3 swing ‘death moves’ you must avoid, according to Jordan Spieth’s coach

Cameron McCormick calls them swing death moves, which is perhaps a bit morbid, but maybe shock value is necessary here. The consequences are grim, after all, at least in a golf sense. 

But there’s also hope, McCormick said.

There are elixirs, so to say, in keeping with the theme. 

The GOLF Top 100 Teacher and Jordan Spieth’s longtime coach was talking on a video recently posted to his Instagram page, and the focus was bettering scores through an understanding of the “death moves” — there are three in all — and the ways to avoid them. You can watch the video below, and below that, we’ll offer some thoughts.  

3 swing ‘death moves’ you must avoid, according to Cameron McCormick 

1. ‘Getting your arms stuck behind your body because they’ve moved too far behind your body’

A death move, for sure. How does it happen?

“When this right arm moves all the way to the side of your body relative to how far your body rotates,” McCormick said in the video, “you’re stuck.”

So what’s the fix?

On the video, McCormick, a right-hander, extended his right arm forward with the palm facing the target and placed his left wrist underneath his right elbow with his left palm facing behind him, then took an imaginary swing.   

“Develop a sense, using your golf hand, that your arm always stays out in front of your shoulder in your golf swing,” he said in the video. “So stuck, connected.”

2. ‘Staying in wrist extension too long in the downswing’

Doing so, McCormick said, leaves the club face open. 

So what’s the fix?

“You need to turn that logo back away from you, down to the ground,” McCormick said on the video, “ultimately closing the face, turning push slices into straight shots or draws.”

3. ‘An overactive, high-right shoulder, early rib-cage rotation with left-side bend’

This one, McCormick said, causes a “steep angle of attack, left club path, and is probably going to end up causing some of this lead wrist extension.”

The fix here?

“We need to feel like our hip bumps,” McCormick said on the video, “[and] our lat and our back muscles stay to the target as our trail shoulder drops under.” 

Good stuff. Let’s keep the McCormick “death move” conversation going. Last year, GOLF.com published an article headlined “There’s a short-game ‘death move,’ Jordan Spieth’s coach says. Here’s how to fix it,” and you can read that story by clicking here, or by scrolling below. 

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Are you drop-kicking pitches or chips? (It’s OK to say yes. This is a safe zone. In fact, the author does, we’ll say, occasionally. Let’s continue.)

Are you blading pitches or chips? (Again, all good. The author is prone to this, as well. It’s the worst, seeing that ball shoot past the hole like an F1 car. Oye. OK, back to the story.)

Cameron McCormick has a thought as to why. 

He was talking this week through a post on his Instagram account, where he’s shared a collection of golf lessons, when the GOLF Top 100 Teacher’s not coaching Jordan Spieth and a host of other pros. This post was labeled “avoid this chipping death move” — catchy — and he identified it quickly in the accompanying video. 

“This is a pitching and chipping death move that I want you to avoid at all costs,” McCormick said. “What I want you to avoid [is] tipping your upper body at all to the trail side of your lower body. 

“It’s the reason you might hit the ground first or alternately blade it.”    

For a right-hander, that’s a right lean. For a left-hander, left lean. Doing so decreases the chances of good contact. 

The fix is easy then. Sort of. 

“So how we going to improve our contact?” McCormick asked in the video. “We’re going to tip our upper body to the lead side and keep it there throughout the stroke, whether we’re hitting low shots or lofted shots.”

For a right-hander, that’s a left lean, and for a left-hander, right lean. Of course, you might not fully know where you’re tipping your body, at least at the start. 

Here, through his post, McCormick suggested taking an alignment rod, placing it vertically along your back and shooting a face-on video. Like he did.  

Give it a shot. We’ll wait. 

Once you’re back, we’ve recently written a few more short-game stories, should you be in the market for such advice.

— Here’s GOLF’s Nick Dimengo, through GOLF Top 100 Teacher Brech Spradley, on a “glue” drill. 

— Here’s GOLF Top 100 Teacher Carol Preisinger on a secret to lofting chip shots over hazards. 

— Here’s Parker McLachlin, a GOLF Top 100 Teacher to Watch, on a simple key to executing chip shots when under pressure.    

— Here’s Dimengo, through GOLF Top 100 Teacher Kevin Sprecher, on how to “shave off up to 10 shots” by mastering chips from tight lies. 

— Here’s Dimengo, through GOLF Top 100 Teacher Trillium Rose, on a “safer” option around the greens. 

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