Getting Stuck in the Golf Swing (Complete Guide)

You may not have heard the term before but you’ve certainly experienced it. Almost all golfers go through the struggle during their initial days. However, we feel like there’s not enough content or discussions on the topic. So, we decided to create our own.

In this post, we’re going to learn what exactly golf swing getting stuck means and how you can stop it from happening. We’re going to look at a few reasons that might be causing the issue for you. In the end, we’ll look at some drills that you can practice to help you.

How to Score in the 70’s Golf Training Plan

What Does Golf Swing Getting Stuck Mean?

We all know that shallow golf swings are better for accuracy and distance, right? If you didn’t, shallow golf swings mean coming from the inside toward the outside. The club head will follow the rest of your body instead of coming over the top.

When players go too much shallow on their downswing, that’s when they get ‘stuck’. It’s not physically getting stuck to an object or getting stuck on the ground with your club head. Rather, it’s a realization in the middle of your downswing that you’ve shallowed the club too much.

When you do realize that you’re coming too much from the inside to the outside, there’s often not enough time or space left for you to correct the maneuver. As a result, you’re going to hook the ball too much to the right if you’re a right-handed player.

If you try to fix it during the swing, your natural instinct would be to flick your wrists before it’s time. It won’t bring you any good either. You’re going to mess up the club face angle at impact and hit a hook or shank the ball entirely.

To fix the issue, you’re going to need to work on your golf downswing before anything else. We’ll get to how you can do it. But before that, let’s find out what might be possible causes for you to getting swing too shallow.

Things that Might be Causing Golf Swing Getting Stuck

To be honest, the causes are going to differ from player to player. It’s really very hard to diagnose the problem over the internet. We highly recommend that you go to a certified professional who works as an instructor. He/she can review your swing and tell you what you might be doing wrong.

However, we’re going to look at a few most common causes of golf swing getting stuck. It may or may not match your condition. But at least, you’ll get a pointer about where to look.

Standing Too Close to the Ball

This one is quite obvious. When you stand too close to your ball at address, there’s not going to be enough space for you to angle your swing path. To compensate for the lack of space, you’re automatically going to shallow the swing more than necessary.

It comes naturally for novice golfers and there’s nothing to be ashamed of it. When you don’t know much about how your muscles and body are going to react, you’ll want to stay close to your target. Because you won’t want to miss the shot.

But that’s not how golf works. It’s a sport of precise measurement and precise bodily movements. When you don’t move according, that’s when issues like the golf swing getting stuck start to happen.

The best way to check your distance from the ball is to look at your hand position at stance. Your arms should be directly below your shoulders when you’re gripping your club. It doesn’t matter which club you’re holding.

For drivers, the distance is going to be the greatest because they have the longest shafts. For irons, the distance will be a little less. Nonetheless, you should either record yourself at stance or ask a fellow golf player to validate your stance.

How to Score in the 70’s Golf Training Plan

Improper Weight Shift

This is a massive issue for golf players all over the world. As we’ve already said, golf is a sport that requires precise bodily movements. The transfer or the shift of weight is one of the most crucial ones among them.

When you’re at the top of your backswing, you need to shift your weight to the target side of the body to initiate the downswing. The weight should naturally fall on your front foot and your hips should slide slightly forward toward the target to make space for the shallow golf swing.

However, when you don’t do the shift properly, you can’t do a proper downswing. It’s just not physically possible. When you put too much of your body weight on the backfoot and still slide your hips toward the target, that’s when you get your downswing stuck.

It comes from the sense of getting behind the ball. You’d normally think that to get the ball in the air, you need to hit it from behind and push the ball up. It only makes sense because of how we’re taught about physics laws in school.

The sad thing is, physics doesn’t actually follow the rules when it comes to golf. Well, let us rephrase that. Our perception of physics doesn’t apply when it comes to golf. In reality, the swing and the ball flight follow all the laws of physics.

You’ve seen the dimples on the golf balls, right? Why do you they’re there? Those dimples are the reason the ball flies so smoothly through the air. When you impact the ball with your club face, it creates a backspin on the ball. It’s the combination of the backspin and the dimples on the ball that gives your shot its shape.

So, when you deliberately try to get the ball up in the air, it doesn’t work. You can’t force physics to change its laws.

The bottom line is, you need to shift your weight toward the front foot and hit down on the ball. It’s especially true for short clubs like mid-irons and wedges. When you hit down on the ball and rotating your body as you’re supposed to, that’s when you get the proper swing. As a result, your golf swings won’t get stuck anymore.

Closed Alignment

By closed alignment, we’re referring to your body alignment with the ball. If you draw a line through your feet and another line through the ball, both lines should be parallel. When your body’s alignment is opened or closed, that’s not the case.

It’s possible you’ve been trying to close your alignment to play a draw golf shot like this video explains, but we’d prefer you keep your feet aligned parallel to the target and instead change your swing path to get the golf ball to start right and draw back left.

You may have seen many players who don’t stand exactly perpendicular to the ball. It’s not their natural stance. It’s a choice they made based on their playing style. And they’re successful that way.

That’s not the case for you. When you open or close your body without knowing what it does, you’re making yourself prone to golf swing getting stuck.

How to Stop Getting Your Golf Swing Stuck

So, now you know why you might be facing the issues in the first place. If you’ve already diagnosed the cause behind your golf swing getting stuck, congratulations. It’s time for you to work on it and overcome it.

If you haven’t, contact a professional instructor who’ll guide you in the process and suggest you any training aids if required.

Here’s how you can fix the issues we just talked about.

Get the Right Distance

This is the first and probably the most important step. You need to stand at a standard distance from your ball. You’re looking for trouble when you stand too close or too far away from the ball.

Instead of eyeballing the distance, use your club. Your club head should be resting on the ground naturally. It will automatically create an angle between the ground and the club shaft. You need to position yourself based on this.

Without moving your club from its place, grip the club as you would do normally. Now, position your body so that your arms are comfortably hanging right below your shoulders. They should create a 90-degree angle with the ground.

If you’ve got it right, you can move forward to the next step.

Do the Weight Transfer Properly

We’ve talked about the weight transfer plenty of times in our previous posts. Basically, you need to shift your body’s weight to the front side as you’re coming down with your swing. Almost all of the weight should be on your front foot.

You need to rotate your body in a way that the club head falls behind. Instead of using the wrists or the arms to move the club, you need to use your entire body. It will automatically bring the club face to a square position at impact.

Parallel Alignment

Lastly, you need to align yourself correctly. You can do it very simply with help from an alignment stick. If you don’t have one handy, just use one of your spare clubs.

Some Drills to Practice

In this section, we’re going to learn some drills to help you with your golf swing getting stuck.

The Arm Drill

It’s a fun one. It’s designed to help you get your distance from the ball right.

1. Set up for your shot as you would normally do.
2. Let the club go or don’t pick it up in the first place.
3. Have your keens bend, your hips pushed back. Just like you would do in a normal stance.
4. Now, just let your arms hang. You don’t need to do anything else.
5. The next time you’re at the course, remember this sensation. The club grip should be where your hands were during the drill.

The Spine Drill

The spine is considered the centerpiece of the body for valid reasons. It controls our entire body’s movement. You can use this information to fix your posture issues as well. When you’re at stance, the angle of your spine should be the same throughout your swing.

You can record yourself to understand this concept better. Set up a camera right behind yourself and take the shot. Now, slow the video down and notice the angle of your spine. For easier understanding, imagine a line from the ground toward your spin and beyond. It’s going to be an angled line.

During your swing, the line should be the same. It means that you have moved your body abruptly. If you see fishy movements, practice the below.

1. Hold an alignment stick or a club against your spine. It should be touching your head, your spine, and your tailbone at the same time. It’s the proper spine angle for a good golf swing.
2. Now, mimic your usual swing, if you see that the contact is lifted at any moment, that’s your culprit.
3. Keep Practicing until you get the angle right.

Final Words

Golf swing getting stuck is a real issue. And real issues require real solutions. In this post, we’ve tried to summarize the reasons and ways that you can improve.