Keep connection in your golf swing – stop the chicken wing

You don’t swing with any connection between the arms, and your left arm bends and moves upwards through the ball.

If that sounds like you, this is the classic ‘chicken wing’ move. If you are impacted by it, don’t worry, you’re not alone and it can be fixed.

• Fix your driver slice with this elbow move

It’s a common move that plagues amateurs, causing a complete loss of consistency. It’s also a huge confidence killer.

Here’s how you can fix the chicken wing with a drill featuring a basket from the driving range.

Keep your arms connected

What we’re trying to fix is the connection between the arms and the body. You want that core that you create in the set-up to be maintained as you go through impact. You want that same relationship between the arms and the body, that they’re connected.

Use the basket for feel

The best – and easiest – way to do that is to place a basket between the forearms. This allows you to make sure you’re still applying pressure between your arms, which keeps that connection.

• Are you standing too far away from the ball?

Hit the range

On the range, go and hit some three-quarter shots where you’re retaining the basket between your arms.

If you work on your three-quarter swings, the basket should stay in place. You can do it with full shots, too, but there comes a point when the basket will naturally release.

The major fault here is that you don’t get any release through the ball, so there’s no natural compression on the on the strike.

• Sleeve more putts with this connection drill

What will tend to happen when you do this is that you’ll either pick it up clean and leave the clubface a little bit open, giving you a weaker, high-spinning ball flight. You do not want the left arm to work its way upwards through impact.

If you struggle with the chicken wing in your golf swing, give this drill a try to feel more connection through the shot.