Welcome to Play Smarta regular GOLF.com game improvement column that will help you play smarter and better golf.
Having trouble with consistency in your ball-striking? Are you lacking power throughout your bag? Are your misses all over the place? The cause may be early elongation.
Early extension affects a large number of recreational golfers, but most don’t even know it exists—or how it hurts their swing.
Here’s a quick refresher: Early extension occurs when your pelvis shifts too far forward during squatting. When you move your hips toward the ball on the downswing, you limit the space your arms and hands have to swing freely, which can cause inconsistent contact and a lack of power.
I’ve struggled with early extension in my swing in the past, so lately, I asked for help e GOLF Top 100 Teachers Tony Ruggiero. During our lesson, he shared a number of remedies for early extension – including setup adjustments that can eliminate the error before you swing the club. Watch more in the video below, or read on for more.
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How poor setup causes early elongation
Like many swing mistakes, one of the main causes of early extension comes in the form of poor setup. When you make mistakes in the way you approach the ball, your body has no choice but to move in ways that cause early extension.
“One of the things that is important and often overlooked is the base of the spine,” Ruggiero said. “People get the base of their spine too far (away from the target) at address, which causes them to slide out from under it, and then they slide (toward the target). As a result, they stay up trying to get the club on the ball.”
To correct this error, Ruggiero suggests feeling the base of the spine directly below the top of the spine. And because you’re a little biased FAR from the target to address, this means you should feel like your lead hip is bumping slightly towards the target at address.
Another setup error that can cause early extension comes in the form of your hip hinge. To get the position right, Ruggiero says you should feel like your shoulders are directly over your toes in the setup.
“Take the stick and put it on your waist and then push your rear back,” Ruggiero said. “Now let your hands rest on your knees. That would be a pretty good, athletically balanced stance.”
However, it is important not to overdo this feeling. If you push your tailbone too far back, you’ll put too much weight on the heels at address, forcing you to move your pelvis closer to the ball during the downswing—resulting in that dreaded early extension.
“If you’re out of balance at address, where your weight is too much on your heels or your weight is too much on your toes, there’s a good chance that somewhere in the golf swing you’re going to stop spinning, stop using spin and stop,” Ruggiero said. “And you just try to balance yourself.”
