It's good for your game

Shoulder is key

component of release

If you have any experience playing golf, you've heard the phrase "release the club." But few players understand the wide range of concepts that phrase covers, one of which has to do with your trail shoulder.

Perhaps the No. 1 cause of a bad release is something you never hear about: the failure to keep your back shoulder flowing through impact. This violates one of the most effective pieces of golf advice: During the downswing, keep everything that's moving, moving.

In the photos, a PGA Tour player is teeing off on No. 11 at the Honda Classic in West Palm Beach, Fla. It's one of the most difficult holes on the Champions course at PGA National -- long and narrow with a water hazard in front of the green and a prevailing wind blowing into the player's face.

Any flipping of the club through impact will send the ball into an untenable position. Unfortunately, many players freeze up under the pressure and swing their arms but stop their shoulders, causing the very flip they are trying to avoid.

You can tell that you've released your back shoulder correctly if your right arm is straight when you reach the pre-finish position shown in the photo on the right. It can only be this way if it kept moving as it should.

Have a friend take a picture of your swing with your cellphone and check out your pre-finish. "Inexorable" is the control word here ― there are no bursts of movement, but the flow of the shoulder is relentless.

T.J. Tomasi writes for Universal UClick.