Brooks Koepka 2 Moves For Consistency in Golf

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Congrats to Brooks Keopka on his amazing final round of 65 to claim his first European Tour victory at the Turkish Airlines Open! You must check out this video on Brooks Keopka if you have been struggling with... ▪ Your head moving too much during the entire swing ▪ Coming over the top ▪ Maintaining your spine angle throughout the swing In this video, I'll show you 2 key moves to get you well on your way to playing more consistent golf than you ever have. I'll also discuss a drill that you can try out at home that will teach you how to maintain your spine angle throughout the golf swing and help you overcome some of your biggest swing flaws.

  • Minimize the amount of lateral head movement in your golf swing by rotating your shoulders around your axis properly.
  • Maintain spine angle by keeping your hips back and loading and unloading the lower body properly. 
  • Keep your head behind the golf ball for as long as possible for consistent ball striking.


This week I'm going to be focusing in on two key moves in Brooks Koepka's golf swing that allow him to maintain consistent power and consistent ball striking. I'm also going to be discussing a drill that's going to help you overcome loss of spine angle in the hitting area. Let's go ahead and get started.

                Okay, so the 24 year old Florida State graduate, Brooks Koepka, gets his first victory on the European Tour with a late charge on Sunday and fights off Ian Poulter, so congratulations to Brooks on his first European Tour victory. This week I'm going to be focusing in on two really key areas of his golf swing that he does so well in order to be able to maintain a lot of consistent power and a lot of consistency with his ball striking. You're going to be able to understand when you start to look at your own golf swing on camera how these areas can affect your game in a number of ways and how it can probably lead to a lot of the problems that you're seeing on the golf course.

                I'm also going to go through a drill towards the end of the analysis that you can try out at home that's going to help you overcome the hips coming forward and that early extension of the spine. I know that's one of the more common areas that we see from golfers is that we see the hips coming forward, we see a lot of right side dominance, and in turn that creates this mess of spine angle problems where, you know, we really want to think of the spine as being kind of the axis and we want to rotate around it and keeping it as neutral and no change to it as possible. That's the idea. In order to play consistent golf is that we want to be able to rotate around our axis, not have much change in shape of the spine, and we also want to keep our head very quiet.

                Let's go ahead and take a look here. I'm going to mark a few lines on the screen for us. I'm going to mark down the spine here. I'm also going to mark a line down off of the back of the tush. This is a line you'll see us use quite often here at Rotary Swing is that we draw lines straight down from the back of the tush because if the hips were to come forward, you would notice that spine angle changes quite a bit, especially in the downward move. All right, I'm also going to mark the trail shoulder here, the position of the trail shoulder and then from a face on perspective, what I'm going to mark is where the head position is at address, and I'm also going to mark a line from the trail shoulder, down into where that head position was.

                From a down the line perspective, let's take a good close look at what he does so well here. Gets good load up to the right side. All right, loaded up into that trail side very well. He's got the hips still staying back and he's still been able to maintain his spine angle beautifully. Okay, so you see how the spine angle is virtually dead exactly the same as it was at address and then in the downward move, you're going to see a very common move here, a little sit to the left side, to that lead side, gets over there, and then he's still keeping those hips back down into the hitting area. Notice how these hips have not come drastically forward. He's been able to maintain that original spine angle.

                He's actually maybe even increased his angle, but another big note here is take notice of where his right shoulder is. It's virtually exactly where it was at the address position. We don't see it moving forward. We don't see it out breaking through this line and that's one of those areas for amateur golfers when you get to the top part of your golf swing, you start to push really hard from the right arm and the right shoulder. If you've noticed yourself on camera with that right shoulder moving through that line, or your hips coming forward, chances are you're going to be a really steep swinger of the golf club and you're going to be more over the top. If you've been one of those people that have fought over the top, really kind of pay attention to what your right shoulder's doing in the downward move, try to keep it a little bit more relaxed, a little bit more passive, and let the left side of the body really kind of control things that are going on.

                We're talking from a right-handed perspective this week. Again, if you look at the face on view, and for those golfers that have really kind of struggled with a lot of lateral head movement either in the takeaway, the back swing, or the downward move, Brooks does something extremely well in his golf swing that you really want to play close attention to here. You're going to see from a face on perspective, we get loaded up to the top. You can see the head moved, maybe an inch, inch and a half or so. Not a big deal. We want to allow the head to move just a little bit, so if you've noticed your golf swing and your golf swing when you watch it on camera, that you see a lot of this maybe four, five, six inches of lateral head movement, what that can be attributed to is this lead arm, or this lead shoulder, pushing across your center.

                When you start to push your lead shoulder across your center, what that's doing, number one, is it's not allowing you to rotate your shoulders perpendicular to your axis, which is the spine, and when that happens then your chances are that your spine is starting to change shape. It's starting to either straighten up and it's also creating a lot of lateral head movement. Now you can kind of grasp ahold of the idea of how important it is to be able to rotate the shoulders perpendicular to your axis. That will teach you, number one, how to keep the head more quiet and it will also teach you how to build up power in your mid-section. If you've been one of those people that gets a lot of this lateral head movement, you won't be able to feel those abs and those obliques really starting to contract. Really focus on, you know, get yourself a mirror or a camera, focus on it from the down the line perspective, and take a good close look at it.

                See, okay, I'm going to load up to the right. I want to rotate my shoulders around my axis and make sure that you're maintaining that spine angle as it was at address position. From a downward move here, from a face on perspective, he does something extremely well on his golf swing. We're going to get him down into the hitting area here. You're going to see the head move forward just a slight amount, and then as he's starting to get the hands down in front of that trail thigh, you're going to see that the head goes back in behind the original starting point here.

                What he's done, because he's got a driver in his hands, he's got the ball position a little bit more forward, you can see that he's increased his axis tilt. He hasn't lost his spine angle, again, so let me show you from a down the line perspective. Down into the hitting area, okay you can see that the spine angle's been able to maintain the same, but his axis tilt has increased which in turn has got the spine now facing a little bit more outside of his lead knee and he's got his head back in behind the golf ball.

                Also, take notice of where the right shoulder is. You can see that the right shoulder is virtually where it was at the address position. This is where he's going to be starting his release. He's going to be starting to unravel that angle in the right arm and that right hand and he's going to start to extend through the hitting area. Pay very close attention to these next few frames as I start to work through here. You're going to see that he maintains his head position behind the golf ball very long, so the hands are about pocket height. All right now we're going to work a little bit further. Now they're at about chest height here and the head is still behind the golf ball. Hands are now getting up around the shoulder height and now, as he's starting to get up into his finish position, that's when the head starts to come forward.

                All right so you can see that what he's done, and the reason why we actually only have one follow through video on the website is because, what a follow through really is, and if you have yourself well enough trained to get speed at the right spot, and that's in the hitting area, a follow through is really just the safest way to decelerate the golf club. We want the hands and arms to, when they're decelerating the golf club, to be able to pull us up onto our right toe. If you've noticed that you get your head moving out in front of the original position too early, then double check to make sure that your trail shoulder has not moved across your center, or pushed across your center, just as it would in the takeaway or the back swing. If you push it across your center, then you can run the risk of having a lot of lateral head movement. You can lose spine angle and then in turn, you're going to just run into problems with maintaining consistency in ball striking. That can be a big issue.

                The big things that you want to work on in your golf swing are you want to make sure that you keep the head more quiet. You really want to try to keep the head in behind the golf ball, especially into impact, and then post impact still allow the head to stay very, very quiet. Allow the hands and arms to feel like they're reaching and extending out in front of you, and then allow, you know, once things get pass the nine o'clock region or past the hip region, allow the hands and arms to pull you up onto your finish position, up onto that right toe. That will help you keep those hips back. It will help you maintain spine angle and it will certainly help you not get that right side pushing across your center and steepening up the golf club.

                A good drill, as I told you guys I would talk about for you guys to try at home, this is one that I have a lot of my students, it's actually a drill that I do myself, is if you stick your tush up against a wall and grab yourself like a seven or an eight iron, and what you want to do is just have your tush lightly touching the wall, and then go ahead and just make some good nine to three golf swings, and what you want to do is go ahead and shift your hips to the right. Make sure you feel your weight load into that right side, that right leg for stability, and go ahead and swing the arms back to the nine o'clock region. Pause, hold that in a static position, and then shift over to the left side, and feel the weight over into that left heel, left ankle area, and then once you feel that happen, then go ahead and swing the arms and release all the way through to the three o'clock position.

                As you're doing this, try to keep your right tush back lightly touching the wall all the way through the hitting area. That's going to give you the correct sensation of how to keep the hips back and it's also going to train you how to maintain spine angle. Now this is not a drill that I want you guys to overdo, but I want you to be able to feel the differences, so if you've ever seen your hips coming forward and you've lost the tush line quite a bit, then try this drill out and then slowly start to work yourself away from the wall, and then work on making sure that you know how to load and unload properly without getting yourself to be pushed and getting those hips to come forward.

                Also double check your right shoulder position. Make sure that you don't start your downward move and start to push your right shoulder across your center because that can cause you to lose lag. It can cause you to steepen the golf club up, and then we have a mess of problems with being over the top and we create a big slice or a big pull hook. Those are the drills I want you guys to try out, so make sure that you're watching your spine angle. Make sure that you're watching your head position, keep in it behind the golf ball. Then make sure you're trying to keep it in behind the ball as you're extending out through to the three o'clock position and you'll be able to play a lot more consistent, a lot better golf.

                Couple videos on the website I want you guys to check out. That's going to be, Losing the Tush Line, that's in the advanced downswing section. That's a great video to show you how to maintain your spine angle. You actually talk about how we actually increase a little bit of the tush line in the downward move and it will help you overcome a lot of those issues that you've been struggling with. Also I want you to double check another great video on the website. It's called, Roll of the Right Foot. It's going to help you understand what the right foot's doing in the downward move. You could see here Brooks has got his right heel up off the ground quite a bit. This Roll of the Right Foot video is going to teach you how the right foot can act as more of a braking mechanism and it's also going to give you kind of a little bit of a checkpoint for those of you golfers that have really struggled with the hips coming forward.

                All right, so those two videos. They're going to show up on the recommended videos to the right of the video player. Check those out. That's a great couple of videos that can help you overcome a lot of these issues. Also, there's a video if you've been struggling with your takeaway seeing a lot of that lateral head movement, we actually have a video that's called, Head Moving Off the Golf Ball. I'm also going to put that in the recommended video for you guys to check out as well. Understand that we really want to, in order to maintain consistency, we want to be able to rotate our shoulders around our axis, which is our spine. We want to maintain that spine angle and we want to keep our head as quiet as possible for a lot of consistency and a lot of consistent power.

                All right guys so let's get out there and play some great golf. I look forward to working more with you guys in the future. Let's make it a great day.

 

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James
When should right foot be lifted in downswing just before or during or after impact?
June 18, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello James. The trail foot will be rolled onto the instep at impact. But, not coming up until after the club is fully released in the 3 O'Clock positioning.
June 18, 2018
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James
Thanks, Craig, such an easy game. Show me a cocky golfer, and I’ll show you a golfer that doesn’t play golf. Keeping the right foot down at impact helps to steady head behind ball AND STOP PUSHING OFF RIGHT RIGHT SIDE!
June 18, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello James. Exactly. Glad you enjoyed the video and understand the role of the trail foot.
June 19, 2018
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Anthony
Chris, I have a problem in maintains my axis tilt and keeping my trail shoulder in place ( it moves out) in the downswing and many times my head moves forward . Is there any way ( drill, thought, image or feeling) you can recommend to stop this trail side push, I believe these problems are all related to this issue. Thanks
August 21, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Anthony. You need to feel like the trail shoulder stays back. The Sledgehammer Video is good at stopping the trail shoulder throw.
August 25, 2015
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Phillip
I don't see how you could say he maintained his spine angle from set up to ball contact. There is a distinct bowing upward in his back at contact. But wouldn't he have to raise up in the downswing? At set up his arms hang straight down with the club angled out to the ball. When he hits the ball his arms are straight he has to raise up otherwise he would miss the ball when he extends his arms. please explain.
December 13, 2014
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R.J. (Certified RST Instructor)
Philip, The club bows towards the ball at impact which naturally shortens the club a bit. This is how the club head is flat on the ground at impact, but when it starts the swing the toe is off the ground. Plus, your hands are in front of the ball at impact and the club head is trailing behind the shaft. This is how we can have extended arms with the same spine angle and not dig the club half a foot in the ground. R.J.
December 14, 2014
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charles
Hi Chris. Good video about Koepka's swing. I was paying close attention to the position of the head through the hitting zone. I think, in my case, I don't keep my head "back" enough through impact and my whole swing breaks down through the hitting zone. I'm going to try and keep the head back which would allow the arms and club and club head to fully release. But my question is, is this move the same for mid and short iron shots? Should the head be more "over" the ball with irons and behind the ball with the driver? Thanks. C. Sharkey
November 24, 2014
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Charles -- Glad you enjoyed the video! You really want the head position to remain constant under all stock shots regardless of the club selection. There could be some variance to the head position in the hitting area if you are working on a specialty shot like a penetrating wedge etc. You want to shoot to keep everything the same so that you can control the hitting area and bottom of the swing arc. Hope that helps - Chris
November 25, 2014
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ira
My driver is over 10 years old. Im a firm believer in technique over equipment, so Id rather spend my money on instruction rather than equipment. But Im wondering how much a new driver could help my consistency or distance. My old driver does not have the maximum volume of the club head. I realize its hard to say how much of a difference it would make, but i'd like to hear your opinion.
November 19, 2014
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R.J. (Certified RST Instructor)
Ira, It depends on your swing. Newer drivers require striking the ball on a different spot on the club face and require a different angle of attack than drivers of ten years ago. However, new drivers are far more forgiving and explosive than drivers of 10 years ago. But you are correct, technique is far more important. If you make the proper adjustments in your setup, you could take full advantage of a new driver. Not to mention, club heads die over time, like old aluminum baseball bats, eventually they just don't have any pop left in them. Drivers are more susceptible to this because of the thin face. So, depending on how often you play and hit driver off the tee, you're probably due for a new one anyway. The benefits for you will be great providing that you get a driver that fits your swing and get it custom fit to you. I would get your swing in a position with training and lessons that you're comfortable with going forward and then invest in getting a custom fit driver for you. It will be worth the investment, in my opinion. I have been using the same clubs for the last 15 years as well and I'm now researching new clubs because I've improved enough in my swing to feel confident that new clubs will take my game to the next level. Here are the driver setup adjustments for the newer drivers, and I would also suggest checking out the "Bomb your driver" series on the site to show you more about hitting drivers in today's game. http://www.rotaryswing.com/videos/full-swing-advanced/setup/driver-setup-adjustments Good luck in your search for a new Driver! I'm probably going to go with the Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 Double Black Diamond, myself, but the new Taylormade R15 is looking like a contender as well, along with the Titleist 915 D3 and Ping G30. R.J.
November 19, 2014
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ken
My ? is about left shoulder push in back swing. I seem to turn, rotate shoulders too flat, and almost parallel to spine rather than perpendicular. It seems that to turn more perpendicular there needs to be more of a sense for lead shoulder to go down and back to curtail a left shoulder push which causes my head to move. Now I am not saying to dip the lead shoulder but to change its backward path. Any thoughts?
November 18, 2014
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R.J. (Certified RST Instructor)
Ken, You're thinking about the left (lead) shoulder way too much. Your focus in the takeaway should be maintaining your spine angle as you rotate your right shoulder behind your head, keeping your hands in front of the sternum and arms straight. The left shoulder gets pulled under the chin by the right arm folding upwards at the top of the backswing, which pulls the left arm across the body. As long as you do these things, the backswing will be perfect and your concerns about the left shoulder will be non-existent. R.J.
November 18, 2014
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John
Don't you need the head to release like David Duval and Anika do? If you keep the head down too long, doesn't it result in there not being enough room for your hands because you have not extended your upper body enough?
November 18, 2014
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R.J. (Certified RST Instructor)
John, The momentum of the club pulls your head up after impact with the ball. As long as you focus on seeing the ball when you make contact, then what your head does afterwards isn't that important. The follow through is a reaction to the downswing. Just allow it to happen naturally, don't focus on it too much keeping it down or lifting it up. R.J.
November 18, 2014
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Paul
Hello, I've got a problem with a flying right arm,having played Rugby (front row) and years of working out I'm not as flexible as I would like,have you any fixes for the right elbow and any stretching exercise that with help,I have just started trying to release my rotator cuff as I think this would help greatly Regards.Paul, Ps ,great website..!!.
November 18, 2014
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R.J. (Certified RST Instructor)
Paul, There are plenty of stretches in the fitness section of the site. Also, you might be getting too much right elbow flexion at the top of your swing that is allowing your right elbow to fly away from the body. If you're going past 90 degrees with your right elbow flexion, it'll be natural to fly the elbow so make sure that you're not more than 90 degrees because what we usually feel is 90 degrees turns out to be 135 degrees when looking at the elbow in the mirror or on tape. R.J.
November 18, 2014
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Paul
Thanks,RJ. I will give it a go. All the best..Paul.
November 18, 2014
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R.J. (Certified RST Instructor)
You're welcome R.J.
November 18, 2014
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Michael
I just watched a training video from Clay Ballard about too much axis tilt, and his advice was to get your axis tilt to line up with the inside of your lead leg both at address and at impact, with the hips looking much more square at impact. Here, at impact, Brooks' hips are more open and his axis tilt shoots way in front of his lead leg which looks extremely painful on the lower back. Could you please explain some of the differences or maybe where I'm missing something, thanks!
November 17, 2014
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Micheal -- With axis tilt from address and then into impact for stock shots, we are looking for axis tilt to increase slightly and have the spine pointed just outside the lead knee based on the amount of hip rotation you have. With a driver swing, we make adjustments to the setup like a wider stance and more forward ball position. This will allow us to create more secondary axis tilt into impact and ensure that we are not coming into the ball too steep so that we can help launch the ball properly like the modern day clubs are wanting us to do. This helps keep launch angle up and spin rates down. Hope that helps and let me know if you need any further clarification at all.
November 18, 2014
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tom
great swing I recently went back to my former swing as shown by jimmy ballard with a lot of success I like how simple it is and am hitting the ball very solidly. His connection theory seems what most good golfers have and at 67 years old I have regained a lot of distance and on a tee with little wind I can again hit a ball in excess of 250 yards. I find the rotary system meshes well with his concepts. Any thing about his methods would help thanks
November 17, 2014
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Tom -- I am actually extremely well versed in Mr. Ballards teaching philosophy and he has carried quite an impact on the golf swing in earlier years. After studying the golf swing more in depth and understanding the biomechanics as well as the kinesiology that surrounds the modern day swing, I can say that there is some good information from Mr. Ballard but also some contradictory information that Chuck as been able to really provide a more facts based, science based approach that will help ensure maximum efficiency all while being able to protect and preserve the body in the golf swing as you are getting older. Take a close look at a great video that Chuck did called "how to maintain clubhead speed as you get older" Let us know if you have any questions at all and we look forward to having you around the site more often.
November 18, 2014

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