This article was machine-translated from the Korean original. Read the Korean original
If you want to hit better shots and lower your score, you must check your backswing. Why is the backswing important? People usually focus a lot on the downswing and impact, but in fact, these are determined to some extent by the backswing. The downswing is the result, while the backswing is the cause. Once the downswing begins, there isn't much you can control at that moment. Therefore, if you want to fix your downswing, you must correct your backswing first.
Let me give you a few examples of incorrect backswings. If your left knee juts forward and your left shoulder shifts along with it, your weight remains on the left side. This causes your weight to shift to the right during the downswing, resulting in an upward swing and preventing you from hitting a downblow. If you start the backswing using only your arms while keeping your upper body too fixed, your hands tend to spread outward at the top, making compensatory movements likely to occur. Even if your body and club start well, if your upper body rotation stops and only your arms continue to lift, the path of the club head becomes poor, causing deviations in the ball's trajectory.
01Even if the swings are all different, the upper body rotation must be the same.
Just as no two people look exactly alike, everyone's swing is different. Even if you look at golf twins, their swings and playing styles are completely different. Even professional golfers who hit the ball exceptionally well have swing shapes that vary from person to person. However, there is one thing they all have in common: they rotate their upper bodies sufficiently.
There is a standard for checking this. You need to rotate enough so that the logo on your back is visible when viewed from behind. As long as your left shoulder returns to its original position, it is okay to rotate further than that. However, I often see amateur golfers whose front of their upper body remains visible even after they think they have completed their backswing. This is a sign that there is a significant lack of rotation.
02It's okay to have one quirky image.
Ever since I was a junior, I kept in mind a side profile photo of Tiger Woods at the top of his swing, with his left shoulder tucked sufficiently under his chin, and I tried to emulate that posture. In terms of physical sensation, I imagine the upper body above the belt line as a plastic bottle cap. I create rotation by twisting the cap to tighten it. This is purely my own personal image. If it feels comfortable for you to start with, it is not a wrong method, even if it looks a bit odd to others. Finding an image that suits you is also a good practice.
03But why isn't it rotating well?
I believe the reason amateur golfers struggle with rotation is often due to the mindset that they must keep their bodies too rigid, rather than a lack of flexibility. In fact, I don't try to hold my lower body still when I swing, but amateur golfers who watch my swing tell me that I control my lower body very well. On the contrary, I try to use my lower body boldly during the backswing.
There is a structural reason for this. Although the normal rotation range of the five lumbar vertebrae is said to be about 10 degrees, it is reported that almost no one actually rotates that much. This is because the lateral joints are vertical, so even if one attempts to rotate, they get caught and cannot. The lumbar spine is a bone that hardly rotates.
The actual rotation occurs in the thoracic spine in the back, but even the thoracic spine cannot rotate much if the pelvis is held in place. If you try rotating only your upper body while holding your lower body in place right now, you will immediately feel that you cannot rotate sufficiently. Therefore, there is a specific sequence. The pelvis opens first to open up the body, followed by the rotation of the thoracic spine, and finally, the rotation is completed as the right shoulder blade pulls from behind and the left shoulder blade pushes forward. If you try to force rotation on the lumbar spine, which hardly rotates at all, it places a significant strain on the body and can lead to injury.
04Then, where should I turn it?
The answer is the pelvis. Just as you open your left pelvis after impact, you should comfortably open your right pelvis when lifting the club during the backswing. The pelvis must open properly for the rotation above it to proceed smoothly and as much as desired.
05Shoulders, pelvis, knees — the body's three tires
Imagine three flat, cylindrical tires placed side by side. If even one of them is misaligned, the remaining tires cannot rotate properly and instead become misaligned and damaged. In our bodies, the shoulders, pelvis, and knees are these three tires. These three must rotate together in the same direction for the rotation to continue smoothly until the very end.
Many people who frequently slice try to hit a draw by forcing a smooth swing path with their hands. However, if your upper body rotates sufficiently, that path is created naturally. For the hands and club to be square during the takeaway, they need to be positioned slightly inside the target line; if the pelvis is blocked and does not open, the hands and club will either move outward or be forced to be pulled inward. The role of the pelvis is to create the path for the hands and club to enter the square position properly—much like a manager guiding you to your seat at a restaurant.
06How far can I open it?
You can open your body boldly, trusting that your soles are firmly planted on the ground. Structurally, your knees and pelvis are prevented from rotating as much as your shoulders unless you lift your feet. If you open your body trusting the tilt of your upper body and the fact that your soles are in contact with the ground, your pelvis will naturally stop at the point where it catches. The heel-up exercise, which many people practice these days, works on the same principle. Your body needs to move sufficiently to the right for your heels to lift naturally; forcing your heels up without any rotation is not the real move.
07Takeaway requires a trigger.
While we have discussed how the backswing is the cause of the downswing so far, there is also a movement where the backswing itself becomes the result. That is the takeaway. Many people make the mistake of suddenly forcing the club up, but doing so inevitably makes the entire swing rhythm stiff.
Golfers with a good swing don't suddenly lift the club. Instead, they have a small signal—a trigger—that they give to their body before starting the swing. This could be slightly pushing their hands forward and then bringing them back, slightly pushing their knees forward and then bringing them back, or slightly shifting their weight to the right and then bringing it back. I start by slightly shifting my weight to the right, while Sungjae Im starts by slightly bending and straightening his knees. It doesn't matter what form it takes. Having your own trigger helps with a stable backswing.
In fact, when I ask people with really good swings what their feel is like, there are times when they explain things that even I can't quite understand. So, if it suits you well and feels comfortable, it doesn't matter if the method looks a bit strange or eccentric. Regardless of the feeling, as long as it gives you a good start, there is no wrong method.
08Today's Homework — Check with Alignment Stick
This is a practice method to visually check if the upper body rotation you learned today is being performed correctly. You will need two alignment sticks; if you don't have any, you can substitute them with any stick-shaped object you have at home.
- One stick is on the belt lineInsert the stick at hip height to secure it.
- One stick on the shoulderAlign the two sticks so they are horizontally aligned.
- Place your body to the sideIt's okay if you don't actually hit the ball.
- Rotate and check if the two lines are parallelThe key is whether they are moving in the same direction together.
It is also helpful to be aware of common mistakes made during this exercise. These include dropping the pelvis while rotating, and intentionally dropping the left shoulder due to a misunderstanding of the instruction that "the left shoulder should be low at the top." Doing so leads directly to an incorrect pattern where the previously placed left knee moves forward and the left shoulder tilts, inevitably putting strain on the left knee.
Simply repeating the process of creating this movement and checking that the two lines are parallel, without hitting the ball, gradually inputs the correct direction of rotation into your body. Changing your swing doesn't happen overnight; it is a change that occurs through the consistent repetition of this process of creating and verifying the movement.
