Early extension is the fault nobody feels. In the downswing, instead of rotating and clearing, the hips and pelvis push toward the ball. The spine loses its address angle, the arms run out of room, and you save the shot with a flip of the hands — if you save it at all.
What it costs you
- Power: the lower body stops rotating, so speed has to come from the arms alone.
- Consistency: thin shots, blocks and a two-way miss are the classic pattern.
- Balance: the finish looks forced because the body was in the wrong place at impact.
What it looks like on video
Film face-on at chest height. Watch the hip line in the downswing: if the hips move toward the ball and your backside comes off the invisible line it held at address, that is early extension. A video review that tracks body positions through the swing makes it unmistakable — the distance from your hips to the ball shrinks before impact instead of after.
Why it usually happens
Early extension is usually a compensation, not the root fault. Common causes:
- An over-the-top move that forces the body to make room;
- Weight stuck on the trail side, so the hips can’t clear;
- A backswing too deep or too long, leaving no time to sequence properly;
- Simply never having learned to rotate with the pelvis level.
The fix starts with evidence
Before you drill, confirm the fault exists and find its cause — otherwise you will drill the symptom. Record face-on and down-the-line videos of three swings, review them, and check the sequence: weight shift, hip depth, club path. Then:
- If weight hangs back: practice step-through swings to force the shift.
- If the club comes over the top: fix the path first; the body often stops bracing.
- If it is pure habit: butt-against-a-chair drills give the hips a reference to hold.
One cause, one drill, two weeks of video-checked practice — that is the honest path. Feeling is not evidence; the camera is.