Fix this common flaw to stabilize the clubface and improve contact

Many golfers struggle with a common swing fault: stalling their body near impact. This leads to an unstable clubface and inconsistent contact with the ball. GOLF Top 100 Teacher Tony Ruggiero shares a method to fix this issue and improve your iron play.

Ruggiero, along with fellow GOLF Top 100 Teacher Wayne Flint, worked with Buddy Hansen, a strong amateur golfer from the Philadelphia area, on a swing fault they see at all levels of the game. Buddy's chest would stall as he approached impact. When the chest stalls, the hands and arms are forced to take over the release. This is problematic because any release pattern that relies on hand timing rather than proper body sequencing is less reliable and predictable.

For Buddy, this flaw showed up most in his iron play. He simply wasn't striking the ball as solidly as he wanted. He could hit a great shot, but the misses were inconsistent. His swing didn't need a complete overhaul; it just needed a tune-up in one specific area.

You don't have to spin your chest at top speed to play great golf, but it does need to keep moving (instead of stalling) through the downswing. Ruggiero and Flint addressed this with a series of feels and drills designed to keep Buddy's pivot moving. The entire progression can be seen in the latest episode of their Pro Work series.

How to keep from stalling in the downswing

To start, they had Buddy allow his head to drift slightly to the right as he turned back. This made it easier for his chest to complete its turn. Ruggiero likens it to winding a spring: the more fully you load the spring in the backswing, the more energy you can release on the way down.

Players who stall through impact also tend to lose their posture, with their hips moving closer to the golf ball. This pushes the swing direction out to the right, and the club approaches impact on a much steeper, more upright plane. From a ground-pressure standpoint, it often feels as though pressure moves out toward the toes of the lead foot—if it ever fully gets to the lead side at all.

Instead of standing up to create space, they wanted Buddy to keep turning his chest. One feel that really helped was paying attention to where the pressure finished in his lead foot. Rather than moving toward the toes, it needed to feel as though it was settling into the heel. This is a good indication that his body was continuing to rotate around instead of standing up.

Once you understand that sensation, try this drill. Have a friend stand facing you a safe distance away and hold a club shaft straight out at about elbow height, taking a couple of steps toward the target side. As you swing, it should feel as though the club travels around and underneath the guide shaft. If your chest stalls and you lose your posture, you’ll immediately feel as though the club wants to move upward into the shaft. (Just make sure your friend is standing far enough away that even a poor swing can’t actually hit it.)

Even highly skilled players with plenty of clubhead speed fall into this pattern because standing up out of posture creates the sensation of having more room to swing the arms faster. It’s one of golf’s classic illusions: what feels more powerful is often less efficient. Keeping the chest turning through impact improves contact, stabilizes the clubface, and ultimately produces more consistent ball speed.