Fitness Friday: One simple exercise to fix a backswing like this

True story: A basketball coach who is a friend of mine was trying to explain to a bunch of his kids how to take a jump shot. He told them to jump straight up as if they were standing in a phone booth without a roof. One kid raised his hand and said, "Coach, what's a phone booth?" I'll spare you the dated-technology reference when explaining the backswing, but in order to take the club back optimally, you need to avoid swaying or sliding and ending up in the start of a reverse pivot as golf instructor Dave Phillips is demonstrating here (photo). His weight is literally shifting in the wrong direction.

"The upper body winds against a stable lower body," says golf-and-fitness coach Karen Palacios-Jansen (@kpjgolf). "If there is any swaying or sliding with the hips during the backswing, the golfer will lose that coil they need to hit the ball powerfully and they'll have to make split-second adjustments in the downswing just to make decent contact with the ball."

If you want to picture what Karen is talking about, imagine you're standing in a cardboard refrigerator box and trying to rotate your upper body without touching the walls. If your body sways or slides, you'll fail.

The good news is if you're struggling with either issue and can't seem to get the club back down to the ball without a lot of excess body movement, Karen suggests you trying doing lunges while rotating your upper body. This exercise helps correct both issues. Click on the video to watch Karen demonstrate it.

Ron Kaspriske is the fitness editor of Golf Digest.*

Follow @ronkaspriske (Photo by Joey Terrill)