That "Stuck" Feeling: What It Is and How to Create Space in Your Swing

This feeling of being "stuck" or "trapped" is one of the most common causes of inconsistency in golf. It happens when your arms and the club fall too far behind the rotation of your body on the downswing. Your body gets in the way of your arms' path to the ball, forcing you into a series of ugly compensations.

An efficient golf swing is all about sync—the body, arms, and club moving in the right sequence. Getting stuck is a clear sign that your sequence is out of order and you've lost that connection.

How Do You Get Stuck in the First Place?

This problem doesn't just appear in the downswing. It's often set up by a poor move much earlier in the swing.

• The "Inside" Takeaway: This is a huge one. The problem can start in the first foot of the backswing. Many golfers whip the clubhead immediately to the inside of their hands, often by rolling their wrists. If the club starts its journey by getting too deep and behind the body, it's going to be very difficult to keep it from getting even more trapped on the way down.
• Arms Dropping Without Body Rotation: Some golfers correctly start the downswing by letting their arms drop, but they fail to rotate their lower body at the same time. The arms drop passively behind the body, but because the hips haven't started to turn and clear out of the way, the arms have nowhere to go. They get stuck behind the right hip (for a righty).
• Too Much Lateral Slide: If your first move in the downswing is an aggressive slide of the hips toward the target without any rotation, it can also cause problems. This slide can cause your upper body to tilt back, which then drops the club even further behind you, getting it stuck.
• Early Extension: As your hips and pelvis move towards the ball (early extension), they effectively eat up the space your arms were supposed to swing through. Your body becomes a physical barrier, trapping the club behind you.

How to Stay in Sync and Create Space

To stop getting stuck, you need to keep your arms and body working together and ensure your body's rotation creates a clear path for the club to swing through.

• Feel a "One-Piece" Takeaway: The best way to prevent an inside takeaway is to feel that your arms, hands, club, and chest all move away from the ball together as one unit. The clubhead should feel like it stays outside, or in line with, your hands until it gets to about waist high. This sets your swing on a much wider, more neutral path.
• Sync Your Arms and Body: A fantastic drill is to tuck a headcover or a small towel under your trail armpit. Make swings without letting it fall out until well after impact. This forces your trail arm to stay connected to your body's rotation and prevents it from falling behind on its own.
• Feel Your "Left Pocket Go Back": To promote hip rotation instead of a slide, a great feel is your lead hip pocket (left pocket for a righty) pulling back and away from the target line to start the downswing. This rotational move clears the hips out of the way, creating a massive amount of space for your arms to swing down freely.
• Keep the Club "In Front" of You: Throughout the swing, try to have the sensation that the club and your hands are staying in front of your chest. This doesn't mean you won't have a full shoulder turn, but it prevents the arms from becoming independent and falling behind your body's rotation.

By syncing up your takeaway and learning to initiate the downswing with a rotational move, you'll stop getting tangled up. You'll create all the space you need for a powerful, free-flowing swing that delivers the club to the ball on the right path, every time.