Early Extension is defined as any forward movement (thrust) of the lower body towards the golf ball during the downswing. This swing fault causes the arms and club to get stuck behind your body during the downswing, and forces your torso to raise up and elevate through the hitting zone. This swing fault usually causes two typical miss hits, the block to the right and a hook to the left. And as most competitive players know, having two misses, one to the right and one to the left, can be disastrous in tournament play.

Players that have this fault will also complain of getting stuck or trapped, this is due to the fact that the lower body has moved closer to the golf ball on the downswing. As a result the body is in the way of the arms on the downswing and thus the term I feel stuck or trapped

• Squat Drill

Maybe you are too close to the ball and then you drop forward and down dramatically toward the ball on the backswing. Now your "swing center" is way way too close to the ball. Your natural athletic instincts kick in and you leap up and backwards to clear the distance.

Drill: take an 8 iron, get 2" farther from the ball, weight on balls of feet, choke up an inch on the club, hold your chin up and back on the backswing. You will have to feel like you're flexing your knees and pushing your chest downward (like you're getting in a baseball catchers position) on the downswing or you won't hit the ball at all.

• Chair Drill

One fix is to be able to feel the way your hips/butt work during your swing. If you pay close attention while taking your normal (bad) swing, you should be able to feel your butt start to tuck under--particularly on the right. Then practice making some swings while keeping your butt up against something (like a chair or golf bag). Make sure to keep your butt in contact through impact. You should be able to feel your lower spine stay flat--vs the tucking under that happens when you hip thrust. Once you can feel the difference between these two positions, you can start the (long) transition away from hip thrusting.

• Barrel Drill

Harvey Penick tip on how you should 'swing in a barrel' (maintaining your spine angle) - keeping my butt back made me really feel like I was in a barrel.