Lee Trevino warns of 3 ‘bad habits’ players do in rebounding

Lee Trevino, in a cool slow-motion video, rockets down the fairway. He laughs.

“Now there is a complete backlash,” he says.

Indeed. There is a big point here, though. Minutes ago, the legendary footballer, all-time orator and six-time major winner had dished on the “bad habits” players do in their backswing.

And Trevino talked about the “right” way to do it.

The insight came via a recent post on the Golf Teachers App Instagram page, and you can watch the full video below. Below that, we’ll break it down.

3 ‘bad habits’ players do when they go back, according to Lee Trevino

1. Wrists ‘break fast’

“One of the bad habits you have is to get away from the ball too quickly,” said Trevino. In the video, when he demonstrated the point, he tied his wrists before any other backward movement.

2. The club goes ‘too far out’

“The other thing,” Trevino said, “is that you pick up the club and take it too far out there.” In the video, with the camera facing him, Trevino raised the club, and pointed it at about a 7 o’clock angle.

3. The elbow breaks

“The third,” Trevino said, “you break the right elbow and bring the club back in.” In the video, the right-handed Trevino pulled his right arm back.

So what was Trevino’s thought about the “right” retreat?

He advises matching the left shoulder to the clubhead and being aware of hip movement.

“A proper backswing actually works from the left shoulder to the clubhead,” Trevino said in the video. “It works away from the ball all in one movement.

“Now if you want to bring the club back inside, you have to close the buttocks because the club will only follow the tightness of the buttocks, it will go inside. If you want to go straight down the line, tighten your stance and go back straight. If you want to go a little bit out of line when you go back, open your stance and go a little bit out.”

From there, Trevino hit his ball and laughed.

Let’s keep the Trevino tip discussion going. In 2021, GOLF.com wrote the article “Why your ball position is hurting your golf swing, according to Lee Trevino,” and you can read that story by clicking here or scrolling down. (Notably, the advice given is one of this author’s favorites.)

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What do you ask golf guru Lee Trevino, who doubles as the best golfer of all time, when the opportunity presents itself? With the seemingly endless amount of golf wisdom he possesses, I decided to keep it simple:

“What advice do you have for golfers who are struggling to hit the ball hard?”

For a while, I was worried that the question was too broad, but Merry Mex, speaking at the 2021 Berenberg Invitational, was not missed.

“Your arms are too long,” he says. “You must understand that your arms are like limbs attached to the trunk of a tree. My body is the trunk, and my arms are the limbs. They toss it back and forth.”

The analogy is useful because it describes something that many golfers think about: the ‘Radius’ of their golf swing. Your arms will be parallel as you swing, Trevino says, which means you need to monitor the actual space between you and the golf ball you’re trying to hit.

And in that, nothing is more important than your football position.

Let’s go back to Trevino’s tree branch analogy. Your arms – limbs – swing back and forth along the trunk of the tree. As your arms do this, there is a point where they start to move up and around your body, away from the golf ball. That’s why, Trevino says, a common mistake occurs when golfers play the ball too far forward in their stance: Their arms start to rise, which brings the club along with them, leading to low shots, whiffs and other mishits.

“They come before they hit the golf ball,” Trevino said. “The ball goes down, it goes to the left, and you catch a little ball.”

That’s why Trevino tells golfers to play the ball and get back into shape more than they think. It will help them make a compressed strike on the golf ball and send the ball straight.

You can watch Trevino in his own words below.