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what should the right arm do in the golf swing

by Dr. Deanna Cummerata V Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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  • Address. On address, both arms are extended straight. ...
  • Back Swing. On your back swing your left arm acts as a pushing arm and your right arm acts as the hinge that keeps the swing straight.
  • Down Swing. On your down swing the right arm becomes the power and the left arm becomes the guide. ...
  • Contact. ...
  • Follow Through. ...

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.

Full Answer

How your right arm works in the golf swing?

How the Right Arm Works in Golf

  • Backswing Plane. Because you stand to the side of the golf ball at address, your clubhead moves on an arc angled to the ground called the swing plane.
  • Top of the Swing. Old-time golf instructors recommended players feel as if they were supporting a tray with their right hand at the top of the backswing.
  • Starting down. ...
  • Through Impact. ...

Which arm should power the golf swing?

The role of right arm in golf swing should be mostly to guide the club into position and get it ready for an aggressive downswing. Once set properly at the top of the swing, the lower body and left arm should take over and do the rest of the work. Think of it as a transfer of power – the right arm in golf swing takeaway does most of the work, and the left arm regains control when you transition into the downswing.

What does the left arm do in the golf downswing?

Golf Tips: Left Arm. 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. Understanding the purpose of the left arm in the golf swing and how to properly utilize it are critical factors in shooting low scores.

How to keep left arm straight during golf swing?

What I’d like to see

  • The left arm is straight.
  • The right arm angle is 90 degrees.
  • The hands are “away” from the head.
  • The wrists are fully hinged.
  • The shoulders are fully turned over the top of a controlled lower body.
  • The backswing is parallel, with maximum width at this point.

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Which arm is the most important to a golf swing?

Keeping the left arm straight is crucial to a correct golf swing.

What is the difference between your right and left arm on a golf club?

On address, both arms are extended straight. Your right hand is at the bottom part of your grip on the club, and your left hand is at the top part of the grip. If the ball is too close you will be forced to bend your arms.

How to swing a golf club?

On your back swing your left arm acts as a pushing arm and your right arm acts as the hinge that keeps the swing straight. You keep your left arm straight to get the maximum arc out of your swing. The more arc you get from your swing, the more power you will have. Allow the left arm to push the club into the back swing and keep your right arm tight to your body to keep the swing straight.

What arm is the power in a down swing?

On your down swing the right arm becomes the power and the left arm becomes the guide. Continue to keep your left arm straight to maintain the maximum arc, and continue to keep the radius of your right arm as close to your body as possible. Your right arm will actually be pulling your club through the swing and your left arm will be guiding the club to the ball.

Which arm is used to guide a golf club through impact?

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.

What shoulder does a complete follow through put the club on?

The swing is not over until the club has made contact and there is a complete follow through. A complete follow through puts the club on the left shoulder with both hands still holding the grip. Always allow the club to complete the swing by ending up on the shoulder after a follow through.

What happens if you bend your left arm?

If you allow your left arm to bend, you will wind up pulling the club closer to your body and reducing the speed you can generate. If you allow the right arm to drift too far from the body, the club will get away from a straight swing path and this could lead to a slice or a hook.

Why is the Right Elbow Key to Golf Swing Consistency?

The trail arm plays a massive role in one's ability to deliver the club head consistently into impact. Here are the top three areas of the swing that it influences.

What are the three areas of the golf swing?

Here are the top three areas of the swing that it influences. The first move off the ball is one of the most important parts of the golf swing. Hogan called it one of his “crossroads” where things could easily go one way or another. The right elbow is instrumental in the golf backswing. When I see a poor take-away it almost always stems ...

How to keep elbows from flying?

A good drill is to swing to the top and focus on maintaining your elbow spacing. The Swing Align swing trainer with its flexible connection belt will keep your elbows from flying too far apart and away from your body during the transition from backswing to downswing. With your trail arm in a good position the lower body can initiate downswing ...

What is the proper position for a trail arm?

Having the right elbow in the proper position at the top allows the trail arm to move externally and under the lead arm resulting in a shallowing of the club shaft.

Why do you tuck your right elbow in golf?

You want to tuck the right elbow close to the body in order to let the club head move behind ...

Why do you use your right elbow on a downswing?

It allows the club to shallow and move behind the hands, which in turns promotes more rotation of the body. This makes it much easier for the hands to lead the club into impact and provide a powerful ...

Is swing align good for golf?

There is no better way to guarantee quality and beneficial practice than using the Swing Align. It gives you terrific feedback on where your arms are in the swing and what they are doing. Not only does it help you stay more connected going back, but it helps you maintain arm structure at the top as well so that you can develop the muscle memory needed to be more consistent. It provides a great visual of where the trail arm is coming down relative to the lead arm.

Which arm is the most important in golf swing?

The timing of the movements of the right arm, and the timing of the application of force by the muscles within, and connected to, the right arm during the downswing, are crucial for a great golf swing.

Which muscle is used to move the right arm in golf?

Core muscles, which describes the muscles that run the length of your trunk and torso. Internal and External Rotation, which describes the rotation of the right arm in the golf swing, and how to increase your range of motion.

What happens if you straighten your elbow too early?

If the muscles are fired too early, then the arm will straighten too soon. This will disrupt the compound pendulum effect, resulting in a significant reduction in the energy that reaches the club head through impact. It will cause momentum to be “thrown out” into the golf club too early, resulting in “casting” of the club and a dramatic loss of speed and accuracy. Straightening the right elbow just 0.01 (one hundredth) of a second too early will result in a 10% loss of club head speed at impact.

What muscle is used to power a golf club?

What’s more, the right arm amplifies the power generated by the torso as it transfers that power to the golf club. The muscles in the arm and chest pulling and straightening the arm during the downswing, building more energy, and then releasing that energy into the golf club at precisely the correct moment for maximum club head speed through impact.

How to know if your right arm is bent?

There are a few key characteristics that you should note: 1 The right arm stays bent at the elbow at approximately 90 degrees (the angle is distorted by the perspective of the two views), from the top until very late in the downswing — it doesn’t start to straighten until the hands reach about hip height. 2 There is no conscious muscular effort applied to the right arm until the hands drop down to about waist height and the shoulders reach maximum rotational speed. 3 The external rotation of the right arm (established at address and increased during the backswing) increases further as the right elbow starts down ahead of the hands, increasing the lag angles and stretching the shoulder. This also enables the deltoids to contribute energy to the golf swing. 4 The elbow is pulled down and in front of the body just after the upper body starts to rotate hard. As the hands reach 9 o’clock (the left arm is horizontal), the right elbow is pointing towards the right toes. 5 The right shoulder seems to “pause” as the right arm straightens, enabling (and due to) the transfer of energy from the core through to the arm. 6 At the same time as the upper body rotation starts to decelerate, due to its energy transferring through to the right arm, the triceps fire to amplify the energy as the right arm straightens.

Why is my right forearm pointing straight at the ball?

The right forearm is pointing straight at the golf ball as the golf club lag is released into impact, and well ahead of the ball at impact. The right arm is still slightly bent through impact, straightening as he extends (is pulled) well into the follow-through as a result of efficient energy transfer. It is very important to understand that there ...

What is the right arm used for?

The right arm is often referred to by golf instructors as the “speed arm”, it has primary responsibility for transferring the energy from your torso through to the golf club , playing a crucial role in the golf swing kinematic sequence. But the right arm isn’t simply used for energy transfer, it is also a compound pendulum in its own right, ...

Why do you need a straight right arm in golf?

What you really want is a relatively straight right arm during the initial part of the backswing as this promotes width and good pace -- keys to hitting solid shots.

Which arm should fold and move under your left?

As your right arm continues toward the top of the backswing, it should start to fold and move under your left, which encourages your wrists to set and load correctly and helps your upper body to make a full coil. This combination of width and the proper body turn sets you in the ideal position for the downswing.

What is a good arm structure?

Sloppy arms can lead to all kinds of problems. Among these is the flying right elbow ( hello, slice) and the torso-hugging right elbow ( goodbye, power ).

How to do the wheel trick?

Hold your arms in front of you as if you were (properly) driving a car—for those of you who skipped driver’s ed., that means hands at 10 and 2! In other words, the wheel is a clock; put your left hand on 10, now the trick, reach into the middle of the wheel and grab 2 o’clock, palm up.

What does trail elbow do in golf?

What the trail elbow going deep can cause across the line and makes it harder from the death move to get back into the ball without heaps of compensation. So when you learn the correct role of the right arm in the golf swing you can have a more consistent golf swing plane and in turn more consistent golf shots with more distance!

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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 ...

Is trail arm mechanics hard to diagnose?

Trail arm mechanics tough to diagnose unless you’ve sifted through the 3D data.

How to swing to the top of the golf club?

You'll also notice that to swing to the top, you have to let your right arm separate from your upper body. I know you might have heard to keep that elbow tucked when you swing back, but letting the right arm "float" a little away from your trunk provides a nice, wide swing arc and puts you in position for the proper shallowing of the club on the way down. Essentially, you're creating more room to swing from inside the target line. Couple that with the coiling the resistance of the towel promotes, and you're poised for a powerful, right-side-fueled downswing.

What does it mean when you have two arms?

What this should tell you is that even though you've got two arms, you feel more comfortable using one over the other. Remember that when you swing the golf club. A good golf swing is a blend of coordinated movement from both sides of the body, but it's really your dominant side that wants, and should, dictate the action.

What muscle is flexed on the right side of the back?

You should feel like your upper body is coiling with the latissimus dorsi "lat" muscle really flexed on the right side of the back.

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