How to Stop Dropping Your Back Shoulder in Golf

Dropping your back shoulder in the golf swing is a surefire way to hit chunky, thin, and powerless shots. It’s one of the most common faults among amateurs, but fixing it doesn’t require a complete swing overhaul. This article will show you exactly what this shoulder dip is, explain the common reasons you might be doing it, and give you practical, feel-based drills to reteach your body how to rotate correctly and deliver the club with a powerful, consistent strike.

What Exactly is "Dropping the Back Shoulder"?

First, let’s get on the same page. When a coach talks about "dropping the back shoulder," they are referring to the trail shoulder (the right shoulder for a right-handed golfer) making an aggressive, steep dip down towards the golf ball at the very beginning of the downswing. Instead of the shoulders rotating on a relatively consistent tilted axis, the trail shoulder plunges downward, throwing the entire swing out of sequence and off plane.

Imagine your shoulders are a spinning top. In a good swing, they spin around a tilted center point. When you drop your back shoulder, it’s like someone kicked the side of that spinning top, causing it to wobble violently. The entire path of the club is forced to change its route, leading to a host of problems.

This move is almost always born from a good intention: trying to get the club "under" the ball to help it get airborne. This is one of golf’s greatest and most pervasive myths. You don't need to help the ball up, the loft of the club is designed to do that for you. Your job is to deliver the club down and through the ball. The shoulder dip is a physical manifestation of trying to scoop and lift, and it’s a roadblock standing between you and pure contact.

The Common Causes: Why Does This Happen?

Like most swing faults, dropping your back shoulder doesn't happen in a vacuum. It's typically a reaction or compensation for another issue in your setup or swing sequence. Let's look at the primary culprits so you can identify the root cause of your problem.

A Misguided Attempt to Hit "Up" on the Ball

We touched on this already, but it’s worth repeating because it’s the number one cause. From day one, golfers are fixated on getting the ball in the air. The natural, intuitive reaction is to think, "I must get under the ball and lift it." This instinct causes golfers to dip the back shoulder to try and drop the club underneath the ball. The result? The club bottoms out behind the ball, leading to a classic "fat" or "chunky" shot. The other common outcome is the "thin" shot. This happens when the brain senses the club is going to slam into the ground and makes a last-millisecond correction by pulling the arms and body up, causing the leading edge to strike the equator of the ball. If you frequently alternate between fat and thin shots, this instinct to lift is likely your main problem.

Poor Sequencing (The Engine Fires at the Wrong Time)

The golf-swing is a kinetic sequence, a chain reaction where motion is transferred from one body part to the next. The ideal downswing starts from the ground up: the hips begin to unwind, which pulls the torso and shoulders around, which then pulls the arms and, finally, whips the club through impact. It’s a smooth, powerful flow.

Dropping the back shoulder is a complete breakdown of this sequence. It happens when the golfer initiates the downswing with their shoulders and upper body instead of the lower body. When the shoulders start the swing, they have nowhere to go but down and out towards the ball. This is often related to the dreaded "over the top" move. An aggressive shoulder dip throws the club outside the proper path, forcing a steep, across-the-line swing that robs you of power and often produces a slice or pull-hook.

A Poor Setup: Creating the Problem Before You Swing

Sometimes, the fault is baked into your swing before you even take the club back. A common setup error is having too much spine tilt away from the target at address. Golfers read that they need to be "behind the ball," and they overdo it by leaning their upper body way back. This a a weak starting position. From this exaggerated tilt, it feels natural to simply continue that downward plunge of the back shoulder during the downswing. Your body is just continuing the angle you gave it at address.

Another culprit is having too much weight on your trail foot at address and keeping it there during the backswing. If your weight is stuck on your back foot, the only way to try and make contact with the ball is to tilt and dip your entire upper body toward it. A proper setup involves being balanced, athletic, and ready to transfer your weight smoothly.

The Domino Effect: How a Shoulder Dip Ruins Your Shot

The damage from a falling back shoulder spreads quickly through the entire swing, impacting everything from contact to power and even your physical health.

• Inconsistent Contact: As mentioned, you'll cycle between fat shots where you hit the ground first and thin shots where you catch the ball with the leading edge. Finding the sweet spot becomes a matter of pure luck.
• Loss of Power: Compressing the golf ball requires a slightly descending angle of attack with your irons. By dipping your shoulder, you disrupt this angle, turning a powerful strike into a weak, scooping motion. You lose all of the body’s rotational energy.
• Poor Ball Flight: A steep shoulder dip steepens your swing plane, which often leads to a slice as you cut across the ball. In an effort to save it, you might flip your hands at impact, turning that slice into a duck hook. You get a high, weak ball flight that struggles to hold its line in the wind.
• Back Strain: This kind of dramatic, downward tilt puts enormous strain on your lower back. If you often finish your rounds with an aching back, this faulty upper body movement could be a major contributing factor. A proper rotational turn is much safer and more efficient for your body.

Drills and Feels to Stop Dropping the Shoulder

Understanding the problem is half the battle. Now, let’s get to work on the solution. These drills are designed to retrain your body and give you the right "feel" for a synchronized, powerful downswing.

Drill 1: The Headcover Under the Trail Arm

This is a classic for promoting a connected swing and is perfect for curing the shoulder dip.

1. Tuck a headcover (or a small towel) under your trail armpit (right armpit for right-handers). It should be snug enough to stay in place, but not clinched so tightly that it creates tension.
2. Take slow, half-to-three-quarter swings.
3. The goal is to feel your torso, arm, and the headcover rotating together towards the target in the downswing.
4. The Checkpoint: If you drop your back shoulder, it will detach from your side and the headcover will immediately fall to the ground. To keep the headcover in place, your torso must lead the rotation, which keeps the back shoulder high and connected. Start slow and gradually build up speed as you get the feel of this connected turn.

Drill 2: The Feel-it-First Drill (No Club)

Sometimes the best way to feel a new movement is to remove the club entirely. This isolates the body's rotation.

1. Get into your golf posture without a club. Cross your arms over your chest, grabbing your opposite shoulders.
2. Simulate a backswing by rotating your torso and shoulders away from the target.
3. Now, start the "downswing" by focusing on your lead hip. Feel your lead hip clear and move open, pulling your torso around with it. The star of the show here is your rib cage turning.
4. The Core Feel: Pay close attention to your shoulders. Feel how rotating your lower body and torso keeps your shoulders turning on a more "level" plane. The back shoulder stays up and moves around your spine, not down toward the ground. You want to feel yourself uncoiling around a central point, not dipping toward some spot on the floor.

Drill 3: The Right Shoulder to Chin Move

This is a powerful mental image that can short-circuit the dipping motion.

1. Set up to the ball as you normally would.
2. As you begin your downswing, the key swing though is to feel like you are going to rotate your trail shoulder (your right shoulder) underneath your chin and toward the target.
3. The feeling is that the right shoulder rotates horizontally instead of vertically. It moves forward, toward your target line, not down at the ball.
4. This one thought promotes the sequential "unwinding" we're looking for and uses your body's rotation as the engine. It stops the instinct to throw the shoulder at the ball.

A Final, Powerful Swing Thought: "Cover the Ball"

The opposite of lifting and dipping is "covering." This swing thought helps you stay over the ball and compress it properly. Through the impact zone, imagine your chest and sternum are rotating over the top of where the golf ball is. Think about delivering all the speed of your rotating torso directly into the back of the ball. This mental cue encourages you to keep your body turning through impact, preventing the back side from stalling and dipping. When you cover the ball well, your back shoulder is just along for the ride in a perfectly efficient trip through impact.

Final Thoughts

Breaking the habit of dropping your back shoulder is about rewiring your sequence and intention. You have to move away from the instinct to "lift" the ball and commit to a body-driven rotation that delivers the club a powerful, descending blow. The drills and feels above can transform your swing, but be patient and start slow. You're building a new, more powerful motor pattern.

Working on major swing changes can be confusing, and sometimes you just need a clear, objective second opinion, especially when faced with a real-world scenario on the course. With Caddie AI, you can literally snap a photo of any awkward lie and get immediate, straightforward advice on the best way to handle the shot. We have created a 24/7 golf coach you can keep in your pocket, ready to answer any swing question at a moment's notice. The goal is to provide simplified, expert golf feedback to take the guesswork out of your improvements so you can play with more confidence. You can check it out at Caddie AI.