Anybody really fixed Early Extension?

[drvrwdge]

OK....I"m about to give up on this thread or for that matter, any thread that has an "EE" in it. I know what the "EE" stands for, but I have NO idea what early extension is, feels, causes or looks like.

 

Can someone PLEASE explain early extension in totally layman terms. Don't get too technical. Maybe what it looks like, feels like, or causes rather then a technical explanation would be better.

 

Apparently people can play really good golf with some EE. So why bother fighting it, unless it's extreme and harms impact.

 

Its basically your pelvis moving towards the ball at impact, losing posture (standing up) and hands being higher at impact than address. Cause a steeper shaft in transition and at impact which can lead to having to get a little flippy in an attempt to control/save face. I think in general it just requires a little more timing than getting the shaft shallow in transition and rotating the body to close and release the club head.

 

But yes you can, I have and many pros have played very very good golf early extending. I think far too any people are trying to fix it because they are chasing positions they see in still shots of pros. The classic hips open, shoulders open but slightly less, right elbow on hip and right arm bent at impact. But for people that truly understand its cause and effect the real reason to try and cure EE would be the possible inconsistency and timing required to play well with it.

 

I think people have posted before that Bads early extends quite a bit just for example.

 

Just my $.02

[drvrwdge]

My swing..

 

 

See how spine angle is lost a bit at impact and rear end has moved off of original line, towards the ball. It's a move needed to get the club face back on the ball. If people didn't EE they would miss the ball but it's a product of more than likely their translation but obviously could be cause by many other things.

 

Working on my posture and set up has actually helped me the most versus any swing thought or mechanical fix.

[drvrwdge]

And what people are chasing..

 

 

[596]

I could be totally wrong, but, wow, that sure looks like an EE, as you describe, in those photos of Rose. He's lost posture. His spine is well above his spine when he was at address. The angle of the arms to the shaft is much steeper then at address. Yes, the photos of your EE are worse, but if we EE a bit I don't see a big problem. Actually, your photos appear to be a failure to rotate not only the hips but the shoulders too. Sorry....that's not meant to be mean at all, I'm just trying to understand.

 

And IF I'm right....why are we all trying to not EE?

 

Looking at the pics again, I see you have moved your butt forward from address, but Rose has not. So there is some EE that you do that Rose does not. But still, Rose has stood his spine up, though his head has dipped, and the shaft is steeper then at address. Is this OK to do, as long as your butt remains in the same spot, though rotated, as it was at address?

 

Yikes....as I study the pics more.....the differences in the two sets are actually quite minuscule. Really the only difference is the cause and effect of you not rotating your hips and shoulders. Is that the cause of EE in your case?

[drvrwdge]

So right I guess everyone does a little bit but EE would be on the extreme end I guess.

[golfoh]

I'm well on my way to fixing my EE. And yes, the left image was at impact (ugh).

 

[Pinger89]

When you EE it makes the swing entirely based on timing and is difficult to repeat shot after shot. It also requires a lot more effort and engages muscles that can restrict the golf swing by not using the ground as leverage. It is certainly possible to play good golf with EE, but it's damn near impossible to play consistently well for 18 holes, let alone an entire season. Fixing EE creates repeatability in the golf swing, as well as power. Like anything else in this world your swing is only as good as its weakest link and I would imagine for most of us it starts in either the grip, or our posture/stance/setup position. For me it was my setup position coupled with the fact that I feel the need to power through the golf ball with all my might. This mentally destroys my swing through impact and I jump onto my toes like a ballerina. The problem with this is there is so much energy lost at impact thrusting your body weight UP into the air versus moving it laterally into the ball towards the target. Then I feel the need to manufacture more power because I'm hitting it 5-10 yards short and it gets even worse.

 

I'm currently in the process of reducing my EE and what has helped tremendously is reading Ben Hogan's Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf. I'm not cured, but I'm getting there. Hogan begins with the grip and works his way through the swing one part at a time. You start with the grip and work on that for a week, then move to posture and setup, then backswing, then downswing... the best part about it though is that it gets me focusing on one thing. At first it was changing my grip and working on that alone. I wasn't thinking about the rest of my swing and just focused on my grip and that alone brought incredible consistency to my ball striking. Unfortunately I got a little ahead of myself and moved on too quickly in the teaching, so yesterday's practice session went awry as I started focusing too much on my hips and downswing and transition blah blah blah. My goal now is to start the book over and really follow his instruction. Work on the grip alone for at least 30 minutes per day for a week. Take practice swings and don't even hit balls. Then move forward and take the next month-2 months piecing together my swing instead of making one huge overhaul.

[Pinger89]

To add on quickly.. I believe the biggest issue with EE is rooted in improper hip rotation at the transition. One of two things happens; either the golfer starts the downswing with the hands or arms/shoulders, or the golf starts his rotation with the hips, but stops the hip rotation once the arms get going and they take over the swing. The hips cannot FOLLOW the upper body through the downswing, they have to LEAD it. The chain reaction of hips-shoulders-arms-hands is paramount in the downswing. When the hips clear and the arms are following it would be impossible to EE and even come close to striking the ball, so athletically speaking the body will not EE naturally. If the hips are following, or are moving at the same time as the upper body through the downswing then the golfer has no choice but to either EE to get to the inside and create power, or come over the top and slice.

 

That's why it is so important to get the grip and setup position correct so you can then initiate the proper backswing, get on plane, be at the proper spot in the top of the back swing, and then transition correctly with the hips rotating and moving left while the weight shifts to the left when the upper body is following the hips. However, easier said than done! As always..

[JWATTS]

I've worked on EE for a year and found that trying to match or get into positions is not the way to go about it.

 

So I learned what the ideal golf swing is supposed to look like (shallow transition, hands in front, delofted, right bent elbow/wrist etc.) but I didn't try to do those things.

 

Instead I relied on intention and figured out how that put me into positions I wanted versus trying to get into positions.

 

It might sound weird, but I tried to do things before hand that forced me to do the things we all want naturally.

 

Example:The concept is that if you're already squatting down in the backswing then you'll naturally want to stand up and extend in the downswing...which is bad. This is true for many players.

 

So I just reversed that process: I stood more upright in the backswing and "squatted" into the downswing and was able to extend well after making contact with the ball instead of before. I delayed that natural process. 'Delayed' being the big word there...aka Lag. I did something prior that kept me from extending.

 

IMO its a game of intentions and reactions. When you think of a whip...its only when you pull away from it that you get all the speed and the crack...you didn't try to force the end the whip to get in a position...you did something prior and it happened naturally.

 

Can't get the hands forward? Tweak the backswing so your arms in front of your body. I stopped letting the club go inside and worked it upwards.

 

Can't shallow the club? I worked on putting pressure on the left leg and almost pushing right with the arms while keeping my right bend/head in position... the club just shallowed on its own.

 

Its a game of reaction.