Shoulder Move in Golf Swing – Downswing Golf Lesson by Herman Williams

For more lessons & tips http://www.hermanwilliamsgolf.com.
In this video golf swing lesson, Herman demonstrates the downswing shoulder move in the golf swing to avoid coming over the top in the downswing. This shoulder move will help you avoid spinning out as you drop the arms and club in the slot on the downswing.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xi2BPgyfZ0

Website link: http://www.hermanwilliamsgolf.com

Herman Williams is a PGA Professional Golf Instructor in North Carolina. Contact him at: http://www.hermanwilliamsgolf.com.

40 thoughts on “Shoulder Move in Golf Swing – Downswing Golf Lesson by Herman Williams

  1. Another great video… Didn’t really think much about this one until I
    started doing it on my own to stop flying my shoulders open… with this
    move you can feel how the leveraging the ground helps the body power into
    this position

  2. I have lots of DVDs and books by some of the biggest teachers in golf and
    NONE of them explain or demonstrate the golf swing as good as Herman. This
    is really Great 

  3. Herman, I study a lot of golf instruction and I always find yours to be
    superb. I suffer from precisely the swing flaw you discuss here. Hence, I
    can shoot 69 one day and 85 the next–very frustrating. I stumbled across
    the fix you suggest here a couple of days ago on the range and the logic
    behind it is pretty inescapable. Most golfers have to tweak the advice they
    receive to fit their physical abilities and/or the way they process
    information, but if they suffer from this problem, you have given them the
    way to cure it. Many thanks for validating what I’m working on. It helps a
    lot to hear it from a fine instructor such as you. 

  4. This is terrible advice – do not tilt your spine backwards! it should be
    the exact opposite – your right shoulder should be attacking the ball at 90
    degrees and then release.

  5. this is just asking to be stuck!!!! no!!! that is horrible movement. this
    guy is a good teacher and has the right idea…but the lower body is
    jacked…the bump happens going into transition….. drop the right
    shoulder WHILE SQUATTING AND TURNING…. belt buckle turning tight in
    between the crease of hips and stomach. i should know….. i went from a 20
    handicap swinging under 100 mph to close to scratch and swinging 115 ….
    in less than 6 months. 

  6. Just what i needed. Im one with very bad muscle memory, and have been
    lokking scientificly at golf swing instead of those with great muscle
    memory that asks me to keep using feeling. Thnx herman. After this move i
    can use my right side to attack the ball and have a minimal draw ball
    trajectory to attack pin, instead of keep fading the ball

  7. Great stuff. The lower body moving first definitely decreased how bad I
    would pull the ball, but it didn’t eliminate it completely and I noticed I
    definitely continued to lose spine angle. Dropping the back shoulder and
    getting that lead shoulder up was definitely what I needed to maintain that
    spine angle. For those who confuse this with standing up just picture the T
    formed with your shoulders and spine. When the T rotates on an angle which
    way does front shoulder go? Back and up. On less of an angle it rotates
    more around to the left (over the top). For me I was flattening my
    shoulders and pulling out low and wide, which would naturally cause my
    spine to raise since the T rotates on less of an angle because the
    shoulders are flat…. Anyway, it was a weird feeling for me at first and I
    still need work, but lower body disassociation with the upper body, and
    dropping the back shoulder is definitely what got me on plane.

  8. To those saying its bad advice, you probably have good weight shift on the
    downswing. But I have exactly the problem shown, and the advice is sound. I
    heard this first on another program and when I tried it, it fixed my out to
    in swing to a large extent, although I still had some problems with hitting
    mid irons thin.

  9. Any attempt at moving my lower body consciously winds up being a failure (I
    get stuck and hit fat shots). The bump turns into a slide, etc etc.

    I know I’m not the only one.

  10. Thanks for commenting Larry. I like most of what you mention here, but if
    you look closely at Tour players you will not see the left shoulder down at
    impact. But this may be a good idea for someone who tends to stand up early
    and back up. The physical move I describe here with right shoulder down at
    impact will generally lead to a lower spine angle with the butt pushed back
    and yes, a squat, not standing up. But you can’t squat forever. The whole
    left side will rotate and straighten to finish.

  11. Understood … it’s definitely a tough game playing 2-handed from the side
    of the ball sitting below us on the ground. There is good history of
    left-handed people playing great right handed golf and vice versa. One
    thing to consider also is the finesse side of the game. If you are
    right-handed and make an underhanded toss more consistently with the right
    hand, some will find it easiest to play the game right-handed for the
    “feel” shots.

  12. I actually tried this left shoulder “up” move as I approached impact and it
    really straightened out my driver. My contact improved quite a bit I felt I
    was making better contact on the sweet spot. When I tried this with other
    clubs not teed up I kept hitting the ball thin and very low but they were
    straight. To compensate I had to squat down on the downswing, to avoid thin
    shots as my left shoulder moves up. Is this compensation correct?

  13. Hello Herman – Thanks, very interesting way to explain the right shoulder
    movement in the downswing, I think this is just what I was looking for to
    help me out. One thing, Tom Watson has something about shoulder rotation &
    downswing & swing plane, he calls his big secret- he found out in 92′ or
    93′. Is what you explain here compatible with Watson’s move ?

  14. Your concerns are valid, and this move may not be necessary for you unless
    you fight going over the top. assuming you are a good candidate for this
    shoulder move think of the right shoulder first moving down, then out and
    finally forward. You are never in one position very long. Hips should pull
    everything around anyway, but I don’t mind sending the chest and shoulders
    once the hands have dropped down to hip area.

  15. Thanks … yes I screwed this one up by accidentally filming in macro mode
    on camera. Sorry for that but can’t edit it and probably won’t have an
    opportunity to reshoot it.

  16. I’d say so. These things are sometimes hard to communicate in words, but
    there is also some additional side-bending in the mid and upper spine prior
    to the forward “underneath” rotation of the chest.

  17. Thats a awesome thing to try ! Gona do it today ! Im currently a 3 HCP but
    feel i can play better ! I have been hitting every fairway but coming to mi
    irons shots it seems im puching the way right and missing the greens ! I
    have 5.0 rifle shafts which i think is the problem. Think the club is way
    behind before impact and causing a push . I will do a video response of my
    swing so you can see if im doing something wrong (if you get time to do
    so). Keep up the good work love your videos !!!

  18. Thanks so much for the quick response. So does keeping the right elbow bent
    mean just delaying the straightening of the right arm maybe a fraction of
    second longer. Also, does the straightening of the right arm occur just
    after right shoulder has dropped to its lowest point?

  19. Herman, Love your videos and explanations. How you do avoid fat shots with
    this move? Holding the waiter’s tray position. Certainly, if you early
    extend the right wrist you will hit the ground. Please explain. Mike (from
    your blog)

  20. It’s unlikely you’ll overdo it too much if this is a foreign move to you.
    But i recommend looking for the left side of your body to “post up” tall in
    the finish, not sagging with excessive knee drive too long in the finish.
    Also try to keep your head steady on downswing … just let mostly your
    lower half move targetward. Good luck. – Herman

  21. Excellent advice…so many know not to come over the top and initiate d
    swing from ground but get caught out pulling and shanking and fading
    everything because they can’t disassociate as well as pros…he is spot on
    that simple left hip advice doesn’t cut it for this with less flexibility
    upper to lower body…most golf tips are the equivalent of malpractice in
    medicine…prescription without diagnosis….thank you

  22. I am a student of the game so you can take my info or leave it. Most
    instructors will tell you to either swing straight back and straight
    through. Here’s something you can experiement with; Take the clubhead
    slightly to the outside(don’t over do it). As you do this, it’s usually
    instinctive to move the clubhead back to the inside, creating a slight loop
    in the swing…That’s the easiest way I know of to create the proper swing
    path and that’s roughtly what Trevino did…Experiement!!

  23. That’s a lot to respond to, but I like the lead arm definitely riding high
    on top of chest as you see in my setup video. I’m not sure I want “taught”
    arms but I like the lead arm firm to maintain wide swing arc in backswing.
    Brace your trailing leg inward on backswing to easily push off. This should
    help with clearing. Otherwise you might consider working on core rotation
    exercises in gym environment.

  24. It is a little more applicable to one-plane swings, but will help any
    player who fights going over the top due to shoulders spinning outward. A
    2-planer should try to hold the chest back or face the ball longer as the
    arms drop in downswing if this shoulder move described here seems too
    awkward.

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