How to Cure the Chicken Wing Golf Swing

That frustrating bend in your lead arm right after impact, often called the chicken wing, is one of the most common power-killers in golf. It feels weak because it is weak, robbing you of effortless speed and crisp, consistent ball striking. This article will show you exactly what causes the chicken wing and, more importantly, give you a handful of straightforward, practical drills to fix it for good and achieve that powerful extension you see with skilled players.

What is the Chicken Wing Golf Swing?

Simply put, the “chicken wing” describes the look of your lead arm (your left arm, for a right-handed player) breaking down through the impact zone and into your follow-through. Instead of staying relatively straight and extending towards the target after hitting the ball, your lead elbow bends and points outwards, away from your body. This makes your arm look like, you guessed it, a chicken wing.

This isn't just about looking strange, it's a major flaw that signals a significant loss of energy. When that lead arm bends, you’re essentially pulling the club handle inward instead of releasing the clubhead outward. This premature bending dramatically slows down the clubhead, leading to a cascade of problems:

• Massive Loss of Power: Extension is a key speed-producer. By pulling in, you slam on the brakes right when you should be accelerating.
• Inconsistent Contact: This move often leads to thin shots, pulls to the left, or weak slices as you compensate to try and get the clubface on the ball.
• No Compression: Say goodbye to that pure, "mashed" feeling. The chicken wing prevents you from compressing the ball against the clubface for that penetrating flight.

Think of it like trying to crack a whip. The power comes from the wave of energy traveling all the way to the tip. If you fold the whip in half halfway through the motion, the crack fizzles out. Your golf swing is the same, the chicken wing is folding your whip.

The Root Causes: Why the Chicken Wing Appears

The chicken wing isn't the real problem, it's a symptom of a deeper issue in the swing. To cure it, you have to understand what’s causing it. For 99% of golfers, it comes from one of these core swing faults.

Cause 1: An "Over The Top" Swing Path

This is the big one. An "over the top" move is when you start your downswing by throwing your hands, arms, and shoulders out and away from your body, causing the club to travel on a steep, out-to-in path. From this position, if you were to keep your arms extended, you would swing violently to the left and miss the ball or hit a massive pull-slice. Your body knows this instinctively. So, to save the shot, your brain sends a rescue signal: "Pull the arm in to make space and get the club back to the ball!" The chicken wing becomes a compensation - a brilliant athletic move to fix a terrible swing path, but a destructive one for your golf game.

Cause 2: A Stalled Body Rotation

Remember, the golf swing is a rotational action. The power comes from the turning of your hips and torso. A common issue is when a player stops this body rotation through the impact zone. Their chest points at the ball for too long instead of rotating through toward the target. When the body stops turning, the arms have no choice but to take over and swing independently. This "all-arms" swing requires a lot of manipulation to square the clubface, and a common way to do that is flicking with the hands and pulling the arm in - hello, chicken wing.

Cause 3: The Myth of "Keeping Your Head Down"

We’ve all been told to “keep your head down.” While the intention is good (to prevent you from looking up too early), it's often misinterpreted. When golfers take this literally, they lock their head and neck in place, looking down at the ground long after the ball is gone. This act physically blocks your lead shoulder from turning. If your shoulder can't turn, your chest can't turn. And if your chest can’t turn... you guessed it, your body rotation stalls, and the arms pull in to compensate. Your chin should be up, and your head should rotate naturally with your shoulders as you swing through to the finish.

The Cure: Fix Your Chicken Wing with These Drills

Alright, you know the 'what' and the 'why,' so let's get to the 'how.' The key to fixing the chicken wing is to train your arms and body to work together as a synchronized unit. These drills will help you feel the proper mechanics of connection and release.

Drill 1: The Headcover Under the Armpit

This is a classic for a reason - it works. It teaches you the feeling of "connection," forcing your arms to stay in sync with your body's turn.

1. Take a headcover or a small towel and tuck it into the armpit of your lead arm (left armpit for righties).
2. Start by making half-swings (from waist-high to waist-high) without dropping the headcover. You should still be holding it after impact.
3. To keep the headcover in place, you’ll discover that you must turn your body through the shot. You can't just swing with your arms.
4. Once you're comfortable with half-swings, gradually work up to full-speed swings. The feeling you're cultivating is your arm staying "connected" to the turning of your chest.

This drill makes it almost impossible to chicken wing, as the motion of pulling the elbow in and away from the body will cause the headcover to fall to the ground instantly.

Drill 2: The Split-Hand Swing

This drill is exceptional for helping you feel true, powerful extension through the ball.

1. Grip the club normally with your lead (left) hand. Now, slide your trail (right) hand down the shaft so there’s a gap of about 4-6 inches between your hands.
2. Take a few easy, smooth practice swings. You will immediately feel a different sensation.
3. Notice how, to make a fluid swing, your trail hand has to "motor" through impact, pushing the clubhead down the target line and preventing the lead arm from folding. It physically prevents bending and pulling inwards.
4. After a few practice swings, try hitting a few balls off a tee with an 8- or 9-iron like this at 50% speed. The goal isn't distance, it's to ingrain the feel of releasing the club *away* from you, not *into* you.

Drill 3: The "Towel Snap" for Release

This drill helps you feel what it’s like to release speed *past* the ball, not *at* the ball, a key component to preventing the chicken wing.

1. For this, you only need a regular bath towel. Hold one end of the towel like you would a golf club grip with both hands.
2. Make a backswing motion, letting the towel rest on your shoulder.
3. Now, initiate your downswing with your body rotation, and focus on one thing: making the "snap" of the towel happen as far in front of you as possible. You want to hear that *CRACK* well past where the ball would be.
4. Chicken-wing swingers snap the towel too early, right around their feet. To get the towel to snap out in front, you have to keep turning your body and extend your arms fully. The towel gives you perfect, immediate auditory feedback on your release point.

Putting It All Together on the Course

Translating range work to the course can be a challenge. Start small. On your first trip to the course after practicing these drills, don't worry about score. Your only goal is to feel the new movement.

Pick one swing thought. Something simple like “Finish with my chest to the target” is great because it focuses on the body rotation that kills the chicken wing. Start by hitting shots at 75-80% power. This gives you a better chance of performing the new motion correctly under pressure. Be patient. It will feel strange at first. New motor patterns always do. But stick with it, and soon that a powerful extension will become your new normal.

Final Thoughts

Curing the chicken wing golf swing comes down to replacing a disconnected, armsy motion with a powerful, connected rotation. By understanding that it’s a symptom of deeper swing flaws like an over-the-top path or stalled body, you can use these drills to retrain your body and get your arms working in harmony with your turn.

Sometimes, seeing your own swing and getting personalized analysis can make all the difference. For issues like the chicken wing, visualizing the cause-and-effect in your own movement is incredibly helpful. This is where modern tools can help speed up the learning process. For example, with our Caddie AI, you can get an analysis of your swing to identify the root cause of your chicken wing and receive personalized drills right on your phone, helping you practice smarter and fix flaws faster.