Shift, Turn, Shift, Turn

That is the proper sequence in a golf swing.

When you shift first, it helps you rotate at the proper angle so you don’t get too far inside too quickly and be forced over the top.

You shift your weight to the right and you turn. Then you shift your weight to the left and turn again.

The part I see screwed up the most is the 3rd part. Most people don’t shift to the left to start the downswing.

I like the idea of the hips shifting left till they won’t shift left any more, then they turn.

Some people will say, “I just do that, I can’t think about it.”

That is where I seem to differ from most people. Some people say they can’t think about any movements, while others have and promote multiple thought checklists.

Here is how I see it. When you play golf, you want a minimum of thoughts and hopefully zero conscious physical movements. However, if you have an issue you want to make better, how else can you fix it, other than thinking about it? That is why working on one thing at a time is ideal. You focus on that issue on the range and figure out what feel produces the desired change. In time, that change is ingrained and your body does it without conscious effort.




  1. Calvin

    “Shift back” leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

    You can shift the hips back parallel to the target line; I see a lot of that. You can just turn over the hip joint. You can slide the hip toward the right heel which I prefer. You can roll the upper body over to the right. Combinations thereof. In your case you know the proper movement for “shift back” but some of us need a little more.

    • Monte Scheinblum

      The answer is they are all correct if it gets you in a good spot to attack the ball from.

    • woody

      Good comment by Calvin.

      Probably most instructors know what they MEAN–but finding the exact words that are interpretation-proof is very, very hard.

      • Monte Scheinblum

        There is no such things as universally interpretation proof on anything involving the golf swing.

        Which is why I repeat the same 5 things as many ways as I can think of, so everyone gets some idea.

        I give a lesson the same way. I talk to the person until I am sure they know exactly what I mean.

        This is again why a lesson should focus on a very few things…setup fundamentals and one swing idea.

  2. SnowDale

    Reminds me of some stuff I think it was Billy Andrade was talking about on TGC. It was the Reno/Tahoe open, and he was saying that one of the leaders is working with Chris Connell an Jim Hardy.

    One of the exercises they had him work on was to have a wall behind him, swing back so that his right butt cheek is on the wall, then move that point of contact along the wall to the left, and keep it there as long as he could. When he didn’t do that the hips went under him and no telling where the ball ended up.

  3. jak_bot

    Once again this blog was like reading something that Alex Morrison would say. If you have not already, I suggest getting his book, A New Way to Better Golf. You would probably enjoy it.



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