After all your struggles with overswinging, you are about to learn an incredibly simple fix for it.
If you have taken golf lessons before and have struggled with overswinging, you have surely heard your instructor tell you to:
- stop at 9 o'clock, or
- feel like you are not swinging the club very far.
Either way, you feel like you have no power because you are so accustomed to having the club travel so much further in your swing.
And none of that advice actually helps — telling someone to swing shorter simply does not fix the root cause.
You are doing something wrong mechanically that is allowing you to overswing, and that is what you need to correct.
What Causes an Overswing in Golf?
The fundamental thing we need to understand is that a typical overswing gets the club across the line.
When we talk about getting across the line, we mean that rather than the club pointing straight down the target line — or even slightly to the lead side of it — the club is pointing to the trail side of the target.
Now, in order to create that position, you had to do a couple of things:
- You had to let your hips turn further than they should. That is a very common problem for an overswinger. If this applies to you, go back and work on Move 1 — The Takeaway.
- You had to let your trail arm fly away from your body. That is the only way to get the club pointing to the trail side of your target instead of pointing down the target line.
We are not going to address the hip movement first because that is simply a function of making a better golf takeaway. Go back and review Move 1 if you are letting your hips turn too far.
Now, the issue with your arm flying away from your body so that your trail hand starts to turn toward the ground — that is not a good position to be in.
What is that going to do to the club when your hand is in that position?
You are going to get into a "John Daly" position at the top.
That is solely because of the flying trail elbow. No other cause — it is basic "Mechanics 101."
Now, if you pull your trail arm back in front of your chest while trying to keep your hand in the same spot — what happens to the club?
It is pointing down the target line or appearing slightly laid off.
The key is figuring out what you are actually doing in your swing that causes the elbow to fly away, and what you actually need to do to prevent it from happening.
It is a very simple fix.
The simple fix starts with remembering what we covered in Move 2 — Completing the Golf Backswing. We discussed shoulder elevation followed by trail elbow flexion, which is what keeps your arms in front of your body instead of swinging all over the place.
The Simple, Secret Fix for Overswinging in Golf
There is now one additional piece to add. Once you do the trail elbow flexion, you are going to take your upper arm (the bicep and humerus bone) and rotate it clockwise.
Just twist your arm clockwise, similar to a rotator cuff exercise. That is all you are doing.
Forget everything else — do not make it more complicated. We are not talking about swing plane or anything else at this point.
You are simply taking that humerus bone and rotating it.
Now put your arms in the positions from Move 2, then rotate that bone to approximately 1 or 2 o'clock.
If you have had rotator cuff or shoulder injuries, you may have limited flexibility here. That will inherently steepen your swing plane.
You will need to work with your individual instructor or watch this video about getting on plane at the top to work around that.
Assuming you do have normal flexibility and range of motion, this small rotation is going to allow the club to settle into the correct position.
Bonus Benefit of Stopping Your Overswing
And if you are paying attention to your muscles — and by now you have hopefully realized that is critically important in the golf swing — you should feel some tension in the trail side of your back, around your lats and shoulder area, because the bones that facilitate this movement are actually turning down "into the box."
You surely remember the discussions about the box. That is exactly what is happening here.
Not only does this give you the benefit of getting the club on plane and preventing you from getting across the line and long, but it also locks your arm in front of your body and gets you in the box. To see how your own backswing positions compare to elite standards, try a free AI swing analysis.
Now, let us put it all together.
Get Out of Your Chair and Try It!
From address, you are going to do your trail elbow flexion, a small amount of shoulder elevation, and if you turn to the top you will notice that your arm is fairly vertical.
Now, just do that small rotation move, and it really locks your arm in place.
If you are sitting in a chair, actually stand up and do this. Get that small pivot with your arm.
Now, see what happens to the club when you do that. Your arm starts vertical, then you allow it to rotate just slightly.
There is now no way — unless you do something extremely unusual with your wrists — to get the club across the line.
Physically and anatomically, it simply cannot happen.
This move is very, very small. It is perhaps a half-inch to an inch of rotation of your upper arm, but it is biomechanically locking your arm in place where it needs to be — in front of your body — and preventing you from ever overswinging.
It would be impossible to overswing unless your hips go completely out of control, but even then, this rotation will still limit it dramatically.
Feel Like You're Flipping a Coin Over Your Shoulder
During Move 2 is when that small amount of rotation occurs. For those who need a visual, imagine you are flipping a coin over your shoulder — that is the feeling. It is not a locked-down, tense movement.
It is like taking a coin and just flipping it over your shoulder. That is the rotation happening.
As you do it in your golf swing, you are just flipping a coin back toward the target as you rotate.
And now, you will have an extremely difficult time overswinging.
Work on this rotation piece as part of Move 2. It is a very subtle movement and very natural.
Just let it feel like you are flipping a coin over your shoulder, and you will never swing the club across the line or past parallel ever again! For real-time coaching on your backswing mechanics, try a free AI golf lesson.
Watch part 2 now to see how you're moving your body in the opposite direction of the pros!
You can easily stop overswinging with this article and video!
Demonstration of "across the line."
Get the elbow in front of you to avoid crossing the line.
Rotate your upper arm a few degrees clockwise to lock your elbow in front of you.
