Swing Faults- Early Extension (Hip Thrust)
Anthony Renna, BetterGolfwithFitness.com Blog

When I was at the Titleist Performance Inst in January, I had Dave Philips film my swing. One of the swing faults I had was Early Extension on the downswing.  When the hips and spine go into extension or straighten up too early on the downswing, it is termed Early Extension, and it is part of the Loss of Posture swing fault.  From the down the line view (where the golfer stands between the target and the camera), you can see the hips move towards the ball on the downswing.

Because your body wants to maintain balance at all times, the upper body will lift up as you push forward and stand up.  Early Extension causes a player to feel “stuck” or “trapped” with their arms on the downswing.  I must do this a lot because that is exactly my number one complaint on a lot of my shots.  I feel really uncomfortable as I get closer to impact because my lower body has moved into the space where the arms need to go.   I always figured I was just standing too close to the ball.  Actually, you will Early Extend if you are too far from the ball as your body will move to compensate for the distance.

“The result can be a block or hook as the hands and arms desperately try to deliver the club to the ball,” says Philips. “If you don’t do anything with your hands through impact, you may actually shank some shots because you are closer to the ball then you were at address.”

According to TPI, Early Extension can be caused by:

    * Clubs that are too long
    * Standing too far away from the ball
    * Having too much weight on the heels at address
    * A poor swing path
    * Physical limitations

Because I am a fitness professional, I will go over the physical limitations and what you can do to try to correct them.

Physical Limitations that can cause Early Extension:

• General lower body stiffness, joint immobility or muscle imbalances
• Poor Lead Hip Internal Rotation
• Poor segmental separation of upper and lower body
• Inability to control pelvis
• Weak glute and abs

Over the next couple of days, I will go into more detail about each limitation with some suggestions for corrective exercise. These are just suggestions, there are many ways to try to correct these limitations. Let's start with:

General lower body stiffness, joint immobility or muscle imbalances. (Tested with the Overhead Squat- more on that next week)  This can include poor ankle mobility and calf or hamstring inflexibility.  These limits can prevent proper address position and will force the player to alter spinal posture throughout the swing.

Exercises and stretches you can do before your workout to help gain some mobility and flexibility in the lower body:

Foam Roller
The object of the foam roll is to decrease the density of the muscle and prepare it for stretching.  If a muscle has a trigger point in it, it will not respond well to stretch. Use the foam roller to massage the whole hip area. We want to try to cover as many muscles as possible. I always start my sessions with a foam roller.

Sit on the roller and roll back and forth over the low back and butt.

Cross ankle over knee opposite knee and continue to roll.

Move over onto side and continue to roll over the whole hip area.  Take about 3 minutes doing this.

I really like The Stick Self Massager for the lower leg, I feel it's more user friendly in an area that is more difficult to get with the foam roller.  The same concept applies, try to roll out the whole area, front and back about 1 minute for each leg.

   

With the next 3 exercises, we are trying to develop better calf flexibility and ankle mobility, a big factor in not being able to squat with the proper mechanics, which can lead to compensation patterns in the swing.

Half-Kneeling Calf Stretch
Get into position on one knee, holding golf club 3-6 inches in front of foot. Stay tall throughout the movement and try to touch your knee to the club, keeping the front heel on the ground.  Hold for 2 seconds and repeat 6 times.

Ankle Mobilization
I first learned this from Strength Coach Michael Boyle and it has been extremely helpful getting people to a deeper squat.  Under the pictures are links videos on his site.

This looks like a typical calf stretch of the back leg but we are focusing on the front leg.  Leaning up against the wall in a split stance position and the front foot about 3-6 inches from the wall, try to get the front knee to touch the wall.

Check out Michael Boyle's video of this exercise

Ankle Mobilization Part 2- Put your feet together with your toes elevated and try to bend the knees as much as possible.

 

Check out Michael Boyle's video of this exercise

See how far you can get on both of these.  After you're done, get The Stick out and roll the lower leg again (front and back about 1 minute each). When you are done rolling, try these two ankle mobilization exercises again and see if you can get farther.

Next time, I will give some suggestions on how to try to correct poor hip internal rotation.

Anthony Renna, Titleist CGFI

Anthony is a Certified Golf Fitness Instructor (Titleist) , a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA), and a Sports Performance Coach (USAW)  who works with elite and recreational golfers.  Anthony has been working with golfers for almost 25 years, starting out as a caddie at Century Country Club in Westchester, NY.  He is founder of Five Iron Fitness, a golf-specific personal training company; www.GolfFitnessProducts.net, a resource for all things golf fitness; and www.BetterGolfwithFitness, a blog discussing the current issues in golf fitness. 

Anthony is also the host of the Better Golf with Fitness Podcast.

The articles at GolfFitnessProducts.net are for informational purposes only and are not intended to substitute for direct examination and exercise prescription by the appropriate health professional.  It is strongly recommended that you do not perform any exercise program without the consent of your personal physician.