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Hands Away from the Shoulders

What did Annika Sorenstam, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods all tell Martin Hall about how to play golf? Keep your hands away from the shoulders.

There’s a big three. There’s a trio for you, isn’t it?

All three of those people said to me, Martin Hall, you must keep your hands away from your shoulders at the end of the backswing and the end of the follow-through.

Big wide swings, Annika called it the alligator arms.

You don’t want to have alligator arms on the backswing or alligator arms on the follow-through. You want to keep your hands away from the shoulders.

So, I’ve got two drills anytime, anywhere.

The first one you can do without a golf club.

It just requires that you take your lead hand, push down, you take your trail hand, push down on your lead thumb, and push. And as you’re making this sort of isometric exercise, you’re pushing the hands as far away from the shoulders as you can.

If you’re on the golf course and you want to do it. Try this. Just put the club on the buttons of your shirt. Stretch your arms as far down as you can take them, and just make a motion where you’ll feel club hands, arms, and shoulders back and through. You’ll get a sense of how the hands stay a certain amount away from the chest.

So, try to keep the hands away from the shoulders throughout the golf swing, both as you go back and as you follow through

Hands away from the shoulders – It worked for Annika, it workout for Tiger, it worked for Jack, and it’ll jolly well work for you.

For more great golf tips go to At the Range.

About Martin Hall

Martin has received numerous awards for his teachings, including Florida chapter teacher of the year, Florida section teacher of the year, and 2008 PGA of America National Teacher of the Year. He is also a Master Professional of PGA of Great Britain and Ireland.