Shorter+Wider=Better

Hit more fairways using the same tips I give to my top-three tour players: Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Adam Scott

By Butch Harmon

With Peter Morrice

Photos By Dom Furore

January 2009

My top three tour guys -- Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Adam Scott -- all came to me with the same problem: too much backswing. They'd take the club back too far and then have to rely on super-fast hands to get it in position coming down. When they timed it right, they hit the ball a mile. But when they didn't, they missed too many fairways. Average golfers who overswing don't have the hands to save things on the way down. The result is poor contact and all kinds of bad shots. Here we'll look at the two ways golfers overswing: (1) the arms swing too long, and (2) the body turns too much. I'll teach you how to fix these faults for a shorter, wider backswing. Plus, I'll show you the tips that helped my tour players use that shorter action to get back in control.

< Fault

The arms swing too long

This is the more common of the two overswing faults. The arms keep swinging back after the body has stopped turning, causing them to collapse (top, far left). When this happens, the player tends to throw the club from the top, hanging back on the right side (top, left). This pushes the club onto an outside path, and the wrists unhinge too early. The typical result is a weak slice. Ernie and Adam had this problem, obviously to a lesser degree than you see in these pictures, but they did overswing, which required too much hand action on the way down.

< The fix

Keep the hands away from the head

The way to avoid a long arm swing is to focus on pushing your hands away from your head. This simple thought promotes a wider arc, so you can easily swing the club back in front of your body on the downswing. Concentrate on keeping your right arm wide, which will keep your left arm wide.