Love him or despise him, Bryson DeChambeau knows a thing or two about the golf swing.
And when he says something that goes against what most golfers have been told for years, it’s usually worth paying attention to.
I came across a great breakdown from Chris Ryan Golf that dives into one of DeChambeau’s key ideas around rotation through impact and it hits on something a lot of golfers struggle with but don’t always understand.
If you’ve ever felt like you can’t quite square the clubface consistently, this is one of those concepts that can change how you think about the swing.
The problem isn’t rotation. It’s when it happens
Most golfers have been fed the same advice for years. Keep rotating through the ball. Don’t stop your body. Turn hard through impact.
None of that sounds wrong. In fact, a lot of it is rooted in what good players do.
The issue is how that message gets interpreted by golfers who are not professionals.
What ends up happening is that amateurs try to rotate as hard as they can all the way through the strike. The body keeps moving, the hands keep going, and the club never quite catches up. When you look at the clubface during this process, it’s open. When the face stays open through impact, the shot will start right (for right-handed players) and feel weak.
It’s not a lack of rotation that causes the problem. It’s the timing of it. At some point, the clubface has to square; it can’t do it on its own.
What Bryson DeChambeau is doing instead
DeChambeau isn’t trying to spin his body through impact as fast as possible.
He’s applying force earlier in the downswing. There’s rotation, there’s pressure into the ground and speed building. But as the club approaches impact, things begin to slow down.
Not in a way that looks forced or disconnected. Just enough that the handle stops racing forward and starts working slightly up and in. When that happens, the clubhead has a chance to release, pass the hands and square the face.
That’s the piece most golfers miss.
If you just keep rotating the body at full speed without squaring the face, you’re not going to get that consistent strike the professionals do.
Why most golfers struggle with this
The idea of forcing the squaring of the face can be difficult to comprehend. A lot of players immediately think they need to stop their body or stand up through the shot to let this happen.
That’s not what’s happening here.
Good players are still rotating, still using the ground, still moving with intent. The difference is they aren’t trying to force that rotation with their body all the way through impact.
They’ve created enough motion earlier that they can let the club take over late.
That’s why you’ll often see better players look almost effortless through the strike, even though there’s plenty of speed involved.
A better way to start working on it
If you want to explore this, the worst thing you can do is jump straight into full swings and try to time it.
This is one of those moves that needs to be felt first.
A better way to approach it is to slow things down and build it piece by piece.
- Start with a shorter swing, waist-high to waist-high.
- Feel pressure move into your lead side early in the downswing.
- Let your hands move down toward the ball without trying to manipulate the face.
- As you approach impact, feel like the handle begins to work slightly up and in toward your body.
- At the same time, feel like your body is no longer racing forward, just stabilizing enough to let the club pass.
The clubhead will feel like it picks up speed on its own and moves past your hands without you trying to force it. It doesn’t feel or look like a “flip.” The strike will feel more solid and the face will start squaring up without a lot of extra effort. I recommend watching the video. It’s easy to follow and the concept should click when you can see it in action.
Final thought
Most golfers try to fix face control by rotating harder or throwing their hands at the ball late. Too much of that through impact can make it harder to square the face, not easier.
If you get the sequence right, the club starts to work with you instead of against you. Give it a try.
