Quick Tips to Fix a “Chicken Wing” Golf Swing

There are plenty of mistakes that you can make during a golf swing. Of course, as a golfer, you already know that.

Very few players – if any – are able to strike the ball nicely right from the start when they pick up this game. Usually, players struggle for a period of time as they learn the ropes and develop some basic mechanics.

One of the mechanical issues you may have to work through at some point is known as the ‘chicken wing.’ This is a relatively common swing mistake in the amateur game, but it doesn’t get as much attention as some other problems.

In this article, we’ll take a look at what the ‘chicken wing’ is and how you might be able to beat it.

What’s a Chicken Wing?

For a right-handed golfer, a chicken wing swing issue is going to involve the position of the left arm just after impact.

When a golf swing is working properly, the left arm will stay in close to the body as the player turns through the shot and heads for the finish. However, if a golfer is dealing with a chicken wing move, that left arm will separate from the player’s side and move awkward up and away from the body.

When viewed from the face-on angle, this move can be said to resemble a chicken wing.

Image via fittergolfers.com

Making this move is a problem for a number of reasons. For one thing, there isn’t going to be much power through the hitting area when you follow through in this manner. It is rotation that allows a golf swing to be powerful, but you aren’t rotating fully and freely if your left arm is coming up away from your side. Also, it’s likely that you will be hitting up at least slightly at impact when you make this move, and that is another no-no – especially when hitting iron shots.

With your iron shots, you want to hit down through the ball, and that’s far easier to accomplish when you keep your left arm tucked in close to your body.

The Underlying Problem

It’s easy to focus on your left arm alone (again, for a right-handed golfer) when dealing with the chicken wing but try to take a step back and see the bigger picture.

The reason your arm is moving away from your body in the first place is that you aren’t turning through the shot as you should. If your swing had better whole-body rotation, you wouldn’t be struggling with this chicken wing issue.

So, as a first step toward better mechanics, work on improving the way your body turns through the ball. Try taking some practice ‘swings’ without even holding a club – just turn your body away from the target and then turn through.

Use your legs aggressively in the downswing to build momentum and accelerate your turn. Think about the golf swing building from the ground up, meaning your lower body gets things started in the downswing and your upper body then follows along with even greater force.

If you can learn how to turn correctly, you may be surprised to find how easy it is to get rid of the chicken wing.

A Handy Drill to Cure the “Chicken Wing”

Using drills during practice is a good way to teach yourself a new skill. With regard to the chicken wing, you can perform the simple drill we’ve outlined below to help yourself get into better habits.

• At the range – or in another safe area to make a few swings – take your stance with any one of your full-swing clubs. You will also want to have an extra golf glove on hand to use for the drill.
• Before you make a swing, tuck the golf glove under your left armpit and trap it there by putting your arm back down in a standard address position. Now that the glove is trapped in place, try to make your whole swing without letting it drop to the ground.
• If you make a chicken wing move through the hitting area, the glove is sure to drop to the ground before you make it to the finish. This will quickly inform you that your swing has gone off-track, and you can work to correct the problem. Once you are able to consistently make swings while keeping that glove in place, you’ll know that you are on the way toward improved play.

Consider Your Short Game

If you are using a chicken wing action through the hitting area with your full swing, it’s possible that you are making a similar mistake in your short game – especially when hitting chip or pitch shots. This is a problem as it’s going to be hard to make solid contact without a clean release and rotation through the shot.

Again, the glove drill can come to your rescue. Hit a few short game shots with a glove tucked under your left armpit and make sure it isn’t going anywhere. As long as you keep it in place, your technique (at least with regard to the chicken wing) should be just fine.

As a side note, the story is a little different with the putter, since you aren’t rotating through impact with that club. Depending on your stroke technique, your left arm may somewhat move away from your side on the follow-through, and that might not be a problem. When putting, don’t worry about that arm’s position so much as paying attention to keeping your head steady and hands quiet while the putter swings.

Is it going to be easy to fix the chicken wing move in your swing? Nope! It’s going to be tough, and you’ll likely run into some frustrations along the way. That’s okay – it’s all part of the experience as a golfer, and you’ll look back on those struggles proudly once you get it figured out and start to hit the ball better.

Cover Image via Flickr