Instruction
Stickney: Fixing the Spin Out
Over the years, we have seen a resurgence of the argument regarding the bumping or turning of the hips to begin the downswing; however, with the advent of force plates technologies such as BodiTrack and Swing Catalyst, we are finally able to understand more about what happens during the transition.
Over time, using these force plates with the same people helps teachers develop the best and most efficient way their students should move weight transitionally during the swing. Sadly, there is still a ton of poor information floating around regarding how the weight moves and the role it plays on the downswing transition.
As we know from studies, the weight tends to move into the right side during the backswing for most golfers. Because of this action on the backswing, weight has to return to the forward leg or “post” so golfers can control where they impact the ground. This action/reaction of moving weight around does much more than help golfers control their low point, or where the club “bottoms out,” however. It also sets up the downswing chain of events so golfers can hit the ball with effortless power and swing on the correct downswing plane.
What is happening for most golfers who struggle from the top of their backswing? They make some type of rotation into their rear foot, and their weight moves into their right side to some degree.
For the sake of this article, it is not important how much weight moves. From the position shown above, it is important for golfers to move back into their forward post. If not, they will spin-out too early and look like the golfer the photo below. This position can cause several things to occur.
- The low point can move rearward, resulting in weak shots that are rarely hit on the center of the face.
- The path can also shift too much leftward (or rightward, for a left-handed golfer), which creates a problem with face control.
As you can see from the yellow line above, this player didn’t return all his weight to his forward foot quick enough during his transition. For that reason, he is spinning over a spot that is behind his zipper. When the hips don’t bump enough toward “right field” (or left field for a lefty) before they begin spinning, it sets up a throw-out action of the right shoulder from the top shifting the path way to the left.
Above, you can see a down-the-line portion of a golfer’s swing. His hips spun in the transitional phase of the downswing, so his path (the blue line) was shifted -12.2 degrees from out-to-in. When golfers do this, they will also tend to hit down too much on the ball as well, and this is the reason why this golfer’s Angle of Attack (AoA) was -7.6 degrees — way too high for a seven-iron.
So what’s the best way to make sure you bump enough into right field during the transition?
- Put a stick a fist-distance off your left hip socket and practice bumping the stick as you hold your hands at the “top” position of your backswing. This will cause the rear shoulder to fall more downward, rather than outward, to begin the transition.
- From this point it is OK to rotate everything through and into impact pivoting, around your forward post.
This photo above is a great example of how to bump into your left toe during the transition. You can see that the golfer has bumped into the stick (the yellow line I drew), and his hips are pointed into right field. This helps the rear shoulder to move down and to the inside, a key to delivering the club to the ball on plane.
The photo above shows what the golfer would look like from the down-the-line view, and it’s a perfect inside path for this player.
Remember that you must bump your hips a touch before you start the downswing so you can move into and rotate around your forward post. It allows the right shoulder to lower the club down to the inside, and will help gain more consistency through the bag.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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Bob Keane
Jul 25, 2015 at 7:53 pm
Transferring weight left is difficult if the weight gets to the outside of right foot. Nothing to push off. Sway, and then try not to “spin out” or come “over the top”, very difficult.
Ron
Jul 25, 2015 at 2:24 pm
As an engineer and physician, I COMMENT that most golf tips one sees seem to leave out the fact that in the DYNAMIC golf swing(backswing) enough momentum must be produced in the backswing for the lower body(legs and hips) to pull against on the downswing. If enough momentum is produced in the backswing it is much more difficult to overshift onto the left side, but this shift occurs naturally as the momentum of the club tries to hold the (coiled) body back. If one STARTS the backswing almost from the FINISH position, and allows the club swing back and load up the right side, then a very natural and instinctive weight shift occurs to the left side to initiate the downswing. I believe Jack N. has written that he wishes he could start the golf swing from the left side instead of from the static position at address. Unfortunately the ball is in the way! But this makes an excellent pre shot “swing” before hitting the shot and reminds one of the proper timing(synchronization) of the swing just before hitting the shot. I believe I see Jordan Spieth doing this as part of his preshot ritual.(?)
I suggest this ” swing” should done forcefully with the eyes closed(which produces great awareness of body movement and position), as if one actually meant to hit a shot. Then the shot must be hit within 8 seconds! Otherwise the “feel” will be lost. We humans cannot remember the “feel” any longer than 8 seconds.
Your mileage may vary
JMaron
Jul 23, 2015 at 10:54 am
Hi Tom,
Really enjoy your articles.
Worked on this last night and it really helped. I’m a decent golfer (1 handicap). My bad shots are mostly left hooks that start at the target or even left, and the odd shot a little fat. Not sure if this tip was meant to help those problems – but it sure seemed to help. The hook disappeared and I was really flushing it.
Walter Pendleton
Jul 22, 2015 at 3:47 pm
Elementary dear Watson…you are presuming the transfer of energy into the heel or hip or left side will somehow magically square the club face through impact. That my friend is called drinking the Kool-Aid i.e. what happens when you take your bump and post hypothesis to anything but the flat lies you practice religiously? Don’t know? Lets just say the S*% hits the fan because of timing changes, caused by variations in ball positions at address! I’d like to tell you the answer to solve your problem but then I’d have to kill you! FYI – Hogan was a great player…but he didn’t let the cat out of the bag through impact! He let us work that piece of the puzzle out, regarding face repetition, where he found it…on the range! ” If you didn’t bring it with you… you won’t find it out here!” – Ben Hogan
ca1879
Jul 22, 2015 at 2:51 pm
Thanks Tom. That’s the clearest explanation of the “bump”, and how much and when to bump, that I’ve come across yet.
Steve
Jul 22, 2015 at 2:38 pm
Damn, wish i posted this
shabby
Jul 22, 2015 at 1:20 pm
That’s a hack lesson-
Joe
Jul 22, 2015 at 9:32 am
I always worry about “bump” advice, because it can cause some to exaggerate a lateral shift of the hips, and when the lower body goes laterally left (right hander), the upper body has a tendency to hang back on the right and you have to start flipping to save shots or hit a lot of chunks. I understand you account for this by making sure the hip is “going to right field”, but that’s still more of a rotating move than a lateral one. I think the key with this “bump” teaching is to make sure your student doesn’t have some 70’s disco bump image in their mind. For me personally, “clearing” the left hip has been much more useful than “bumping” it.
Steve
Jul 21, 2015 at 8:38 am
This article could be more hurtful then helpful. Bump to far and back shoulder drops to far and you get pops up to the right. This is old news anyway, bump a stick, chair, stool, table. Better off thinking of putting your weight on front heal to start the downswing, the way Jack played. Has teaching runs it’s course? There is nothing new just reruns.
Jack
Jul 20, 2015 at 11:13 pm
I just keep the right knee flexed while rotating back. My legs are pretty stable until impact and follow through where the left knee will straighten to allow for the finish, and the weight is on the left leg. If I can’t go further that’s fine. Don’t need a super long backswing. Then make sure to utilize my core when I am initiating the downswing. A fast rotation of the body generates speed much easier than when I was concentrating on whacking it with my arms.
other paul
Jul 20, 2015 at 9:24 pm
I used to bump that far but it slowed me down a lot. I just rotate hard now and make sure my hips move properly. I was taught that putting weight on a foot doesn’t have to mean posting up on it but simply pushing on the forward leg to get the desired rotation. Many very rotational swingers have a lot of weight on their front foot half way through the downswing that still have their body in the center of their stance (Bubba Watson? I think…) I could be wrong as I am a new student of the golf swing but have played for a few years. I saw a young guy who had 90% of his weight on his front foot when his club was half way back to the ball but looked like he was 50/50.
CD
Jul 20, 2015 at 3:05 pm
A bit more detail would help, easy to get stuck if you overdo it, could shift the baseline way right and get ahead of it if your left shoulder doesn’t separate from your chin, and easy to overdo it. What’s a good shoulder move? Presumably people can only lack enough ‘down’, ‘out’ or forward with the right shoulder and vice versa with left as the pelvis moves laterally initially?