Blocking
Also known as: push-block, holding off the release
Blocking is when the arms and club fail to fully release through impact. This means the face is held open and the ball flies straight right (for a right-hander) with no draw curve.
A block in golf is a shot that starts right of the target (for a right-handed golfer) and continues right. This means traveling in a straight line or drawing slightly. But not returning to the intended line. It is the opposite of a pull or hook. This means both involve an in-to-out club path. But a pull starts left. This is because the path is out-to-in. At the same time, a block starts right. This is because the path is in-to-out and the face is open relative to that path. Understanding the cause of blocking requires separating path from face angle — neither alone determines the result; the combination does.
Blocking is most commonly caused by one of two mechanical patterns. The first is a stalled rotation. This means the lower body leads. As a result, aggressively that the body stalls or hangs. This leaves the arms and club stuck behind the rotating body with no room to release. The club exits the impact zone pointing right, and the face — unable to close in time — goes with it. The second is a manually held face. This means a golfer who is trying not to hook (perhaps after overcorrecting from a flip) may consciously hold the face open. This produces a block even with a correct path.
Blocking is common at higher swing speeds because the centrifugal forces involved in a fast swing require more active forearm rotation to close the face. Recreational golfers who suddenly add speed (perhaps through a driver fitting or a training program) sometimes find that their existing forearm rotation is now insufficient to close the face at the new speed. This produces blocks. Adjusting the release timing. This means allowing the forearms to begin rotating earlier and more aggressively. This means is typically the technical solution, often combined with a grip adjustment toward stronger to reduce the rotational demand.
If you are blocking shots, check your finish. This means a blocked shot often produces a finish where the club wraps behind your neck and your hands end up on the right side of your head (for a right-hander). This means a full, high finish with the club wrapping to the left side indicates better forearm rotation and less blocking.
Use a box or headcover placed just outside the ball on the right side (target side) of your stance as a path reference. This means if you are blocking, your club will miss the box to the right. Practice clearing the box by starting the face closing earlier in the downswing. This forces the forearms to rotate rather than the body stalling.
Example
A player under pressure who "stiffens" through the shot and watches the ball fly dead right has blocked it — the release was cut off.
How it shows up on video
From a face-on camera angle, a block often shows the hips rotating aggressively. At the same time, the arms appear to lag behind the body rotation and exit the impact zone to the right. The lead shoulder may remain low or the body may appear to "hang back" slightly at impact, with the arms pushing rather than swinging freely. From a down-the-line angle, the club path of a block appears in-to-out. But unlike a draw, the face appears open relative to the path, pointing to the right of where the club is traveling. This means this face-to-path relationship is what produces the straight-right trajectory.
Common mistakes
- Aiming left to compensate for blocks — this reinforces the open face delivery by reducing the pressure to close the face. Fixing the root cause (stalled rotation or held face) is the only sustainable solution.
- Adding more in-to-out path to try to fix the block. This means if the face is open relative to the path, more path to the right makes the block worse, not better. The face needs to close, not the path needs to change.
- Mistaking a block for a push. This means a push and a block can look similar (ball going right). But a push typically comes from an out-to-in path with a square face pointing right. At the same time, a block comes from an in-to-out path with an open face. The fix is different for each.
- Over-rotating the forearms to fix the block (creating hooks) — the opposite of the block problem. Adding forearm rotation is the right direction, but calibrating the amount requires monitoring ball flight to find the point where neither block nor hook dominates.
In SwingVantage Motion Lab
SwingVantage can observe blocking patterns from face-on video by analyzing hip-to-arm timing through impact. This means in particular, whether the arms appear to lag behind the body rotation and exit to the right. Club path and face angle inference from ball flight and impact data provides additional context. The system labels these observations with appropriate confidence based on available video quality.
Related terms
- ReleaseThe release is the natural unhinging of the wrists and rotation of the forearms through impact that squares the clubface and delivers maximum speed.
- PushA push flies dead straight and finishes right of where you aimed, for a right-hander. Nothing curves — the head was simply travelling rightward through impact with the face pointing the same way.
- Early ExtensionEarly extension is thrusting the hips toward the ball during the downswing. This causes the golfer to stand up out of posture and forces compensations at impact.
- Hip ClearanceHip clearance is the rotation of the lead hip out of the way through impact. This creates room for the arms and club to swing freely past the body.
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