For many decades I’ve asked and searched for this. I don’t know why it became such a hard question to answer or why someone didn’t teach the answer but that’s what happened. Now, thanks to you, I have the answer therefore I can now practice the correct way, forget about shanking and never worry about squaring the club face. Excellent job and congratulations on having the guts to relay the proper information!
This is the MOST important to learn for a 25hcp player like me. I have watched Rick Shiels, Gogorno's, Russel Heritage etc. videos but this was the game changer, it truly was. I was almost quitting the game but luckily I found this video. Trust me, it works!
Exactly. My game has fallen apart lately. Huge duck hooks because I’m rotating the club face too much. It feels like I’m trying to hook a bowling ball. This is what I’m taking to the range.
@malaskagolf, I can't subscribe to this channel fast enough. Let me state, this video might just be the single best video ever on the secret to a golf swing. Toe-up to toe-up (aka palm up to palm down through impact) has been incorrectly taught at every driving range in America for decades. Malaska is 100% right on being palm down before impact, not palm up. Pay this man his money.
Pretty much what I teach my students, Mike. I use the "Medicus Hinged 5 Iron" and try to have them understand why the hinge breaks sometimes and why it doesn't. They learn that as long as you apply an up and down force to the hinge, it will never break. However, the minute you roll your wrists or forearms, the shaft breaks. Next we think about keeping the hands more or less in front of the body at all times and THE LEADING EDGE of the Medicus parallel with the spine so as they take the club back, their wrists are also cocking upwards in a smooth motion until their wrists are fully cocked at the top and the right wrist is bent back holding a tray of drinks. From there, the move is DOWN and not at the ball. The arms drop, the leading edge of the iron stays parallel with their spine and their body twists around to the left while keeping their hands in front of their body (actually right hip) as the turn into impact and then..Within about ten swings they learn to time the twisting with the arms and at impact their club face is square to the target line because it is really never not square. I try to get them to keep turning to the left and hold the finish for three seconds. I just had a middle-aged gal yesterday who rolled all of her warm up shots along the ground and 45 degrees right. By the time we were through with the lesson she was hitting her Pitching Wedge with a very baby draw 105 yards...which she has never done in her life. This method works with everyone...so far...and it works really well.
Sir this much better information you are giving but completely contradictory to a video I watched of you dated 6 years ago. I have been a strength coach for over 30 years and have been instructing baseball for around 20 and have been professing the the likeness of the 2 as Mr Hogan believed. The problem I see with instructors of both golf and baseball is the lack of understanding that the spine is the primary mover of the body and the torso is 60% of the body’s mass and together they are responsible for moving the smaller muscle groups. Everyone is trying to manipulate the bat or club with the arms and hands which are not good providers of power or consistency. Mr Hogan understood this and far too many instructors are misinterpreting what he actually was doing. Nice video👍
I recall Mike Dunnaway demonstrating this wrist idea with a model airplane years ago. Worth it for those who like this video to look up. I found this vid to be very helpful.
Right wrist extension with minimal forearm rotation and wrist hinge explained here is the best tip ever . Uncomplicated. Also , using the lead leg to push the lead hip back in the downswing as opposed to firing both hips . Gold . These two tips have improved my downswing immensely . I am enjoying the game once again. Thanking you , Mike .
As a lefty who plays righty this is the best description of how to use your right side I have ever seen. Took up the game in college 35 years ago and have had multiple lessons and know one ever explained the right arm, hand and wrist like this. This might be your single best instruction video ever... This has completely changed my ball striking with every club in the bag. I finally know how to use my right arm!
This video completely changed my ball striking in two days. I had done tons of work on other areas of my swing but was delivering the face open at impact... I started closing my face on the backswing and I just had the best ball striking session ever! Jeez... the feeling of those flushed irons was so good that I got addicted to it. I can't wait to go again tomorrow. Thanks Mike and Eric!
Mike, you nailed it when you said to swing with a lot of forearm rotation and hit it good you "Had to slow down!" Same here and timing is so much more prevalent as well. I could hit the ball good but became a punching Judy and my coach at the time told me, "You will never play on any tour because you don't hit it far enough!" Little did I realize then it was him that change my natural move much like yours. Changing my natural swing and ability ended up limiting my potential and caused me many years of grief and anguish. I actually quit playing for 20 years. I won't mention his name but he has coached a Master's Champion.
yep, grew up with that wrist roll school of thought. could never hit it straight consistently. tried this method and the ball goes so straight I don't even have to think about it. mike your hands waving back and forth is the easiest swing thought I could ask for. thanks for your great vids.
Mike and Eric - This is one of the best release lessons of Golf on the internet and an instant improvement.. I have struggled with the release because the Medicus swing trainer ingrained the roll the wrist action in me..
Great video guys! I seem to be more consistent with the lead hand in more of a neutral grip. When I strengthen it, I start over drawing and hooking the ball. Bye the way, beautiful backdrop!!
It has taken me awhile, and I mean good long while, to understand this "clubface is 90 degrees to your swing arc" concept. I still had the hooks and double-crosses (clubface manipulation). But when you get it, and then do it, it will surprise you; like "now hold on there...did I just do that?". Its spooky and exciting at the same time. What did it for me was thinking about how a catapult works. Catapults don't twist, they throw...they throw, THEY THROW. So...STOP TWISTING your wrist and forearms and let your body parts work. I put to the test in my last few rounds and it works for me. But if you continue to twist and manipulate the the clubface, like I was still doing in the past; the hooks and pushes will show up at the most inopportune times when you timing gets off. Now I have a better understanding of both my good and not so good shots and why they occur. Thank you Mike Malaska! -Arthur Harvey, Owasso, Oklahoma
2:40 is gold 👉Back swing like Tiger Woods. At beginning of takeaway, I put little force on inside left foot and femur area(stability). When abt to complete backswing, as my upperbody is inclined a bit to the right, i bend over a bit towards the ball at the same time my left hip starts to push back movement (straight line forces). Then left hip is out of the way and I can do Malaskas 👉 "hands down club head out" creating tremendous amount of club head speed. I feel my hands and grip going in between my legs. (Of course is a feeling) I don't feel turning hips at any point. Because "turning " is a consequence and not the cause. Just feel straight line forces of push back and push back of the hips. Finally I figured it out.🙌💯👊🥳 Obs: Do not work on position picture only, work on whole movement with forces applied. Im hitting straight 45° flying balls 150yds Pw. It's been 2 months since i understood this Malaska movement and I'm happy almost crying when I'm hitting those perfect irons like a pro! Malaska is the best..
This is an Ah Ha moment video for me. I rotate the face through impact and my struggle is inconsistency. I’m a 5 hcp but I know if I could only figure out how to implement this minimal face rotation I could go scratch. Can you make more videos on this and drills specific to baby step this?
The throwing examples you use are very helpful, but what do the wrists do when HITTING a baseball? That would seem to be a better comparison to the golf swing.
So much has to do with personal joint movement. My forearms are naturally more internally rotated. So there is more flexibility in my right wrist when throwing, shooting, or playing golf. It took my a lot of years fighting myself to learn that. We’re all constructed a little differently, so there are no absolutes in the golf swing
Like hitting the ball with a tennis racket. Makes sense. Instead wasted a lesson on them trying to teach me to use my left arm to pull club into out and side bend which made no sense trying to put it together. It’s just like swinging a hammer. Keep it simple. Thanks Mike
Really great information. Next week another instructor with another approach that isn’t exactly the same. So we get lots of options. No wonder at least for me “confusion”. Or maybe find one that fits your skill set and athletic ability?
Thanks Mr. Malaska I am 82 years old shot 2 over 38 , nine holes just doing what you teach. I discover by hit and trial. Do you think lower body must shift 6-8 inches toward the target to square the club face.
How do you get the club in that closed position at P6 though is my issue? I follow all the steps in the backswing but in a full speed downswing my P6 position is open. I feel like it has to be either wrist or forearm rotation to help close the club from the top of the backswing down into P6.
Ironic this pops up when I just started experimenting with a very similar thing. My right wrist had a bad break and I can't bend it back very far. I was trying pitch shots back of left hand staying facing down. Seemed to prevent cupping and I could hit 60-70yard 48* wedge shots 5 balls within a few yards of each other. I'll watch this again before I go hit balls.
Is the release of the right hand a conscious move during which muscular force is applied in order to make it happen, or is it more a reaction to the weight of the clubhead swinging through the ball?
That statement at 13:00 mark... I can 100% say thats true...I have trouble fanning the club open in the backswing...then it comes down open in this position and I have to time a flip at the bottom, I've worked out that its my trail hand causing the issue...when I'm on form I can shoot 80-85 when I loose it...90+ I've now adopted a Tony finau style grip. Weak lead hand with the trail hand more under and that gets me taking the club around without turing it. Doesn't matter how strong I get my lead hand grip, trail hand just opens it up if its not around and more under...
Was always taught to have more of a roll release and struggled with consistency as you point out. All clubs,majority having club face closed to path at impact. Tried this and can definitely hit it more consistently,but lose about 20 yards of distance with a 7 iron. With lose wrists and shoulders,how do you add speed without creating tension in those two primary lever points?
For me the right wrist hinge has a mix of extension (bending back) and radial deviation (thumb hinging up). Just having the feel of extension doesn't work for me. I have the feel of hinging the right wrist this way as soon as I take the club back. It really is a more natural move for me. There is no feel of rotation at all. I also use a 4 knuckle grip on my left hand. The throwing action release happens naturally as well. The right hand releases naturally from the momentum of the club thru the ball. No holding off anything. Let it go.
Four years ago you produce the video teaching L2L. That certainly is the opposite of this video. I don’t understand which one is better? do you still teach L2L or should I give up that method for this one
I understand what you are saying but I can not find one player who has the club face square to the swing arc, they are all slightly or very open at P6 including Mike Malaska frozen at 4.30. Obviously the face squares up after P6. Jones, Locke, Hogan (as you said), Moe Norman were all toe up, even toe back, at P6. Mickelson, DeChambeau, Finau and all the long drive experts are all toe up or back. So, is this more of a feeling to aspire to? I favour a free-swinging approach for most, leave it to the fit, young, gym-trained to go for lag, forward shaft lean, spine-crunching manipulations to get their 120mph swing speed. They won't be winning like Mickelson at 50.
I always have the same question that's unclear to me. Are you consciously and forcefully throwing the club with the right hand? Most coaches I've followed teach no, the club should whip through impact naturally. But Mike always uses some reference to throwing with the right hand 🤷♂️
Anybody that rotates their forearm through impact is heading towards elbow problems, either tennis elbow or golfers elbow, which are both strains of the forearm rotator muscles and good luck with playing golf with those injuries.
So the amazing thing is how does anyone get on tour if teachers keep screwing us up? I wish mike and RU-vid were around when I was a teen. I would have been a bit better and had a little more enjoyment for the 10s of thousands I spent. Amazing how most teachers, and even the pro books I read 50 years ago really didn’t help us.
I just don’t know who throws a bowling ball with the palm up or throws a ball like Mike shows here, it’s more of a combination of ulnar and flexion. The wrists hinge naturally on the snuff box. Just let your arm hang and bring your hand up, it moves more on a 45 deg. Like swinging a hammer, you’d never swing a hammer with the palm facing completely down. His wrist action demonstration is exaggerated and misleading.
That’s the end our your radius and ulna your wrist bones are in your hand. You also have a scapula and that affects or rather humerus rotation affects that. When you throw the speed comes from the fingers not the wrist hence a split finger fastball. Y’all kill me.