the hips forward) I’m getting more hip depth in the backswing and keeping the hips “against the wall” on my downswing. I used to focus so much on creating depth in the backswing that it was prob causing my EE issues. Still a little steep on my downswing but hitting it way better.

[BrysonD400]

agreed, was counterintuitive for me to stack my hips "closer" to the ball on setup. I feel like im going to punch on the ball at setup now. but in reality I have been able to get muchhhh better hip depth on the backswing. and I think this is the key, as per the original video, getting some depth in the backswing to then try and get more on the downswing. I also noticed I would pull my head back so I have been working on keeping my torso out and over the ball too. when I get this right the ball has a different sound to it off the face :)

[thechief16]

Oh boy. This made a huge difference for my last 2 range sessions. Just getting the weight a little more forward and thinking about keeping the small of back steady, if not a little back. Now I need to see if I can get it on the course.

[marlon]

I'm about to play my first round after this video. For me, driver has improved the most since this is the club that exaggerates bad balance and EE.

 

[Cwing]

Thank you for the video

[BrysonD400]

Great session today. My back has been sore I think from turning different. Not hurt just I can tell I was using my muscles different which I am taking as a good sign. Currently focusing on AMG setup, rotating around the center, and the malasaka back and up from his video. most common miss is now I will get little steep but if I focus on a nice shallow hand motion "like Rahm" I am usually money. when u compress like this man the ball/strike is just different. cheers to a good week all!

AMG video on shallowing I liked too: