The search for more yards off the tee and greater consistency often leads golfers down a rabbit hole of swing tips, but one technique used by many elite players stands out: the closed coil. This is a powerful move that creates a significant separation between your upper and lower body, storing energy like a wound-up spring. In this guide, we'll break down what the closed coil is, why it's so effective for generating both power and consistency, and provide practical drills to help you feel it in your own swing.
At its heart, the closed coil technique is all about creating separation. Imagine a rubber band, to make it fly, you have to stretch it first. The closed coil applies this same principle to your body. It involves turning your shoulders significantly more than your hips during the backswing. The "closed" part of the name refers to keeping your hips relatively quiet, or "closed," to the target line while your upper body rotates away from the ball.
Many amateurs have what coaches call a "one-piece takeaway," where the hips and shoulders turn together as a single unit. While simple, this movement leaks a tremendous amount of potential power. When everything turns at once, there's no stored tension to release. The closed coil counters this by dissociating the upper and lower body. You are actively turning your upper body while your lower body resists that turn.
This separation creates what is famously known as the "X-Factor" in the golf swing - the angle of difference between your hip turn and your shoulder turn at the top of the backswing. A larger X-Factor means a more powerful coil, and that coil is the engine for clubhead speed in the downswing.
Learning this move requires some practice, but the benefits have a profound impact on your entire game. It’s not just about hitting the ball farther, it can make your entire motion more repeatable and efficient.
The single biggest benefit of a good coil is the massive increase in potential power. When you create that stretch across your torso, your body's natural response is to fire the downswing by unraveling forcefully. This dynamic unraveling, driven by your core and hips, generates immense speed without you having to consciously "muscle" or swing hard with your arms. The power feels less forced and more athletic. The energy you store in the backswing is simply released in the downswing, slingshotting the club through impact with incredible velocity.
When golfers rely too much on their hands and arms to generate power, timing becomes everything. The slightest miscalculation can send the club-off-plane, resulting in hooks or slices. Because the closed coil sources power from the rotation of the big muscles in your body (your core and glutes), the arms and hands have less to do. They transform from power generators into guides that simply direct the club along the proper path. With your body's rotation dictating the swing, the club is more likely to travel on an inside-to-out path, leading to more solid strikes and a more reliable shot shape.
The kinematic sequence is a term golf biomechanics experts use to describe the most efficient way to unwind the body in the downswing. For maximum speed, the body should fire in a specific chain reaction: hips, then torso, then arms, and finally the club. Think of it like a whip, the handle (hips) moves first, and the energy travels all the way to the tip (the clubhead).
The closed coil naturally encourages this sequence. Because your hips are more closed at the top, they are in the perfect position to initiate the downswing. The stretch you've created practically pulls the hips into firing first to release the tension. This initiates the chain reaction that allows speed to build progressively all the way to the ball.
Feeling the separation for the first time can be strange, as you’re teaching your body to move in a new way. These drills are designed to help you isolate the feeling of a proper coil so you can begin blending it into your full swing.
A good coil begins with a stable, athletic base. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, and add a little extra flex in your knees. Feel grounded and balanced, with your weight centered on the balls of your feet. You need your lower body to be both stable and ready to move, not rigid and locked. If your legs are too straight, it’s much harder for your hips to resist the turn of your shoulders.
These drills will help you feel the separation between your upper and lower body without even holding a club.
Once you have a feel for the stretch, grab a mid-iron and start with slow-motion, half-swings.
Gradually build up from slow, half-swings to full-speed shots. The key is to never lose that feeling of separation and the stretch at the top.
As you work on this move, you might run into a few common issues. Here’s what to look out for.
Some players misinterpret "resisting the turn" as a purely lateral move. They end up swaying their hips away from a target, which disconnects the body and kills power. The coil is a rotational move, not a side-to-side one.
The Fix: The Chair Drill is perfect for this. You can also place an alignment stick or even your golf bag just outside your trail foot. Your hip should turn inward, away from the stick, not slide back into it.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, some golfers take "keep your hips quiet" too literally. They lock their hips completely, which severely restricts their shoulder turn. Remember, your hips still need to turn about 45 degrees to allow for a full 90-degree shoulder rotation. It’s about less hip turn, not no hip turn.
The Fix: Go back to the Cross-Armed Turn and check your turn angles in afar or by filming yourself. Ensure your belt buckle is making a partial turn, not staying pointed at the ball.
A reverse pivot is when a golfer's weight shifts onto their lead foot during the backswing, causing their spine to tilt toward the target. It’s a huge power leak. A proper coil helps prevent this by promoting a feeling of loading pressure into your trail glute and the inside of your trail foot.
The Fix: As you swing to the top, feel the pressure build under your trail foot. Focus on loading into your right hip for a right-handed player. You should feel powerful and coiled over the ball, not leaning away from it.
The closed coil technique is a game-changer because it teaches you to use your body like an athlete, building power from the ground up through smart mechanics, not brute force. By focusing on creating separation and storing energy in the backswing, you unlock a more powerful, efficient, and consistent golf swing waiting inside you.
Of course, knowing what to do and applying it on the course are two different skills. Once you're working on a new feel, questions will pop up when you're faced with a tough lie or an intimidating hole. That’s why we built our app, Caddie AI. It can act as your 24/7 on-demand golf expert, ready to analyze a photo of a difficult shot or give you a smart strategy for a hole, helping you make smarter decisions when you need them most.
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