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Take two alignment sticks. Place one through your front belt loops. So that it is parallel to your hips. Take the other rod and hold it on the club shaft so it extends up the lead side of your body. On the back swing point the club shaft stick at the target line or just inside it. On the down swing the club shaft stick needs to come down infront of the hip line stick and behind or to the right of your trail hip. Then you swing the club into the ball. This is an exaggeration but it is what a lot of great players feel. It keeps the club in the correct arch an position relative to the rotation of your upper body.

TWO ROD RELEASE DRILL

Use the momentum of the club to create your backswing.

FRONT LOADER DRILL

In this episode of Ask Malaska Golf, Mike Malaska explores a fundamental principle that separates inconsistent ball-strikers from great ones: the synchronization of body motion and club motion through impact. The discussion begins with a sharp observation from member John, who noticed how Mike&rsquo;s hips and hands seem to work together in perfect harmony during the swing. This seemingly simple insight opens the door to a much larger conversation about how the left hip socket and the clubhead must move together &mdash; not separately &mdash; to produce solid, repeatable contact.
 Mike uses a throwing analogy to explain the concept. If you were tossing a ball at the camera, your body wouldn&rsquo;t stop and let your arm whip independently &mdash; it would all move as one fluid, instinctive motion. The same is true in golf. Yet most golfers either fire their hips too early (leaving the club stuck behind) or stall out their body (leading to a flip). In a live lesson with student Billy, Mike demonstrates how this pattern plays out in real time and shows how feeling the connection between your hip and the clubhead can immediately improve your swing. He explains that this discovery didn&rsquo;t come from textbook theory &mdash; it came from years of playing other sports, and decades of teaching golfers of every level. Once you understand the way forces move and match in the swing, you&rsquo;ll not only strike the ball better, but you&rsquo;ll also finally understand why it&rsquo;s happening &mdash; and how to repeat it under pressure.
What You&rsquo;ll Learn in This Video: &bull; Why your hip and club must move together through impact &bull; How mismatched motion leads to flipping or getting stuck &bull; Why pushing back with the hips creates proper swing timing &bull; How a simple feel unlocks fluid, coordinated movement &bull; Why motion-first mechanics are the key to lasting improvement &ldquo;If your hips outrun the club, you get stuck. If they stop, you flip. But when the hip and club match, the circles match, the forces match &mdash; and it all just works.&rdquo; &mdash; Mike Malaska
Key Takeaway: Synchronize your body and club through impact. When your left hip socket moves back at the same rate the club is coming through, you create a powerful, connected motion that eliminates flipping and builds consistency. The M-System trains this instinctively through motion-based drills that help you feel how the swing should work &mdash; not force it.
&nbsp;What You&rsquo;ll Learn in This Video: &bull; Why your hips and club must sync at impact for solid contact &bull; How mismatched motion leads to flipping, stalling, and inconsistent strikes &bull; Why pushing back with the hips helps sequence the swing naturally &bull; How a throwing motion feel improves timing, tempo, and body-club sync

Sync Your Swing For Solid Impact

Use head covers as swing guides in order to train an in to in path.  Here's how to do it safely.

HEAD COVER DRILL

Dropping your right foot back gets your right hip out of the way and makes it easier to hit balls on the range and the course.

STAGGERED STANCE PROGRESSION

Mike connects the relationship with baseball to golf and how the grip is almost identical at impact. Hitting a golf ball and a baseball is essentially the same.

BASEBALL SWING

Choosing a club depends on the loft you want to achieve.

WHICH CLUBS TO HIT

LAUNCH ANGLE - WEDGES

Tip the club out in order to get the momentum of the club working for you. If you are late, you will have to force the club to catch up. This is avoidable by tipping the club through shoulder rotation.

Tipping the Club

Swaying changes the bottom of your swing.

THE SWAY FORWARD AND BACK

How path and face make the ball curve

IFYP-Impact

Set up like you are going to hit a ball with no club. Take your lead arm back into your backswing.You will fell your trail scapula retract. Leave your lead arm at the setup position. Then once you get your trail arm back then slap the hand of your lead arm. Notice how your trail arm is below your lead arm not above. Then from there leave your trail arm in the impact position and move your lead arm around and up into the finish. To do this your lead scapula will need to retract across your rib cage. This gives a great feel for how your shoulders and your scapulas or shoulder blades work.

SLAP DRILL

Mike has received the highest honor of PGA National Teacher of The Year in 2011. He wrote, “I Feel Your Pain” in 2013 and is proud to announce the new release of this 2nd book entitled, “The Invisible Swing” in 2019. Mike produced his own DVD, You Are Your Own Swing, featuring 2 ½ hours of both golf and fitness instruction in 2004. In 2010 he was selected for PGA Southwest Section Teacher of The Year and went on to be named The National PGA Teacher of the Year In 2011. In 2017 Mike was honored to receive once again, the PGA Southwest Section Teacher of The Year Award for a second time.

Since 2000, Mike has ranked among Golf Digest’s America’s Top 50 Greatest Teachers, and currently listed in the top 20 in the nation. Mike has also been selected as Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers in America every year from 1995 to 2017. Since 2012 when the Golf Range Association of America started its list of award winners, Mike has been one of the top 50 on that list for his contribution to growing the game of golf. This award called Growth of The Game Teachers in America is yet another of his accomplishments. In 2017 he was voted the Top Teacher in Arizona by Arizona Foothills Magazine.

A graduate of Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, Mike was a college All American in 1974. He was then inducted into the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame in February 1999 and into the Utah Golf Hall of Fame in 2015. In September 2013 Mike was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award for his service to the University and his community. Mike is currently the Director of Instruction for the Nicklaus Academies Worldwide, Superstition Mountain Country Club, and a member of the National Advisory Board for TaylorMade Golf since 2002. He has been a summertime guest instructor for the prestigious Maroon Creek Golf Club in Aspen, Colorado in 2017 and 2018. As Director of Instruction for the Jack Nicklaus Golf Centers in Japan from 1992 to 1995, Mike was featured in Golf Digest Japan and was nominated for Japan’s Teacher of the Year in 1993. Then in 1996, he received Teacher of the Year for the Utah PGA Section.

As the continuing Director of Instruction for Nicklaus Academies Worldwide, Mike instructs the teachers at each of the centers around the globe. He continues to be a guest lecturer at countless corporate functions, PGA Section Seminars, PGA National Coaching and Teaching Summits, and as a guest speaker for the World Golf Fitness Summit in 2012. He has appeared numerous times on The Golf Channel as a guest instructor.

Mike Malaska

How to avoid the perils of wanting to get too good too fast.

LEARN TO SLOW DOWN

How does force actually move through your feet and what helps it work.

HOW DO YOU MOVE FORCE THROUGH YOUR FEET

Using your hands to control the face to make the ball curve the way you want it to curve.

CURVING THE BALL: FACE CONTROL

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

Place a chair so that the seat of the chair touches the back or your upper leg very close to your gluteus. Then make a backswing when you start the downswing move force up to your lead leg then sit down in the chair. Then as your arms go through the ball then stand up. So you sit down to stand up. This is necessary to create a downward force that you can use to create a lot of force into the club. If you do not load down you will never hit the ball very far.

SIT DOWN CHAIR DRILL

Instincts used in other sports, such as the transition, can be applied in golf. Like other sports, the golf swing is a movement pattern and a constant motion.

ATHLETIC INSTINCT

Mike Malaska introduces Garrett Richards for a Player Lesson and Sports Connect at Ocotillo Golf Course. Garrett, a retired MLB pitcher, previously played for the Boston Red Sox and, most recently, the Texas Rangers.Mike talks about how he had always wanted to play baseball as a kid, and he pitched until college. He loved the hand-eye coordination of the sport.Mike explains that he will look at Garrett's swing and relate that to pitching. Baseball players have great hand-eye coordination when they are hitting and throwing a ball. They already have the perfect golf swing.There is a misconception that baseball and golf are different; however, they have the same body movement patterns. You hit the ball on a different plane and at a different spot, but the swings are very similar.Garrett says that his misses are usually an over-draw to the left, and he struggles with pitch shots inside of 100 yards. He is more comfortable with 150 yards. Garrett says he tends to overthink tight lies with his wedges and catches the ball thin or fat.Garrett says he is looking for a mindset, a comfortable feeling, or a weight shift that will find the clubface more often.Mike asks Garrett how often he plays a week. He says that he uses a simulator at home and that he is a member of Seville Golf and Country Club in Gilbert, AZ. He doesn’t get out as much as he would like because of kid’s activities, but usually, it’s once or twice a week.Garrett usually warms up with a pitching wedge to loosen up. Mike watches Garrett hit a few shots to assess his swing.Mike comments that Garrett has a nice motion, which he expected, having been a professional athlete. Mike says that he watched Garrett pitch, and Garrett explains that he was a cross-body pitcher. Mike says there are a lot of things that are similar in pitching and golf, specifically how quickly you open up. In golf, if your shoulders open up too fast, you are dead, and the same is true when you are pitching.Mike explains that in golf, instead of throwing a pitch out in front of you, you have a ball on the ground, and the pitch is down there. You must rotate and stay rotated until you plant your feet. There are many similarities.Mike says he will fix Garrett’s swing fast. He wants to work on a fundamental concept in golf that Garrett is weak on. Mike elaborates that he is fighting all his natural instincts for one particular motion. Once Garrett understands this, he will get significantly better.Mike asked Garrett what type of pitch he liked the best: a fastball or a curveball. Garrett liked his slider better because he had more control over it. Based on this, Mike says he will show Garrett why he hooks the ball. Mike continues to explain that Garrett controls the type of pitch with his fingers on the ball. When you play golf, you can also control the clubface with your fingers.That is how Mike does it because Mike used to be a pitcher. Mike controls the clubface by pressuring it with his fingers to hit a draw or fade and hit it straight, just like a pitcher does with a baseball. You curve and spin the golf ball the same way you do with a baseball. The clubface becomes an extension of your hands.Mike takes Garrett’s hand and fingers and shows him how to manipulate his fingers to hit different shots, which is similar to pitching. Mike tells Garrett that he is so good at putting spin on a ball that he should be good at it with golf.Garrett hits a ball, and Mike says that Garrett is going to improve easily.

Garrett Richards-Pitching and Golf Connect

Setting gates down your target line helps you to see line correctly. Once you set the gates properly. Then if when you set up over the ball the gates look wrong. You then correct your eye line until the gates line up. This helps you identify the issues in your stroke. Your stroke might be perfect but you see line incorrectly.

GATE & YOUR ABILITY TO SEE THE LINE

Before you make a full swing, practice lining your arm up. Learn why this is so crucial.

DRIVING

There needs to be room for your arms to swing. Practice nmaking swings with your right foot back.

HOW YOUR RIGHT HIP WORKS

If your body gets too close to the ball, you won't be able to swing. Practice getting your center away from the ball.

YOUR PELVIS AND THE GOLF SWING

Hi, my name is Matt Baker, and I&rsquo;m a Malaska Golf-certified coach based here in the UK. Today&rsquo;s question comes from Keith Sumner, and it&rsquo;s about a recent change he made to his grip. Keith watched a video and transitioned from holding the club in the palm of his hands to gripping it more in his fingers.
For full shots, this is exactly where we want to be. Using the lever system effectively requires gripping the club in the fingers, which also provides a much more secure hold. If you&rsquo;ve noticed wear on the top of your glove, it&rsquo;s likely because the club is moving through your hands due to being gripped too much in the palm.
Keith also mentioned that he tried a friend&rsquo;s club with slightly thinner grips and found it easier to hold the club securely in his fingers, particularly with his left hand. However, with thicker grips, he struggled to achieve the correct finger placement. He asked if this issue is common when transitioning from a palm grip to a fingers grip. The answer is yes&mdash;it&rsquo;s relatively common, but it varies based on individual hand size and grip preferences.
Different manufacturers, like Ping, offer grip fitting systems tailored to individual needs. Ping, for instance, uses colored grip sizes based on hand measurements. They measure the width of your palm to the crease in your middle finger and other dimensions to recommend the ideal grip size. I personally switched to a smaller grip size (aqua instead of the standard white) for the same reason as Keith: to feel more secure and achieve the proper finger placement. This adjustment allowed me to &ldquo;pinch&rdquo; more effectively with my little finger and improved my overall grip.
Grip sizes vary greatly between players, and I highly recommend getting yours checked or fitted. Ping&rsquo;s online guide is a great starting point. The goal of gripping the club in the fingers is to create a stable, secure hold, which ultimately improves swing mechanics and performance. Keith, I&rsquo;m thrilled to hear that this change has already made a difference in your game. Keep practicing and working through the system&mdash;it sounds like you&rsquo;re on the right track!

Stop Glove Wear-Finger Grip

Rotating your left arm out of the top is what pins your arm against your side and gets your club in the correct position.

ROTATING THE LEFT ARM IN THE DOWNSWING

INTRO TO PITCHING

Hale Irwin shares a story of what he picked up from his dad.

FINISH WHAT YOU START

Joe Nichols viewed the shoulders as a pulley system when it came towards the beginning of the backswing.  He ingeniously linked the hips, the hands, and the clubhead lever system so that it was impossible to get the clubhead behind you.  This is part 1 of Joe's backswing.

PULLEY SYSTEM - BACKSWING - PART 1

Use how you stand to find your natural posture

NATURAL POSTURE

(How to Keep Improving After the Program Ends) You&rsquo;ve completed all 21 days&mdash;now comes the most important part: staying on track and continuing to improve. In this final video, Mike Malaska reveals exactly what to do next. Success in golf doesn&rsquo;t come from endless tips or chasing new techniques&mdash;it comes from following a process. This program gave you that structure. Now, Mike encourages you to turn the 21-day sequence into your long-term training system. Each practice session should begin with short game fundamentals, build into motion and face control, and finish with speed and full swings. You don&rsquo;t need to do it all every day&mdash;but you do need to repeat the sequence consistently. This is the same process Mike uses personally and with his students&mdash;from beginners to tour players. Mike also shares a powerful story from his time in Japan, where he taught a group of students over 11 weeks using just seven core drills. Every week, they chose the one drill that challenged them most&mdash;and focused on it until they mastered it. The result? They made faster, more lasting progress than any other class. That&rsquo;s the real secret to continued improvement: find your weakest link and train it until it becomes your strength. This closing lesson ties directly into the M-System philosophy: Master, Maximize, Maintain. You&rsquo;ve now built the foundation. Keep refining it, and your game will keep evolving.
What You&rsquo;ll Learn About What Comes Next: &bull; How to build a practice routine using the 21-day structure &bull; Why the most difficult drill should become your weekly focus &bull; How Mike practices every day&mdash;starting with short shots, then working up &bull; Why consistency in your routine beats random tips or YouTube swings &bull; How to use the drills as a testing system for long-term mastery
Key Takeaway: You don&rsquo;t need more swing tips&mdash;you need a repeatable process. Pick the hardest drill and master it. Then repeat. Stay inside the system, and your game will keep getting better. This isn&rsquo;t the end of your journey. It&rsquo;s the start of mastering your swing for life.

What's Next

The trail arm works the same in most all shots. It lines up with the shaft of the club you are hitting at impact. Start with your putter. Set up with just your trail arm. Your wrist is parallel to the club face. Then hit puts just using your trail arm. Your forearm should line up with the shaft. It pushes the shaft through the ball. The key is that your forearm does not twist. You can then do the same thing with your lead arm. The task is to make a stroke where the arm does not rotate. Then put both hands on the putter and hit some putts. This is the same relationship of your trail arm with even your driver.

IMPACT DRILL - PUTTING

This, is the 18th green for the members. It was the ninth hole in the last round of the Utah Open. This was probably one of the most influential shots I hit in the round, showing my confidence in how I was striking the golf ball. Now, if you look back there, you can see the members' tee.But if you go a little to the right, way back there, that's the very back tee. It's about 175, 180, 185 yards from here, and the pin was right here. So you've got the pin, the bunker, and you're in a canyon.If you miss right, you don't want to short-side yourself. The pin was way over on the right, with the bunker in front, and it's a tough bunker shot. If you miss right of the bunker, you're likely making double bogey. So here we are with this setup, which is perfect for hitting a fade. But because of the way I was playing, every shot I hit was solid, with a little draw.I was hitting about a 5- to 10-yard draw on everything. So where did I aim? The pin's here, and I’m back there. I aimed almost in the center of the bunker, and I hit it. It started in the center of the bunker and hooked in. I hit it about six feet from the hole and made birdie, which gave me a two-shot lead—an important moment for me.My point is, I was so comfortable with the shot I was hitting that the trouble didn’t even come into play. People would ask me, "You started it over that bunker. What if it didn’t hook?" Well, I hooked everything. Every time I hit it solid, it would draw 5 or 10 yards. This highlights that, to be a really good player, you need a shot where, if you make a good swing and hit it solid, you know what the ball will do.You can’t be trying to hit it both ways. Initially, everyone wants to learn to hit draws because your club comes from the inside, squares the face, and generates the most distance. That’s how I started. I played that draw almost exclusively for the first six years of my golf career.I was really good. I won this tournament, I won some college tournaments, and I was playing great. Then suddenly, someone said, "Oh, we’ve got to change who you are. You should never have tried that. You should hit the middle of the green and fade it to the hole." So, a lot of things changed. They changed my grip, they changed my swing, and all of a sudden, I couldn’t just stand up and make a swing knowing what the ball would do. I knew I’d hit it solid, but it might fade a little or hook a little.That uncertainty made me defensive, which is where most golfers are. The other approach is being offensive, like I was before, because I knew that if I hit it solid, it would always draw 5 to 10 yards. It wasn’t going to fade—no chance. Learning to have a consistent shot where you curve the ball the same way every time is crucial for playing your best.Now, this was the first tee and my first shot of the day. It was probably one of the most important tee shots I hit all day. I had warmed up on the range, found a rhythm, hit it solid with a little draw, and this hole set up perfectly for that. I just aimed at the left edge of the trees out there and hit my draw.At that point, you're no longer thinking about the swing itself. You're just feeling the motion you're going to make to hit the shot you want. It was a good shot, right in play.That first swing was one of the most important shots of the day because I got it in play, hit it past everyone, and gained a lot of confidence relative to the guys I was playing with.Okay, so now I’m here, as a senior, just short of the first hill. When I played the tournament, my tee shot would have been about 80 yards farther. I was right up here—there’s the 100-yard marker—where I could see the top of the flag. My tee shot was up here, and I had this shot left.I made birdie on number one, and then I came to number two. This hole, if you look at it, has out-of-bounds left, but you can see how it sets up for a nice, soft draw. I’ve always aimed at the hill, right over the white tees. There’s a hump, and I’d aim at it and draw the ball back into the fairway.Visually, this course set up really well for me. A lot of golf courses come down to how they set up visually for a player and what you need to do to feel comfortable.Even now, at my age, I still hit the draw. That was always my shot. They tried to take it away from me for a while, but I’ve returned to it, and I’m hitting it more consistently now than when I was trying to mix in fades and different swings. Back then, with the changes in my grip and swing, I was trying to hit fades and draws instead of just hitting one solid shot.Now, let’s talk about this tunnel. We had about 5,000 people out here, and most of them were following the last two groups. People follow the players they like. When we got to this hole on the back nine, the crowds walked with us, and the tunnel felt so claustrophobic. There were so many people around, and it was packed. I felt really edgy.But when I came out of the tunnel, it was like I experienced freedom. Everything calmed down. The same thing happened when I approached this par-3, which was the ninth hole for us. When I came out of the tunnel to hit my tee shot, I was much more relaxed. The tunnel had made me feel uneasy, but once I emerged, everything was calm again. I tapped into that feeling—high energy, but calm at the same time."

Managing Pressure

Get the club out in front of you and feel the club's momentum at impact. This will prevent you from getting stuck, bringing the club around to the left.

GETTING STUCK BEHIND AT IMPACT

Preparing your golf bag for a tournament.

PREPARE YOUR BAG

Grab a pair of drumsticks and practice tempo. Once you understand this, bring it to your golf swing.

GO SLOW TO GO FAST

The golf swing is a circle. The idea is to hit the ball at the apex of the circle or arch. The club then continues around in the circle. Only for a very short distance. A few inches is the club moving down the target line. But that is so small. If you try to swing down the line you get in the way of the natural forces that create acceleration.There are no straight lines in a circle.

Swing Down the Target Line

A quick reminder of how tense shoulders lock your arms.

SHOULDERS AND TENSION

In this first video of the Player Lesson series, Mike Malaska works with Jimmy Pearcy to uncover the unique elements of his "golf DNA" and build upon them to improve his game. Jimmy, a 24-handicap golfer, is eager to find more consistency in his swing, stay in play off the tee, and reduce his reliance on scrambling. His ultimate goal is to lower his handicap and enjoy a more reliable golf game.The lesson begins with Jimmy sharing his background and objectives, explaining that he struggles with striking the ball consistently and often finds himself out of position on the course. Mike, ever focused on personalized coaching, takes the time to understand Jimmy not only as a golfer but as a learner and a person. Through their conversation, Mike learns that Jimmy is analytical and thrives on structure, preferring to follow clear, step-by-step instructions when learning new skills. This insight shapes how Mike approaches the lesson, ensuring that he delivers information in a way that resonates with Jimmy.Jimmy also shares his professional journey, transitioning from a career in education to consulting in technology sales for school districts. His ability to bridge the gap between administrators and technical staff reflects his knack for understanding and communicating complex ideas—a trait that influences how he learns and processes golf instruction. Mike uses this as a foundation to explain how learning styles vary and why it’s essential to present information in a way that aligns with a person’s natural tendencies.To gain a better understanding of Jimmy’s physical movements and natural athleticism, Mike engages him in a series of simple yet revealing exercises. Using a baseball bat, Mike has Jimmy simulate swings and practice tapping a tree to observe his range of motion and body coordination. He also asks Jimmy to throw golf balls into the fairway, further analyzing how his body moves during these actions. Through these exercises, Mike identifies that Jimmy’s hips, shoulders, and arms tend to move together in unison, with minimal separation. This finding highlights the influence of Jimmy’s athletic background, which includes over a decade of playing travel softball after college.During the session, Jimmy mentions a torn labrum in his hip and ongoing tightness, which affects his range of motion. Mike reassures him that these physical traits are not a limitation but rather factors that must be considered when refining his golf swing. He critiques the common industry approach of forcing all players into a standard model, emphasizing instead the importance of tailoring instruction to fit each golfer’s unique biomechanics and natural tendencies.Mike introduces the concept of "golf DNA" to explain how each player’s natural movement patterns, athletic history, and physical traits form the foundation of their ideal golf swing. For Jimmy, his softball background and instinctive coordination provide a strong starting point. Rather than attempting to overhaul these patterns, Mike’s goal is to build upon them, adapting techniques that feel natural and effective for Jimmy.Throughout the lesson, Mike’s coaching philosophy becomes evident. He focuses on leveraging the strengths and abilities Jimmy already possesses, rather than attempting to mold him into an arbitrary ideal. By aligning the swing with Jimmy’s natural motions and respecting his physical limitations, Mike ensures that the changes are both practical and sustainable.This initial session provides Jimmy with valuable insights into his game and his learning process. He gains a deeper appreciation for how his unique "golf DNA" influences his swing and begins to understand how to work with, rather than against, his natural tendencies. With Mike’s guidance, Jimmy is set on a path to achieving greater consistency and lowering his handicap by playing to his strengths.

Understanding Your Golf DNA

Setting up so this shot doesn't end up well left.

ABOVE YOUR FEET

The Split Grip Drill is excellent to practice if you struggle with the Lever System. Working on this will help with distance and control.

SPLIT GRIP DRILL

In this episode of Ask Malaska Golf, Malaska Certified Coach Todd Hugely answers a common but crucial swing question: &ldquo;What&rsquo;s the best way to train L to L&mdash;and why is it so important?&rdquo; The answer: It&rsquo;s 90% of your golf swing. L to L isn&rsquo;t just a drill&mdash;it&rsquo;s a blueprint for how the golf swing should work. Todd explains that mastering the transition from one "L" (in the backswing) to the opposite "L" (in the follow-through) teaches golfers how to create leverage, pivot correctly, and generate effortless speed. For many students, learning L to L has been a game-changer. It eliminates common flaws like flipping, early extension, and lunging at the ball. Todd walks through how to build this motion step by step, starting with single-arm drills that help golfers isolate and feel the proper hinge and pivot. Then, he shows how to blend in the trail hip and body rotationto complete the motion without forcing or overthinking. This lesson reflects the M-System&rsquo;s commitment to building your swing on natural movement patterns, refined through drills and awareness&mdash;not rigid positions. When golfers trust the pivot and stop muscling the club, the swing becomes repeatable, powerful, and easier on the body.
What You&rsquo;ll Learn in This Video: &bull; Why L to L represents 90% of your golf swing &bull; How most golfers misuse their hands and arms coming down from the top &bull; Why the single-arm pivot drills are essential for building proper feel &bull; How to stop flipping or dragging the handle through impact &bull; How to use your trail hip to transfer force without over-rotating &bull; Why relaxing your wrists creates speed instead of tension &bull; How L to L teaches you to control the clubface and strike the ball clean &ldquo;Most golfers try to muscle the swing. But when you let the pivot work, you unlock effortless power.&rdquo; &ndash; Todd Hugely &ldquo;The key is training each arm to feel the L to L motion&mdash;then letting the body rotation complete the swing.&rdquo; &ndash; Todd Hugely
Key Takeaway: L to L is more than a position&mdash;it&rsquo;s the foundation of an efficient, repeatable golf swing. By training your levers, learning to pivot naturally, and resisting the urge to muscle the club, you&rsquo;ll develop a swing that&rsquo;s faster, more consistent, and easier to repeat under pressure.

L To L-The Move That Makes the Swing

There is a fundamental difference in what it meant to have a tour card in '85 versus now. Players these days lack the urgency that playing used to require. This is due to one single factor. Hear how it negatively and positively impacts the players.

HOW THE TOUR CHANGED

Do sports really connect? Well, your body is a pattern machine. Let's talk about fitness, nutrition, and how it all works together. There are two basic movement patterns: 1. Throw (or Lag in Golf) 2. Hit (Impact) Baseball and Golf Connect Tennis and Golf Connect Basketball and Golf Connect Hockey and Golf Connect Soccer and Golf Connect PickleBall and Golf Connect Bowling and Golf Connect Ping-Pong and Golf Connect Football and Golf Connect Racquetball and Golf Connect SPORTS CONNECT&trade;

Sports Connect-Overview

The swing game is a program that teaches young people simple movemen patterns.

THE SWING GAME

In this episode of Ask Malaska Golf, Mike Malaska answers a frequently asked question from members: How do I shift my weight properly in the golf swing? Rather than relying on conscious leg drive or forcing a lateral shift, Mike explains a better, more natural solution, let the momentum of the club create the shift for you. Drawing on comparisons from other sports like baseball, Mike breaks down how movement happens instinctively when you understand how force and momentum interact. As the club begins its backswing, Mike explains how your body should be pushing in the opposite direction of the club&rsquo;s movement, creating stored energy in your trail foot. Then, when the club changes direction and starts moving forward, that momentum matches your push, and naturally transfers you onto your lead side. Instead of trying to manually &ldquo;push off&rdquo; at the top or consciously drive into the left leg, Mike shows that your transition happens earlier than most players think, and it happens because of how your body reacts to the club&rsquo;s movement &ndash; not because you force it.
What You&rsquo;ll Learn in This Video: &bull; Why weight shift happens naturally when you understand club momentum &bull; How to move right-to-left without forcing leg drive &bull; Why trying to &ldquo;push off&rdquo; too late causes timing issues &bull; How force transfer starts before the top of the backswing
Key Takeaways Weight shift happens before the top of your backswing &ndash; not after. Don&rsquo;t force leg drive &ndash; let the club&rsquo;s momentum move you naturally. Pushing too late creates tension, poor sequencing, and inconsistent timing. The M-System teaches weight shift through feel, not force. Think reaction, not effort &ndash; your body shifts because the club leads the movement. The transition begins as the club starts down, not once it&rsquo;s at the top.
&ldquo;Let the force of the club shift you. You&rsquo;re not waiting to push. You&rsquo;re already up to your left side before the club reaches the top.&rdquo; &ndash; Mike Malaska

Stop Forcing Weight Shift

Mike Malaska works on wedges and irons with Austin Graham in the Malaska Golf Studio. Mike has worked with Austin for six years and historically has coached Austin with the idea of "I want to feel." You see the shot you have hit and its trajectory and get a feel for what you are doing. What the numbers say are just the numbers. Mike also adds that's what good players do. Their thought process is what they want the ball to do, and what does it feel like to get it to do that? They aren't necessarily wrapped up in perfect numbers.

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When Mike watched Austin make some warmup shots, he didn't necessarily like how Austin moved in his golf swing, and it is something Mike wants to fix.

Austin has a question for Mike regarding wedges. He feels good about his hands, arms, and grip, but when he gets into his right cleat, he feels that the turning of his hips isn't natural. Austin also feels like he is sliding his body forward. In tournaments, Austin goes back to the motion of throwing a ball because his legs and hips aren't doing what he wants them to do. Austin's desire is clean up his swing sequence with Mike.

Mike gets Austin to make a couple of swings to observe his golf swing. Austin swings into the TruGolf simulator to get some readings. Mike notices he swings slightly inside out, but the launch angle on his sand wedge is perfect.

On the second shot, the numbers look good. Mike says that relative to the numbers, it looks great; however, relative to what his body is doing, that's a different story. Austin has issues with his right leg and right hip. This is something that Mike wants to explore in the following video.

PLAYING GOLF WITH FEEL

When you are practicing make sure that you start out with small swings at slow speeds. Then gradually add more swing length and more push away for acceleration through the ball. Then go to a longer club. Try your driver. But as you lengthen the club start also slowing the swing down. Then reintroduce speed. If you can not control the club then back the speed and swing length down. Then gradually build it back up. 

ADDING LONGER CLUBS & MORE SPEED

Mike Malaska shows us how there are three ways to hit a draw.

First, you can set the clubface closed and make your normal swing. That will make the ball draw.

Second, set up, and move the ball back in your stance, making your swing path come more from the inside, which will also make it draw.

Third, you can also swing and turn the face over with your hands to make the ball draw. Your hands can adjust the clubface and make the ball draw.

When you hit a tennis ball with a racket, you can hit it straight or add topspin. Your hands determine what the face does.

Mike learned how to make a draw through his experience pitching in baseball. Mike uses the pressure of his fingers to manipulate the clubface's direction on the ball, just like a baseball pitcher makes when throwing a fastball or a slider.

The critical thing is that you need what works best for you on the range, then take it to the course. 

There is no right or wrong way to make the ball draw, fade, or go high or low. Try experimenting on the course and determine which method suits you the best.

HOW TO MAKE THE BALL DRAW

The momentum of the clubhead should move you through the shot.

FEELING THE CLUBHEAD

There is a line that separates practice and preparation from actually competing.  Here are the two sides of the line.

THE LINE YOU CROSS

This drill helps with getting rid of tension. Creating a proper arm swing. First you stand on just your lead foot. You drop your trail foot back and just use your toe for balance. You should be able to swing and not fall off balance. Your arms have to move much more than your body. Then change and use your trail foot only. Then put both feet together and do the same thing. This promotes a free arm swing necessary for especally distance. 

ASHLEY - 3 STEPS TO BETTER ARM SWING

Tossing the club in either hand keeps your wrists relaxed. The trick is to maintain this in the swing.

CLUB TOSS 101

ADIDAS PARTNER VIDEO

For some reason, people think that they must turn their bodies in order to hit the ball. This body motion disrupts the spine angle and throws you off completely. Here's what your body wants.

ROTATE SHOULDERS WITHOUT TURNING

Mike Malaska shows us how there are three ways to hit a draw.

First, you can set the clubface closed and make your normal swing. That will make the ball draw.

Second, you can put the ball back in your stance, making your swing path come more from the inside, which will also make it draw. 

Third, you can swing and use your hands to make the clubface work. This is ideal for putting you in pressure situations and trying all three ways to hit a draw. The critical thing is that you need what works best for you on the range and then take it to the course.

There is no right or wrong way to make the ball draw or fade and go high and go low. Try some experimenting on the course and figure out which way suits you the best.

BEST WAY TO HIT A DRAW

From going broke to becoming #1 the tour.

FROM RAGS TO RICHES

Malaska Golf Certified Instructor, Pepe Cortez, explains how this drill can help separate your shoulders from dominating your putting stroke.

RIGHT ARM PUTTING DRILL

Revisiting Nibley Park is like revisiting my childhood. Learn how the course helped improve my game.

THE FIFTH HOLE AT NIBLEY

If you understand momentum, you can put as much power as you want into your swing. If you don't understand this, you will be in trouble.

MOMENTUM WITH GIULIA SERGAS - 201811

Golf has gone through many phases. Learn how golf has changed since when me and Andy first started playing.

HOW GOLF HAS EVOLVED

In this fourth episode of the Malaska Golf Player Lesson, Mike Malaska joins Jeff Coburn and Jeff Krull on the first tee to discuss one of the most important parts of the game&mdash;how to drive the golf ball with consistency and control. The lesson begins with course management. Mike explains how amateurs often play from tees that are far too long for their average distance. By choosing the correct yardage&mdash;typically 6,000 to 6,400 yards for players who drive the ball around 220&ndash;240 yards&mdash;you set yourself up for shorter approach shots, more greens in regulation, and a more enjoyable round.
 From there, the focus shifts to swing tempo and balance. Mike demonstrates how to find your personal swing speed by making smooth, controlled practice swings until balance is lost&mdash;then dialing it back just enough to regain control. He reminds both players that rhythm and tempo, not brute force, create repeatable distance and accuracy. Once the body feels in sync, Mike introduces the concept of face control&mdash;the real key to hitting straighter drives. He shows how professional golfers maintain awareness of the clubface through the hitting zone, while amateurs often make beautiful practice swings with no awareness of where the face is pointing. Mike demonstrates how to integrate face awareness into practice swings, ensuring that the clubface delivers the desired shot shape when it matters.
 As both Jeffs step up to hit, Mike emphasizes the process that separates pros from weekend players: make a swing, evaluate what happened, and make one correction before the next shot. He encourages them to identify what they felt, where balance was lost, and how the face moved through the ball. If the result is good, replay it mentally; if it&rsquo;s off, make one small fix and move on.
 This session highlights the mental and physical side of driving&mdash;how choosing the right tee, maintaining smooth tempo, and learning face control leads to consistent tee shots. More importantly, it reinforces Mike&rsquo;s philosophy that golf improvement comes from awareness and evaluation, not repetition without purpose.
 By the end of the lesson, both players are making confident swings, finding fairways, and learning to analyze their shots the same way tour professionals do.
 Key Takeaways Play the Right Tees: Choose a yardage that matches your average drive for more fun and better scoring. Tempo Creates Control: Swing as fast as you can while maintaining balance and rhythm. Face Awareness: Every good swing controls where the clubface points through impact. Evaluate Every Shot: Replay good swings, fix bad ones, and move forward with purpose. Confidence Comes from Awareness: When you understand your tendencies, the driver becomes your best friend.

Drive With Complete Control

A Malaska Golf Member has a question about Joe Nichols and the Corner Drill and wants to know what it means.Joe would say when you set up to the ball and swing the club back, you could draw a line from the bottom of the handle to the outside of your right foot. Mike places a tee in the ground at that point. This is what Joe called a corner. He had another corner, which was on the opposite side of his left foot. Mike places another tee there.What Joe wanted you to do on the backswing was to make sure that the handle was pointing down and in line with the corner of the first tee. You took the club to the top and hit the first tee again on the downswing.This is a great drill because you have to hit the corner twice, and this prevents you from moving up and into the ball. This is a great visual concept.The Member can hit the first corner but has difficulty hitting the second one. Mike explains that this plays right into the M-System. As you swing down, your left leg pushes your left hip out of the way, which allows you to get plenty of space to hit the handle over the second tee.If you slide your body forward or don’t push your hip back, it is hard to get the handle over the tee. It’s about moving away from the ball to create space to hit both corners. Mike demonstrates how to hit both corners. It’s about how your body moves.

Joe Nichols Corner Drill

Mike Malaska clarifies for a Malaska Golf member about Joe Nichols and the pivot point of the right elbow and pivoting of the club. He thought they looked different. When Joe Nichols talked about the right elbow, he wanted you to feel that you pivoted the club immediately on the backswing. Your right elbow pivots on the backswing, the handle of the club pivots on the downswing, and then the elbow pivots again. Your elbow is pivoting your arm externally and internally rotating your arm. The two pivot points must happen parallel to each other. You don’t want your club to dip and find yourself trying to catch the club up. Joe was big on having the right elbow and club coming down to its pivot points and then pivoting together into the ball. Ensure the elbow rotates in the shoulder socket and doesn’t move back or slide away from your body.

PIVOTING OF THE CLUB

Mr. Masleck asks for clarification on weight shift. This is a great request and I want to spend the time on this because weight shift, force transfer, or whatever you may call it. It doesn't matter, it is a Top Ten concept that you need to understand if you want to be a good golfer. This is actually bigger than a golf thing; this is a human development thing. In order to create the forces you need at impact, it is important that you initiate your motion correctly from the start of the swing. 

When you swing a golf club, you start moving onto your lead foot first. Before you even move the club, you're slightly loading your lead side so you can move (or shift) to your trailing side. Then as you begin your backswing and begin to bring the club up, you push with your lead leg and load up your trail leg. By the time you start your downswing, you've already shifted your weight back to the lead leg, loading it so that it can push in time with your downswing.

I wouldn't recommend the "swing to the top" method. There is no top in the golf swing. There is a start and a finish.

If you're right-handed, it's Left, Right, Left, Hit.
If you're left-handed, it is Right, Left, Right, Hit.

LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, HIT - WEIGHT SHIFT IN THE SWING

Now that you know how to waggle to get the club to do what you want it to do, here is how to incorporate your body into your waggle.

INCORPORATE YOUR BODY

The golf swing is one fluid motion. Once you can identify what your impact position looks like, practice making small swings.

LOWER BODY AND THE LEFT HIP

Moving on from setup, Brian Gott covers putting tempo on Day 2 of the putting challenge. Feeling what tempo works for you is essential and personal as everyone is different. Practice putting about 15 feet from the hole and find your putting cadence. This is either 1-2 or 1-2-3 and practice saying this faster or slower. Discover what tempo is right for you and keep it the same. 

Another detail to pay attention to is that too many people have a very long forward stroke length. A good tempo allows you to be consistent with your putts and ensures you are longer on the backswing and have more energy into the ball. This tempo will also transition throughout the golf swing. Work on your tempo and rhythm, and you will get a lot better.

Day 2 Tempo

Instinctively if you take the club in your lead hand to hit something you will put the club more in the fingers. Your hand will be in what is called a strong position. When you chip the ball with just that hand you will not want to rotate the face. Your wrist just hinges back and forth as your arm swings. Also if you put the club in your trail hand. To hit something or to chip a ball. Once you have the club in your fingers. You will just flex and extend your wrist. You will not twist your hands. It does not make sense. You then just put both hands on the club in those positions and start the swing. Here is where my instinct was correct. I only wish I would have stayed there.

Grip Instinct

A Malaska Golf Member has a question about how the hands work. When the member changes her grip, her left wrist still collapses when she gets to the top. This will cause multiple problems.Mike comments that if you have the correct grip and your wrist collapses, you have a significantly good chance of getting back to the ball. It is even better if the wrist doesn’t collapse. If your grip is correct, you can get away with having your wrist collapse at the top. As soon as the club comes down in the swing, force will square the clubface.So, how do you get to feel what you are supposed to do without going back to what is comfortable? Your body will always resort back to what it has always done. What you need to do is keep reinforcing what you want.&nbsp;A good way to do this is to swing back, set your wrists, stop, and then swing to the top. Then you swing down and run your club into the ball. The key is not to change your hands from there. Then, you will start to feel how it should work at the top of your swing because you have already set it.

How Your Hands Work

How your body moves is an important part of the swing. It is also a big speed and control producer if it works correctly. But if it is trained incorrectly it can make it almost impossible to reach your speed and control potential. It can also potentially create patterns that can lead to injury.

Body Motion

Tension can kill your game. Practice being relaxed.

CREATING SPEED

Mike Malaska discusses head motion with a Malaska Golf member. Sometimes it can be helpful to have someone hold your head still or use a stick to keep it stable. But you need to be careful as you can hurt your neck.

Most often, your head reacts to what your hips and legs are doing. When Mike watches someone whose head is moving incorrectly, it is usually because their lower body isn’t doing what it should. Mike wants you to feel how your head reacts to what your lower body is doing. Be careful about just focusing on your head.

If you fix what your lower body is doing, your head does what it should.

CORRECTING HEAD MOTION

PERFORM WHILE UNCOMFORTABLE

For some reason, people think that they must turn their bodies in order to hit the ball. This body motion disrupts the spine angle and throws you off completely. Here's what your body wants.

Body Motion and Impact

When you set up to the ball. The way you move the club drastically influences how you take the club away and also how you swing. These small movements called a waggle program what you want your swing to do. It is critical that you make these motions that will help your swing function the way you want it to. As you make your waggle bigger and bigger it becomes your swing. Or the feel of what you want your swing to produce. 

WAGGLE DRILL

Knowing how the handle and bounce works are the first things to gain familiarity with for hitting these lob shots. Here's how you practice that.

Lob Shot-Fundamentals

Before adding speed to your driver, you must first have control.

DRIVER EFFICIENCY

Once you have a proper grip then it becomes how your hands control the face. To learn this you need to hit different shots. How your hands manipulate the face is what makes the ball curve. You need to curve the ball to the left, to the right, and be able to hit it straight. Practicing these curves until you can make them happen on command is a basic skill and task. It is very important that you have this control before you move too much speed. You are only as good as your ability to control the curve on the ball or the face.

Face Control

Mike works with MLB Hall of Fame Pitcher Goose Gossage.

WHO ARE YOU GOING TO TRICK

Harry Hooker works on chipping for this Mulligan Monday.

Harry sets up a target line. Typically his swing goes out to the right, so Harry needs to figure out how to swing around to the left.

At first, you might hit it to the left because the club goes left.

The solution is to open the clubface, and the ball should go straight when the club goes left.

Harry Hooker Chipping Open the Clubface

Mike sits down with MLB Hitting Coach Craig Wallenbrock and team to discuss the similarities between the golf swing and the baseball swing.