Ask Mike // Shoulders Stay Level In Pitching and Chipping

This question or comment comes to us from Steven Ireland and he makes a good point because this is the deal he says when I put my hands on the club, so if I take my grip and I'm going to put my right hand on the club because my right hand is lower on the club than my left, my right shoulder is not going to be slightly lower, yes, a little, but when I prepare because of what I do with the angle of my spine, especially when

chipping

and throwing, my right shoulder It's not exactly the same height as my left, but it's pretty close because I'm leaning more this way because I want my swing to bottom out further in front of the ball.

Now one of the key things when you look here when I hit a little chip shot wherever my right shoulder starts at address when I come back when I run the club towards the ball my right shoulder is no closer to the ground than when I started If my right shoulder is getting closer to the ground then there are a lot of things that have to change. It happens to prevent the club from hitting the ground first, so it's more important than shoulder

level

, which I want you to set when we prepare to take a shot. launch.

I want you on your left side and position it more this way now because I tilt my body. This way you can see now, even though my right hand is lower on the club, my right shoulder is closer to the

level

of my left and then when I swing, I feel like my right shoulder

stay

s up, so it feels like my right shoulder

stay

s up, it doesn't. low and see, that's the key: your right shoulder when you swing once you're set up and if there's a little bit of tilt it's not bad. What I don't like is when I see people do this when their

shoulders

are so bent. and their head to the right of the ball and then they swing and lower even further under it, so you want to be as level as possible and you want your right shoulder to feel like it's just going back to where it was. started and stays level through the ball instead of going down and under, so it feels like it stays level now there are many terms that many players have used them.

I'm not going to use them because they can be more confusing than they seem. It helps, but you just don't want this in the setup, I can't tell you how much it hurt me in my career when they told me, okay, you're going to do a chip shot, you set up, this is what you do, you move your weight. to your left foot so I move my weight to my left foot keep your head level or to the right of the ball so this is where I was so I was trying to chip shots and then that's also when I pushed your legs , so use your knees, then what would happen?

Well, I'd keep hitting and punting back here and then learn how to run my arms up or put the ball back as soon as someone explains to me, wait, wait. Wait a minute, yes, you want to drop your weight, but do it this way. My weight is on my left foot. If I were to lift my right foot, what would I do if I couldn't move my hips and my upper body leaned forward a little? so I went there, I set up here and then I kept my right shoulder up, so now all of a sudden, boom, the club can hit the ball, this is how you prepare and how this shoulder doesn't go down and your head doesn't move . behind the ball that causes your swing to bottom out too soon there is a little bit of tilt yes, with most players there is a little bit, but you would be surprised how many tour players, if you watch them on television, get up to perform a little pitch, look at how they level their

shoulders

even though their right hand is lower on the club than their left, that's because of how the angles of their spine lean and how they're using that to make the circle of the club and the stick touch bottom correctly.