Swaying is a leading cause of the biggest and most common swing faults, often leading to the rage-inducing topped shot that can so quickly derail your round.
Understanding how to effectively rotate in the golf swing, and combining that with a well-rehearsed rhythm and tempo is a great remedy to improve your ball striking. In this article, Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Josh Mayo shares his expert tips and outlines a great drill that will help you to embed good habits...
How To Prevent Swaying In The Golf Swing
Some golfers have a tendency to move, or ‘sway’, off the ball as here. Sometimes it’s because of an eagerness to wind up and hit it hard; other golfers hear ‘transfer your weight’ and think this is what needs to happen. However, this lateral swaying moves the bottom of the swing arc behind the ball at impact.
See, in the image above, how an upper body sway causes you to move off the centre line. The line through my sternum and my nose has moved away from the centre line. From here, a lot of golfers panic in the downswing as they realise that staying behind the ball will lead to thins and tops. They know they have to get back to the ball, which means they often end up throwing the upper body and arms at it, and throwing the upper body like that leads to a lack of power and efficiency.
Pop an alignment stick in a range bucket, so you have a similar set-up to the one in the image below. Angle the stick so it’s pointing slightly towards you as you lean forwards in your golf posture. With a club across your chest, just work on getting into this rotated position.
Feel the weight shifting into the middle of the trail foot by rotating the shoulders (and hips to a lesser degree) away from the target, instead of sliding or swaying. Rehearsing this move again and again can be a really effective way to groove the right feelings and rid your game of the destructive sway.
It’s especially focused because there is no ball or ‘hit’ involved, which means you can concentrate solely on rotating your shoulders properly around that axis. If you can embed these good habits in the rehearsal, you will see the results in your golf swing when it counts.
