Do You Early Extend in Your Golf Swing?

April 3, 2015

‘Early Extension’ is a downswing fault and is defined as any excessive forward movement of the pelvis.

This swing fault causes golfers’ hips to thrust towards the golf ball and their torso to rise and lose the body angles that they created at set up.

If you shank the golf ball, this could be the cause!

This forward movement of the hips towards the golf ball often presents the heel to the golf ball and also makes it very difficult to rotate.

This can rob you of power and also cause the club to get stuck behind you (‘Under The Plane’ – that leads to a poor contact, miss-hits and a hook or block.

Being able to maintain your posture during the downswing is key to consistent ball striking and being able to deliver the club on plane.

Common causes of Early Extension

1. Too steep in the back swing – When the golf club gets too steep in the back swing, we often see that golfers Early Extend in order to move the club towards the swing plane.
2. Poor lower body mobility – When we start the downswing with the lower body, we often go in to a squatting motion. Mobility limitations in the lower body make it very difficult to start the downswing and maintain your posture.