arm position

[gasfreak]

I am right handed to start with,on your backswing dont you keep your left arm perfectly straight.If I try this I can not keep my eyes on the ball,and is this a problem or is it just the way it is.

[x-forged]

yes i keep my lead arm stright throughout the entire swing until the finish, but there are some who bend it slightly at the top. ive never had a problem with taking my eyes off the ball when i do this, but maybe your just taking it back to far. i would suggest keeping it nice and straight, it will help with your consistency.

[Dent]

yes, You keep it straight on the backswing, and I personally like to bend at the top to acheive a fully paralell swing. And then when you come back down I tend to bend it back to being straight again and follow through.

[larlev]

I keep mine straight also. Keep your chin up, and don't make to much of a shoulder turn, so that both of your eyes remain level.

[MPS67]

I am right handed to start with,on your backswing dont you keep your left arm perfectly straight.If I try this I can not keep my eyes on the ball,and is this a problem or is it just the way it is.

Do you tend to separate your upper arms (biceps) from your chest during the back swing? Try to stay connected, turn back with your shoulders, and keep the upper arms connected to your body. For a drill, place something like golf gloves under your arm pits as you go back. They shouldn't fall out until the end of the swing.

How's your posture? At address, bending down a little more at the hips may help you with your line of site as well as clearing more room for which your arms and shoulders can pass through.

[Avid Golfer]

I am right handed to start with,on your backswing dont you keep your left arm perfectly straight.If I try this I can not keep my eyes on the ball,and is this a problem or is it just the way it is.

You don't have to keep it perfectly straight if it is uncomfortable to you. I have a straight left arm at the top of my swing, so I may not have experienced the issue myself, but I've read and examined numerous related material by tour pros and their instructors on the issue.

Below is a picture of Ernie Els and Nick Price at the top of their swings. Els has a straight left arm, and Price's arm is slightly bent. Both have won three majors and numerous times on the PGA Tour and around the world. Price isn't alone among tour players with slightly bent left arms at the top of the swing, and many of them are still long hitters (so there is no proof that it adversely effects distance). If you're shots have some consistancy from one to the next then its probably not worth worrying whether your left arm is straight or not at the top of the swing. http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/8...ngironstu1.jpg

[gasfreak]

What I am have the most trouble with is my medium to short irons,my distance is pretty good but right to left is a freaking nightmare once one way then the other.Hitting the green has become a real issue for me any where from 75 to 150 yards.I dont expect to hit them all I am not there yet but this is really a problem that is killing my score

[DavidFehertysBike]

I think golfers trying to consouisly keep their lead arm strait on the backswing causes more problems than any other issue..it just throws your whole body out of wack and stiffens you up. I keep my arms purposly bent at address to stop me from trying to do that crap..they will extend naturally if I turn properly. No need to try to keep it strait.

[Leek]

I am right handed to start with,on your backswing dont you keep your left arm perfectly straight.If I try this I can not keep my eyes on the ball,and is this a problem or is it just the way it is.

I'd prefer to call it extended rather than straight. To me straight means rigid, tight or even locked at the elbow. I think those ideas are not conducive to good golf.

I think it should be soft and extended. If you are flexible enough to make a full turn and have a soft straight left arm, GREAT! If you aren't flexible enough no big deal. Keep the left hand as far away from you as you can with a soft arm and if it bends a bit, it's just fine. Tension will make you slice and hit the ball short.

[Leek]

What I am have the most trouble with is my medium to short irons,my distance is pretty good but right to left is a freaking nightmare once one way then the other.Hitting the green has become a real issue for me any where from 75 to 150 yards.I dont expect to hit them all I am not there yet but this is really a problem that is killing my score

Do you hit a lot of fat and thin shots?

[gasfreak]

most of the time I make good contact it just goes right or left

[jdumoit]

I am right handed to start with,on your backswing dont you keep your left arm perfectly straight.If I try this I can not keep my eyes on the ball,and is this a problem or is it just the way it is.

I haven't read the rest of the posts, but if your head is moving during your backswing, you're probably sliding on the way back. I think the remedy is turning your left should downward more on the way back?

I'm no pro, or teacher, but if I catch myself sliding, thinking of the shoulder turn helps me

[jdumoit]

I think golfers trying to consouisly keep their lead arm strait on the backswing causes more problems than any other issue..it just throws your whole body out of wack and stiffens you up. I keep my arms purposly bent at address to stop me from trying to do that crap..they will extend naturally if I turn properly. No need to try to keep it strait.

I don't know what I'm talking about, but from personal experience, I agree. When I try to keep a rigid left arm, it's disasterous.

When I watch my swing videotaped, my left arm is already straight without thinking about it. I think it's most important to relax during your swing... I can't imagine striking the ball consistantly well with a non-relaxed swing.

[Leek]

most of the time I make good contact it just goes right or left

Then I would guess you are flipping to try to turn the club over. What this means is your left wrist (for a rightie) collapses and your hands are even or behind the clubhead at impact. This is very hard to time.

First, it's important to understand where your hands need to be at impact, past the ball and clubhead. Next if this position leaves your clubface open at impact creating a slice, then you need to get clubface control- square at impact. There are several ways. A very conventional way is to make sure your left elbow is pointing down, with the hands ahead of the clubhead at impact. Once you can get the left elbow pointing at the ground (and turning) at impact, then you can easily learn a flat left wrist. One way is to put a credit card in the back of your glove, pressing against the back of your wrist. The feeling of the credit card can help you feel what a flat left wrist feels like. Once you can do that, Congratulations! You're on your way to becoming a playa!!

[tm22721]

I try to end the backswing with my left arm flat against my chest.

That tends to automatically straighten out my elbow.

It also gives me direct feedback that my left forearm is bisecting my shoulder, ie that my swing is on plane.

[Saks]

Do you hit a lot of fat and thin shots?

Leek,

Jumping in here but... The last lesson I had we looked at getting my arms to go back further in the turn and getting my elbows level. Since then I have been focussing on getting that arm back and straight and have been hitting worse than ever before! I played tonight and tried to think less about my arms and more about making a good turn, seemed to hit it better. When I think about the straight arm I have been hitting a lot of thin shots. What does this all mean?

[Avid Golfer]

Leek,

I don't think I've ever read or heard a pro say that he/she focuses on keeping the left arm straight during the swing.

If you read Steve Elkington's book Five Fundamentals he says the arms should go along with the torso and not have any independent motion of their own. Look at him at the top and you will see a straight left arm (but he doesn't think about it). If you read or watch Nick Faldo he talks about starting the swing by turning the belly button, or moving the chest, shoulders, arms, (aka: the triangle) and club away together. He also has a straight left arm at the top (without thinking about it). The point is that it should be something that happens naturally, and not something you force. (Below are four tour pros who make no effort to keep the left arm straight, but do simply because of sound mechanics, not because they force the position): http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/2...ofswingpd7.jpg

[Leek]

Leek,

I honestly think it's just an uncomfortable thought for you, and hard to make a good swing trying to think about that stuff. Maybe it causes some other problem.

It's important to understand sometimes an instructor might tell you to have a "feel" that could help you, but that feel may not actually be what you are doing. I don't believe anyone would tell a student to have a rigid left arm, but if the student is collapsing their arm on the backswing, they might tell them that to get them better extension. Really good teachers usually have lots of different ways to get the student to accomplish what they are trying to teach. If this is a PGA pro telling you this, and you trust his teaching, then I would practice what he told you- on the driving range. On the course, I would just play golf and think about the shot and the target and not try to "practice" what he taught. In other words, save it for practice sessions- on the driving range.