Whenever you make a change in your swing, it feels awkward at first. Whether it’s shoulder turn, extension, swing plane or posture — or some other part of your swing, golfers need to really exaggerate the necessary change in order to make it sink in. It’s so easy to go back to what feels natural, even if that’s not correct. For that reason, exaggerating the change you make might be just what you need to succeed. So go ahead — x-aggerate until your heart’s content. Your coach will let you know when you’ve gone too far. Here are a couple of the most common changes and how you can exaggerate to success.

Shoulder Turn
Women need to rely on their big muscles and proper technique to maximize their distance and improve consistency. Proper shoulder turn is one of these important components. To improve your turn, there are two exaggerations I’d like you to focus on.

Rotation: Usually, turning your shoulders 90 degrees to the target line is recommended. In this case, if you have “under rotated,” then exaggerate the rotation to 120 degrees as shown in the photo to the left. Here you can’t even see the right shoulder. Trust me — I feel like I’ve turned them 150 degrees!

Where’s the Beef?: Remember that saying? In addition to rotation, you want to benefit from weight shift. So let’s get some‘meat’ behind the ball. My favourite saying is: turn into your right side. Even though I feel it’s exaggerated, the weight has only shifted to behind the ball — perfect! Note that the left shoulder is now in line with the right knee. Now that’s a loaded burger!

Extension
Even though golfers know that they want to have long arms and good extension in a golf swing, they seem to pull their arms in and bend them when they should be extending them. The below photo shows exactly that. Maybe it’s a safety net or a comfort zone but one thing for sure — it isn’t from lack of strength.

Therefore women, I’m not letting you off the hook.Young girls of six and older can keep those arms extended and so can you. It’s just a matter of practice and exaggerating. Understand that when you succeed in maximizing the outer arc of your swing through good extension, you will hit the ball solid and in the centre of the golf club which is such a great feeling. Try the following to increase your extension:

i) Take your address, then swing into your back swing position and hold. Now extend your left arm (or right if left handed),to a position that feels exaggerated. Go ahead — overdo it. Your left arm will never feel longer than it does here.



ii) Begin at address, lift your arms and club directly up in front of you to chest high with the club head above your hands. See your extension with your own eyes! Now keep the left arm long and turn into your back swing allowing only the right elbow to bend. Once again, don’t be afraid in exaggerating the feel of extension.

Swing Plane
The path along which the club head travels is known as swing plane. Even though my instruction was limited as a teenager, I remember being told to initiate the back swing inside the target line in order to draw the ball (make it curve from right to left). I did just that. Many years later, when video equipment arrived on the scene — I discovered that I was under the proper plane. This is a common error that many golfers will make, amateurs and professionals alike.

Things to stay away from when trying to achieve proper plane:
• The shaft is across the right hip instead of working up inside the right forearm
• The club head is behind the hands, not in line with them.The problem with this is that it robs you of distance and makes hitting it straight difficult.

In comparison, observe the below photo. It shows an exaggerated upright plane which is what you have to imagine and practice in order to have a correct plane.

Here you see:
• The shaft if bisecting the right collar bone, not the hip
• The club head is above the hands, not behind
• The angle is being set earlier

Some additional phrases that I may use when trying to help a student exaggerate this move:
• Turn the club upside down
• Heavy end above light end
• Hands under the club

Think of those when practicing this.