Right shoulder up or down?

[ole gray]

For me, I find that I hit much better tee shots with my right shoulder more up or level when striking the ball.  If I drop the right shoulder I have more of a tendency to hook or pull the ball.. What are your thoughts?

[tommc23]

When in a lesson once I was told I had too much of a dip with my right shoulder. I hit the ball very high and very far right. If my stance is at level shoulders I can hit it both ways.

 

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[ole gray]

When in a lesson once I was told I had too much of a dip with my right shoulder. I hit the ball very high and very far right. If my stance is at level shoulders I can hit it both ways.

 

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Yep me too....  If I dip the right shoulder too much, it get's ugly

[tommc23]

Yep me too.... If I dip the right shoulder too much, it get's ugly

Same here. I do my best to stay level I'm glad it's not just me.

 

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[PlaidJacket]

I think people get too hung up on this positioning. Think about it... for a right-hand golfer; just by placing your hands on the club and taking a normal stance - your right shoulder will be slightly lower. Same if you're a lefty. I don't think you need to exaggerate that position one way or another. Just take what falls into place naturally.

Try this.... take a golf stance and face a mirror putting your palms together. Now slide your right hand down like where your hand would be on a club. You right shoulder will move lower. It has to. Otherwise you're forcing a position that isn't natural by trying to keep your shoulders level. 

[revkev]

I think people get too hung up on this positioning. Think about it... for a right-hand golfer; just by placing your hands on the club and taking a normal stance - your right shoulder will be slightly lower. Same if you're a lefty. I don't think you need to exaggerate that position one way or another. Just take what falls into place naturally.

Try this.... take a golf stance and face a mirror putting your palms together. Now slide your right hand down like where your hand would be on a club. You right shoulder will move lower. It has to. Otherwise you're forcing a position that isn't natural by trying to keep your shoulders level.

I agree although I suspect that this is a case of “feel” being misleading - often times folks think things are happening in their swing because of how it feels when quite the opposite is true.

 

Hence the need for a teacher and video if possible.

 

 

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[ole gray]

I think people get too hung up on this positioning. Think about it... for a right-hand golfer; just by placing your hands on the club and taking a normal stance - your right shoulder will be slightly lower. Same if you're a lefty. I don't think you need to exaggerate that position one way or another. Just take what falls into place naturally.

Try this.... take a golf stance and face a mirror putting your palms together. Now slide your right hand down like where your hand would be on a club. You right shoulder will move lower. It has to. Otherwise you're forcing a position that isn't natural by trying to keep your shoulders level. 

 

I agree there should be some shoulder tilt however I have a tendency to duck hook the ball off the planet . Keeping my shoulders in check helps me to find more fairways.

 

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[Canucklehead]

I have this issue as well. Was trying to compensate by a dramatized over the top to make it go somewhat straight or even when I needed to hit a fade, but when I consciously keep my shoulders relatively level I'm much better. Get a little lazy sometimes though

 

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[Canucklehead]

 

Me at address before I started making some changes

 

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[DaveP043]

Me at address before I started making some changes

 

I think the camera angle may be a bit misleading, but my first impression is that the ball is pretty far back in your stance, especially for a driver.  I'd suggest that you look closely at that, after double-checking the camera position.  With a ball back in the stance, you'd be prone to come into impact from the inside, and pretty steep, producing lots of backspin and some potentially big hooks.

Because your shoulders turn around an inclined axis (your spine is leaning forward), as you rotate through the ball your lead shoulder will naturally work upward and away from the ball, while your trail (right for most of us) shoulder will naturally be working downward and toward the ball.  At impact, your hips should be substantially more open than they were at address.  Your shoulders should be less rotated than your hips, but still more open than at address.  Feeling that the shoulders are "level" through the ball is just that, a feeling, but almost certainly not a true position in a good golf swing.  If that feeling works for you,  that's great!

[Canucklehead]

I think the camera angle may be a bit misleading, but my first impression is that the ball is pretty far back in your stance, especially for a driver. I'd suggest that you look closely at that, after double-checking the camera position. With a ball back in the stance, you'd be prone to come into impact from the inside, and pretty steep, producing lots of backspin and some potentially big hooks.

Because your shoulders turn around an inclined axis (your spine is leaning forward), as you rotate through the ball your lead shoulder will naturally work upward and away from the ball, while your trail (right for most of us) shoulder will naturally be working downward and toward the ball. At impact, your hips should be substantially more open than they were at address. Your shoulders should be less rotated than your hips, but still more open than at address. Feeling that the shoulders are "level" through the ball is just that, a feeling, but almost certainly not a true position in a good golf swing. If that feeling works for you, that's great!

Yeah was trying to get a head on, but didn't work out too well. Ball is just inside my left instep with the driver. What you said is 100% right, it's more of a feeling of being more level than what I was doing in this shot that has helped.

 

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[fozcycle]

I picked up an add'l 10 yards when I started dropping my right shoulder at address. I read an article in an old GD mag and bought into the increased angle of attack thing. Now, a year later, I still believe it. I am straighter and higher launching than before.

 

 

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[StrokerAce]

stop swaying off the ball and changing that spine angle - get your shoulders tilted and hit it straight and far...

 

 

https://www.golftec.com/blog/2018/04/want-to-drive-like-justin-thomas/

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

I agree although I suspect that this is a case of “feel” being misleading - often times folks think things are happening in their swing because of how it feels when quite the opposite is true.

 

Hence the need for a teacher and video if possible.

 

 

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Exactly. Feel vs real are two different things in the golf swing.

 

Throughout a proper golf swing there is going to be a combo of forward bend and both right and left bend. There's a fine line between the right amount and too little or too much. When looking at the best in the world at contact they have some side bend with a bent trail elbow

[StrokerAce]

Exactly. Feel vs real are two different things in the golf swing.

 

Throughout a proper golf swing there is going to be a combo of forward bend and both right and left bend. There's a fine line between the right amount and too little or too much. When looking at the best in the world at contact they have some side bend with a bent trail elbow

 

There's also a fine line between right and left "bend" and right and left sway....

[TWar]

Natural set up with driver for a righty (ball off of left heel) will naturally dip the right shoulder as the right hand has to reach across the body.  I feel when my set up with my shoulders is too flat (parallel with ground) I have a harder time controlling the ball.  Placing too much spin because of a negative-ish (lower) angle of attack.  With a slightly dipped right shoulder, I tend to have better control with hitting the ball higher on the club face and on a positive AoA.  

 

All in all its your swing.  Find what does right by you.  

[RickyBobby_PR]

There's also a fine line between right and left "bend" and right and left sway....

For sure and for the most part any sway is bad

[StrokerAce]

Natural set up with driver for a righty (ball off of left heel) will naturally dip the right shoulder as the right hand has to reach across the body. I feel when my set up with my shoulders is too flat (parallel with ground) I have a harder time controlling the ball. Placing too much spin because of a negative-ish (lower) angle of attack. With a slightly dipped right shoulder, I tend to have better control with hitting the ball higher on the club face and on a positive AoA.

 

All in all its your swing. Find what does right by you.

Impact position != Starting position

 

Fair point but your tilt is crucial at impact.... even if you're natural position is a certain way at setup.

 

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[Shankster]

I just Wing it. If I'm off I'll try to steer it back on course.

 

I've been using a single ball position for every club. Helps with consistency. About a ball width inside left heel. Widening my stance and “setting” my right leg, this lowers my shoulder evenly as my stance progressively gets wider.

[Gg Owen]

This is all a reaction to your swing path into the ball.Excessive inside to out swingers have more tilt.This is a reaction to accomdate the inside to out swing path.Where as a over the top outside to in golfer will have level shoulder and little to no tilt.Just fixing shoulder tilt can be an disaster without addressing the reason it really is happening

[StrokerAce]

This is all a reaction to your swing path into the ball.Excessive inside to out swingers have more tilt.This is a reaction to accomdate the inside to out swing path.Where as a over the top outside to in golfer will have level shoulder and little to no tilt.Just fixing shoulder tilt can be an disaster without addressing the reason it really is happening

I was thinking it was more of an awareness versus a correction...

 

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[Gg Owen]

I was thinking it was more of an awareness versus a correction...

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Your getting caught up in syntax babble.Address the true reason.Golf is a reactionary sport at any level.It is all about finding the correct match ups that work well for you individually.

[Golfbeat]

The right shoulder should go down, out and forward. It is the lack of out and forward which brings the pushes and hooks into play because your arms will be crashing into your body if your right shoulder just goes down and not also out and forward.

[Nmrfgomes]

Natural set up with driver for a righty (ball off of left heel) will naturally dip the right shoulder as the right hand has to reach across the body.  I feel when my set up with my shoulders is too flat (parallel with ground) I have a harder time controlling the ball.  Placing too much spin because of a negative-ish (lower) angle of attack.  With a slightly dipped right shoulder, I tend to have better control with hitting the ball higher on the club face and on a positive AoA.  

 

All in all its your swing.  Find what does right by you.  

 

 

That works for me, left shoulder up at driving but flat when hitting irons.

[danielS]

Dear friends in Golf:

I think right shoulder will be way down compared to left shoulder. This will promote a solid ball striking,  And this is just a natrual way when we reach the contact point and hit the ball.   Down.  I'd like to recommend that right shoulder  be down from the addressing.  Drop the right shoulder, and a lot of good things will happen.  Thanks.