Staying centered is very important to your golf swing.  Moving too much laterally can cause a multitude of problems.  First off, moving your swing center causes the bottom of your swing to be too far behind or in front of the ball.  I usually see two major faults that cause this to happen.

The first fault is ball position.  For example, if the ball position is too far behind where it should be, the player usually moves the upper body too far over the rear foot in an attempt to get behind the ball.  At times this causes the lead arm to run into the chest too soon and the lead elbow to bend.  A major power leak which can lead to casting the club. 

The second major fault I often see is the lateral motion of the hips.  The hips should turn and not slide on the backswing.  Sliding can cause many problems with weight shift.  It’s nearly impossible to get back to a proper impact position.  Most times it causes poor contact.

So stay centered and keep your hips and head between the lines! 

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