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A Malaska Golf Member wants to know about the right hand. She explains that several teachers talk about holding the club in your fingers more than the palm of your hand. The member wants to know the upsides and downsides of this.

If it’s not more in your fingers than your palm, it is a downside because you won’t be able to do the lever system and create speed.

If the club is in the palm of your right or left hand, Mike says that’s called putting or maybe chipping. You do that to stop the hinging and unhinging of the wrists when you are putting or chipping. Turning your right hand under also gives you more stability. But if you do that in full swing, you won’t be able to create speed. 

Mike shows us how he holds the club in the fingers of his right hand. He places his left hand on the handle, and the right hand wraps around and over the thumb. Mike reinforces that his fingers are what is holding the club.

Your fingers are where your control and speed are. For full swing, you want it in your fingers! Some people make the mistake of putting it in their fingers and wrapping their hands too far over the top of the club. Your hands hinge back and sit on the thumb.

Mike uses a sports connection with throwing a baseball and how you use your fingers to throw a ball. You use your fingers to hold the club. Again, the club is in your fingers with your palm at the right angle.

RIGHT HAND IN THE GRIP

Is your left arm tension free as it hinges? Try this pattern to find out.

THE LEFT ARM

A Malaska Golf Member wants to know some drills so they don’t pull their hands in on the swing instead of extending them.Most teachers who see students come into the ball and pull their arms in call this the ‘dreaded chicken wing.’Mike demonstrates how the chicken wing happens. People think that the answer is to straighten your arms on the follow-through. Mike explains this is not the case; your arms are pulling in because they must. People have more hand-eye coordination than they give themselves credit.What happens is that when people swing back, they don’t push their hips back. On the downswing, their body ends up moving closer to the ball. To hit the ball, they resort to pulling in their arms to get the clubface on the ball. Hence, the ‘chicken wing.’&nbsp;Mike explains the fix! When you swing a golf club, the thing that makes your arms straighten out is when your left hip pushes back and away. By doing this, it throws and accelerates your arms forward.When Mike has students who do the ‘chicken wing,’ he gets them to step back from address and try to hit the ball. They usually miss the first one because their arms pull in. When they hit the ball, their arms must straighten out, and the ‘dreaded chicken wing is gone.’The ‘dreaded chicken wing is an effect of people moving closer to the ball. Once you figure out that if you push your left hip back, your arms will straighten out, and the ‘chicken wing is gone.’

The Dreaded Chicken Wing

A Malaska Golf Member wants to know about the Malaska Move. Mike explains that it’s really not his move but a move that Joe Nichols taught him. Mike also says that it is a feeling.

Mike’s observation about golf today is that he sees players try to shallow the shaft on the downswing and turn and go on it. For most people who try to shallow the club, their hands will push out in front as they turn, the clubface will be open, and they will have a hard time catching the clubface up to the ball.

Joe wanted Mike to take the club back but noted that the momentum of the club wants the club to fall back away when you change directions. Joe said you must feel like you are tipping the club or pulling the handle down. This will help get the club back in front of you, so you can turn and hit the ball.

Mike says the big thing about the “Malaska Move” is that when you tip the club out, Mike’s right shoulders are moving down and not following the swing around. Doing this is not tipping the club out.

Tipping the club is about getting the club in the correct arc so the club can go and it runs into the ball. If you do this correctly without using your shoulders, the momentum of the club will get out in front of you. This allows you to turn as hard as you can into the ball.

If you let the club fall behind you on the downswing and your body turns too quickly, you get into trouble catching the club up to the ball.

THE MALASKA MOVE IS A FEELING

Sports Connect and fitness play a vital role in improving your golf swing by building on movements and instincts you already possess. Mike Malaska emphasizes understanding your body&rsquo;s capabilities and limitations to create a swing that works with your physicality, not against it. By identifying these boundaries, golfers can tailor their practice to enhance mobility and efficiency.
Instinctive movements from other sports like baseball, tennis, and basketball form the foundation for a functional golf swing. The throwing motion in baseball mirrors the action of the right hand, while a frisbee&rsquo;s throw aligns with the left hand. These familiar patterns simplify the learning process and allow players to adapt existing skills to the golf swing.
Malaska highlights the importance of recognizing that your body is a pattern machine, instinctively adopting the most efficient movements. By connecting the dots between sports and golf, players unlock a natural and intuitive way to enhance their game. Sports Connect reinforces the idea that golf isn&rsquo;t about learning entirely new motions but adapting what you already know to excel on the course.