Hold the club in your right arm only. Fold your arm, get it into neutral joint alignment, rotate it a little bit and turn to the top. As you can see in the photo to the left, you're pretty much exactly where you want to be at the top. Originally when we did the rotary drill, it focused primarily on the left side.
Full Answer
How do I straighten my left arm on the Golf Club?
One drill to practice keeping the arm relatively straight is to grip the club with the left hand, then hold the left wrist with the right hand. Begin the takeaway and extend the left arm to the top of the takeaway. Begin the downswing and physically rotate the left arm with the right hand.
Why is the left arm so commonly used in golf?
But like most clichés, there’s a reason it’s become so commonplace. The straight left arm – or the right arm for lefties – is a key building block of an efficient, on-plane backswing. A bent left arm usually causes an overlong golf backswing that, ironically, robs golfers of distance by adding an unnecessary hinge.
What happens if your left arm is bent on the golf swing?
Without this, players with a bent left arm will tend to pick the club up with their arms, without rotating their body as well, which will lead to inconsistent and less powerful ball striking. It’s clear PGA superstar Rory McIlroy has a slight degree of elbow bend during his golf swing.
How can I improve my left arm swing accuracy?
Place a towel under the left arm in the set up. Begin by taking short swings while the towel stays in place. Gradually create a longer swing and keep the towel in place. Completing the drill correctly requires the left arm to stay connected to the chest on the backswing and follow through.
Can you golf with just one arm?
1:1720:42Playing Golf Using Only 1 Arm - Challenge - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipHey farther than Matt and its employ a GM golf going with the driver. Um are you going off one rightMoreHey farther than Matt and its employ a GM golf going with the driver. Um are you going off one right hand yep okay guarantee this goes two yards.
How do I keep my right arm connected to the golf swing?
9:0011:16GOLF: How To Keep The Right (Trail) Arm Connected - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWhile you're doing this if your arms get connected pop it underneath your lead arm. Right get youMoreWhile you're doing this if your arms get connected pop it underneath your lead arm. Right get you get a glove underneath your lead arm same rules. Apply keep that pressured underneath your arm.
Does right arm control the golf swing?
Yes, the right arm plays a different role than the left. On the backswing, the right arm and elbow should stay relatively close to your body. On the downswing, the right arm should tuck so that you can shallow the golf club. This allows you to rotate your body through the swing and provides a great position at impact.
Do you need a straight left arm in golf?
During your swing, you don't need to feel as though your left arm is rigidly locked into place, but it needs to be relatively straight. This starts with the left elbow, as it is the hinge in your arm that controls its bend throughout the golf swing.
Which arm is more dominant in the golf swing?
The left-hand dominant golf swing is known to be very powerful, and it will help correct some misses golfers have in their game. If you are a player who wants power and you like the classic methods of pulling the golf club through your swing, then left-hand dominance is the right idea for you.
Do you use both arms in golf swing?
Your left arm is still guiding the club through contact, and the right arm is pushing the club through the ball. As you bring the club through the ball, the right arm has gone from pulling the club through the swing to pushing the club through impact. The left arm remains straight and is still used as a guide.
Do you hit the golf ball with your right hand?
Actually, it isn't so much that they over‐use the right hand as it is that they don't use the left hand enough. The good player hits the ball hard with his right hand, but makes sure the left leads the swing. The left hand largely supplies the control, the right hand the power.
How do pro golfers keep their left arm so straight?
0:027:29The Trick To Keeping The Left Arm Straight In The Golf Swing - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd start with a split hand grip. So the right hand's down towards the end of the grip. And start toMoreAnd start with a split hand grip. So the right hand's down towards the end of the grip. And start to make some swings where you go back to left arm parallel.
Does left arm lead golf swing?
For right-handed golfers, the left arm is one of the most important aspects of the golf swing. The left arm determines the swing arc for a shot and helps release and rotate the wrists and club on the downswing.
Can I bend my left arm in my golf swing?
3:536:29Golf Swing / Bent Left Arm? How bent arms might help your golf swing.YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWell after it goes through its extension. I want it to bend a little bit. Because when it bends it.MoreWell after it goes through its extension. I want it to bend a little bit. Because when it bends it. Allows this to stay stable. Watch my lead shoulder now relative to my trail arm. See that so it
What happens when you push your left arm in golf?
Pushing with the left arm in the golf swing causes the right arm to fold. Looked at from down the line, if you take your left arm and push it across your body, where does the club end up? The photo to the left shows a common position; the club is very deep and back inside. The right arm is folded and the golfer is up out of the box.
What arm do you push in golf?
Pushing with the left arm in the golf swing. Pushing with the left arm in the golf swing is one of the most common problems we see when teaching people rotation in the golf. In other words, many golfers take the club back primarily by pushing with their left arm across the center line - the sternum - during the the golf backswing.
How to take the club back in golf?
Many golfers take the club back by pushing the left arm across the chest. Pushing with the left provides little rotation or shoulder turn, so the big muscles are left out of the golf swing. When you push from the left, the right arm folds and the club goes deep. The right arm should dominate the backswing. Try practicing with your right arm only: ...
How to do a backswing on golf club?
Letting the right arm perform the backswing. Go ahead and try it. Hold the club in your right arm only. Fold your arm, get it into neutral joint alignment, rotate it a little bit and turn to the top. As you can see in the photo to the left, you're pretty much exactly where you want to be at the top.
How to swing a golf club on plane?
Fold your right elbow, maintaining neutral joint alignment with your shoulder. If you add a little bit of rotation, that will allow the left arm to swing across your chest to put the club on plane at the top. It's not the left arm that's doing the work.
What is the right arm folding?
The right arm folding is what puts the left arm where we want it to be. The left arm may do a little bit, but most people aren't going to feel that it's playing any active role whatsoever. It's the right side that takes the club back and puts it in position.
Which arm stays in front of chest?
The left arm stays in front of the chest in the backswing. The role of the left arm in the backswing is...pretty much nothing. Your left arm stays right in front of your chest. You'll pull your right shoulder blade back, and the left arm will elevate a little bit. That's it.
Why is it important to keep your left arm straight in golf?
How important is keeping a straight left arm in golf? The reason players are encouraged to keep their left arm as straight as possible through their golf swing is to create as much width as possible during the takeaway and backswing.
How many degrees should a golfer's left arm be?
Golfers should try and keep their left arm as straight as possible without it being rigid, or locked, but some bend is fine. Most professional players start with a straight left arm at address, which bends to around five degrees at top of their backswing. Their left arm continues to flex slightly in the downswing and will have around eight degrees ...
What causes a player to turn their body and shoulders too far inside the swing plane?
Complete locking of the left arm causes many players to turn their whole body and shoulders too far inside the swing plane. The only way they can then get any height in their arms at the top of the backswing is to lift them up, which in turn can create some poor movements – such as an over-the-top slice – during the downswing.
What is the biggest killer of golf swings?
As the common saying goes, tension is the biggest killer of every golf swing. Below is a video demonstrating a great drill to release tension in your arms, wrists and hands while maintaining a straight left arm throughout your swing.
What happens if you lock your lead arm?
The arms and shoulders need to be relaxed to get the club going fast. But at address, if you lock up your lead arm then your body gets really tight … and can lead to some really poor (backswing) and downswing motions. If we don’t (keep the arm straight) it actually acts as another lever, if you bend your arm.
Should you bend your left arm in golf?
It (your left arm) is allowed to bend. It shouldn’t be ram-rod straight unless you have ultimate, super flexibility. But if there’s a little bit of bend in it, then it’s generally OK.
Does Rick Shiels golf have to be straight?
Rick Shiels from Rick Shiels Golf: It doesn’t have to be perfectly straight, it’s not absolutely crucial. The more we can keep it straight, the better but there’s many golfers out there who keep it as straight as they can (but still have it a little bent at the top).
Which arm controls the path of a golf club?
Golf Instruction. The left arm is the one that primarily controls the path that the club will travel on. For this reason we need to try to keep the path from changing during the swing to produce consistent results. That means you will need to feel as if you keep the arm straight from the set up position until impact.
How to swing your arms?
Stand in front of a mirror and make small swings watching how your arms work. Keep the back of the front or left arm firmly against the chest on the down swing . Notice that your arms can rotate easier before, at and after impact.
What does it mean when your left arm moves back in the back swing?
Obviously this means your body must move in an athletic manner with the hips moving towards the target to start the downswing.
What is the most counter intuitive motion that most golfers ever have to make and feels powerless and uncomfortable at first?
The way the left arm moves and rotates after impact is one of the key contributors to a great golf swing. This is the most counter intuitive motion that most golfers ever have to make and feels powerless and uncomfortable at first. Most good players do not keep their left arms completely straight during the back swing.
How to get hips to move after a ball flight?
After accomplishing a ball flight that curves left next try to get your hips to move laterally from the top of the swing and then try to get the hips 20 to 40 degrees open at impact. This may take a little time but it is well worth it. This is how a good athletic motion produces extremely long consistent shots.
How to hit a ball relatively straight?
To hit a ball relatively straight the arms and body sequence and speed must match up. Once you learn to curve the ball left with proper arm rotation you will then need to change the sequence of your body motion. Most amateurs have their hips facing the ball at impact.
How long does it take to learn to hit a ball curving left?
A person who slices can learn to hit a ball curving left within 40 minutes after learning proper use of the left arm. The typical comment during the change is how unnatural or uncomfortable it is to move your left arm correctly after impact. The key is how the left arm moves very little forward in the down swing.
What is the right arm for golf?
As Tattersall says, your trail arm — which is your right arm for right-handed golfers, or left arm for left-handers — can and does a variety of different things on the backswing. “The right arm can fan a little bit, it can rotate, and it can lift. All those things happen in most people’s backswing,” Tattersall says.
Why is the trail arm important?
Your trail arm has an incredibly important role in the golf swing, one with the ability to both help — and hurt — the outcome of the shot you’re about to hit. When something goes wrong in a golfer’s downswing, it generally does so in one of two ways: Either the arms both work too far behind you at the start of the downswing ...
How to get your arm to swing over your shoulder?
If you take your arms, sit them straight out in front of your chest, elevate them to the base of your elbows , about the base of your pec. You can have a little lower, a little higher. I'm going to move it a little bit lower. Now, fold your right arm until your left arm swings across to where it's over your shoulder.
Why is my left arm bending?
Your left arm is bending, is because you're moving your arms too much. Remember my mantra for your golf backswing, " Big body turn, tiny little arm swing," and your arm will stay straight at the top.
Why do you want your golf swing to be wide?
That's one of the huge reasons that you want to keep this arm straight as much as humanly possible. The second reason is variability.
How to do a golf swing drill?
You set your arms in the perfect position, get in your posture, and then rotate your body to move your arms and club to the top. Don't use your arms. Your arms have already been set in position. Then, as you keep doing this golf swing drill, you slowly go down to address and you pump them back up.
What happens when you fold your left arm early?
When you make a really narrow, collapsed swing by folding this left arm early, you're shortening dramatically the radius of your swing and you're costing yourself free club head speed. You don't have to swing any harder to use width to your advantage to increase your club head speed.
What arm does the club head bend?
Your left arm has got to bend. Instead of taking your arms and swinging them across your chest, think about turning your chest to move your arms. In fact, I like to tell people, "If that club head's moving, it's solely because you're body's turning not because you're doing anything at all with your arms or hands.".
What happens when you push your arm across your chest?
If you just push your arm across your chest, you're only tightening up the muscles in your arm. You're only stretching this left shoulder girdle. What that also does, is by the time you get to the top, your arm doesn't have anywhere else to go because it's running into your chest.
What does it mean to keep your left arm straight?
But like most clichés, there’s a reason it’s become so commonplace. The straight left arm – or the right arm for lefties – is a key building block of an efficient, on-plane backswing. A bent left arm usually causes an overlong golf backswing ...
What muscle is the leading arm of golf?
We are speaking of the grey muscle in your head as well as the muscles in your body. Repeating the correct motion with a smooth transition and accelerating through the ball with a straight leading arm is so important for a great round of golf. GOLFSTR constantly reminds you to keep your leading arm straight.
How many degrees should the shoulders be at the top of the golf swing?
Provided you’re reasonably flexible, the shoulders should be at a 90-degree angle to the golf target line at the top of the swing, with the hips at 45 degrees. From here, it’s easy to get the club shaft parallel to the ground without bending the left arm.
Why do golfers slice their balls?
The fundamental reason the ball slices is due to an open club face at impact. However, the golf swing works with a cause and effect relationship. Often a move created in the set up or even backswing promote a slice.
What is the triangle in golf?
The triangle between the arms and shoulders staying intact is a key element of a fundamentally sound golf swing. Breakdowns in the triangle such as the “flying right elbow” are created when the right elbow separates during the backswing and the “chicken wing” occurs when the left arm is bowed at impact.
Why is it important to have a spine angle in golf?
The spine angle is important to the golf swing since you swing the club in a rotational movement around the body.
What is the triangle between the arms and shoulders?
The arms will hang straight down under the shoulders and the hands should be positioned slightly left of center. The arms and shoulders form a triangle while the elbows are positioned close to each other. The triangle between the arms and shoulders staying intact is a key element of a fundamentally sound golf swing.
The Perfect Right Arm Drill
If you want to improve the action of the right arm in your swing, I have the perfect drill for you. (You can find it right around the 1:20 mark of the video above).
Shallowing the Club in Transition
This is a little bit of a tangent, but I also want to point out the great examples of shallowing the club in transition that you can see in the video! Take a look at Graeme McDowell at the 5:40 mark… and Lee Westwood at around the 6:34 mark. You can really see how they flatten the club in transition.
What is the problem with all arms swing?
The problem with an all arms swing is that it doesn’t involve the upper body. As the swing error name suggests, it mainly involves using the arms to swing at the ball. This results in powerless effort, with the ball not going at nearly the full distance it should. In order to make sure you are involving your entire body in your golf swing use this ...
How to make sure you are involving your entire body in your golf swing?
In order to make sure you are involving your entire body in your golf swing use this drill. Place the club in front of your chest with your hands and see that the grip end of the club points directly ahead , at the target. Perform a mock backswing and make sure that the end of your club points at the ball when you reach what would be your top ...
What is an all arms swing?
A golf swing said to be an “all arms” swing is one that features movements almost exclusively limited to that of the arms. Indeed, such a swing error foregoes soliciting the hips, barely or at all. This is in contrast to a better swing that features a healthy amount of hips and shoulder turn, both coiling during the backswing ...
How to make sure your hips are solicited?
One of the ways to help make sure your hips are solicited at all – and that you are not only swinging with your arms – is to engage your hips early in the swing. Making sure your hips are rotating back will shield from at least half of the problem with an all arms swing. This can be done by thinking and focusing about properly shifting your weight ...
Do you coil your hips back during the downswing?
Alternatively, let’s assume you did not coil your hips back during the backswing but are correctly initiating the downswing by uncoiling your hips. The result will see your hips thrown out of position at impact, and will have for effect a high unpredictability in your shots and a wide shot scatter.