Tip Tuesday: Extension Series Part 3 – Arms Pushing

Ted Frick:

All right. So we’re moving along and we’ve talked about the wall touch, part one. We’ve talked about the follow through and trunk rotation to get rid of the chicken wing, part two, the follow-through. Let’s talk about these arms, because in the golf swing, we need the arms for extension. That’s a no-brainer. I’m going to throw a word at you called pushing, that the hands and arms need to be in a pushing type of condition. Pushing is directing force out away from the body versus pulling direction of force towards the body.

Now, I love these bands. I love the bands for personal exercise. This isn’t for pushing, but this is an exercise, cool exercise for a golfer’s upper part of their back. Now, we know we’re in this generation where there’s a lot of hunching over on the computers and the keyboards. Look at this dollar band. I’m going to show you this exercise first, then I’ll get into the push.

I was shown this by a student, a physical therapist that did our golf school. And he saw me presenting like this. And he said, “Ted, over time, man, over the next 20 years, you’re going to need to get them shoulders back.” And he said, “I’ve got a really cool exercise for you, because you’ve given me a bunch of tips.” He just had me take the band and sit here and open it up. And then, I feel like I’m pinching a quarter between my shoulder blades in the back. He said, “Now hold it for like 10 seconds.” He said, “Do it 10 times every day.” And I’ll tell you what, I have, and my wife has noticed that my posture is better. So that’s a good thing.

All right. So check out the tip here for pushing. The same band. I’m going to put it behind my back, resting right along the elbows. And then what I’m going to do is I’m going to pretend that I’m taking a grip with a golf club, and I’ll do the golf club in a moment. But what I want to do here is I want to exert a pushing force so that I keep the band taught.

Now, what this is going to do, this is a great drill, because it’s going to give me the feeling of how the trunk and the arms work in unison. This is a great stretch. It’s a great warmup for my back swing and for my follow-through, because see, right now, if my arms were to pull in, I’m going to lose that width to the arc. So what this exercise is doing, it’s identifying to me as the player that I need to feel like I’m pushing. I’m sending force from my arms to my hands, into the hands of the golf club, by exerting a push in both the back stroke and again in the follow-through.

And again, you can do this same motion here with a golf club. And then I’m going to show you this drill that we use here at school for the push and extension. So here I am just holding the club and it’s the same thing I’m doing. I’m exerting a push. I am pushing. I am reaching. I am trying to add width in the back stroke. Again, I’m coming through with my trunk rotation. My force is going to go into the earth, not into the air. And then again, I’m pushing. I’m feeling a pushing sensation out away from a body here in the follow-through.

All right. So here’s the drill we do at the school. We’ll take a mid-iron, just say something that’s 6, 7, 6, 7 iron. We move our students from address, then to impact. The same story, if you have no idea where you’re trying to get to, how are you going to get there? At this point, when you’re moving into impact, you’re going to use your right hand, the pressure point of the lifeline on that thumb and apply pressure. The thumb’s resting on the side of the club and that right hand is going to apply pressure to that thumb, down and away from the body. I’m pushing down.

If you hit thin shots and top shots in golf, I can promise you, you are not pushing down. Your club, it is not applying pressure to the ground. And one of the easiest things to do to apply pressure to the ground is simply keep this left arm as soft as possible, like a rope, and make sure coming into impact, you’re using that right hand and arm and pushing down. That will send that club head right to the turf.

So what I’m going to do is I’m going to go from address to impact. I’m going to push down in a swing shot. That golf ball is going to fly right off the face of the club. Again, I’m working on width. Address, impact, take a look, push down the shaft, sling that ball right out away from me into the follow-through. Full extension, both arms straight. It’s an awesome drill for extension, post-impact. I hope it helps you.