Shorter (Probably Better) Swing? Keep the Right Arm Straight

That would be a good thought to have. Shallow swingers of the club will have the right elbow more "tucked" into the rib cage than upright swingers.

I might fall into the other 5% - just a guess.

You can take the hands deep inside without rotating the club the same way.

Yes, but most don't.

This seems like exactly wha tI need to work on...now I just need a golf club so I can start trying to wrap my head around it.

This got me in my swing funk 2 months ago. I was working on getting a better shoulder turn but in doing so, my swing became severely inside due to the elbow. Looking at a video, my plane become so flat it was impossible to make good contact due to all the compensations going on. I watched grant's youtube video and also got myself to get the feeling of my right arm going straight back (but it doesn't in reality). This not only helped get my swing on plane and create great contact but I also get my hands just a touch higher in the backswing, which feels much more relaxed when coming down into the "slot". Hard to describe for me, really. It just feels good.

Thanks! This really clicked for me. I've just started changing over to S&T; in earnest and this really helps me feel like I'm generating a good coil in my backswing without loading on my right leg. I've struggled with dragging the clubhead back and flipping it too inside while swaying over to my right side...something I was hoping to fix with S&T.; With this advice (I hate the word "tip") I get the sensation of keeping my hands in without the flip.

Holy cow, this tip just changed the game for me. I already do this with chips and pitches, but never considered it with a full swing. Mostly, because I thought there's no way I would get any power this way. Well, I was dead wrong. It feels like my backswing is about 70% (or less) of what it was previously to trying this and I am hitting them as far or further.

I played 18 after work yesterday and remembered reading this thread before going out on the back. I shot 8 strokes better on the back and after 4 holes had this weird confidence stepping up to the ball. Almost, like I knew what I was doing. Obviously, the right arm bends, but the feeling of keeping it straight just sets you up to really power through the downswing.

This was also a change my instructor made to my swing along with making sure my elbows were close together with the pockets facing the sky and elbows pointing to their respective hips.  It feels like it constricts my backswing a bit, but with remaining centered on the backswing, and using my hips to trigger the down swing it actually resulted in longer distances with all my clubs which he says is the result of compressing the ball versus sweeping it like I had been.

[quote name="shortstop20" url="/forum/thread/35195/shorter-probably-better-swing-keep-the-right-arm-straight#post_451902"]

...br>Just don't do it right away, you don't want your elbow to tuck immediately and as a result, drag the club way to the inside.[/quote] The pro I work with had me do a drill related to this after our first lesson three years ago.. Still do it a couple of times a month. Take a 2 x 4 board about three feet long, and mark an 18-inch strip in the middle. Then put it on the ground, and imaging ball is setting at L end of strip (for rightH golfer). Then, start your takeaway, keeping the right arm fairly straight the first 18 inches (maybe first 21" when you try it with 3W). This prevents snapping the club inside too quickly, and encourages a fuller turn w/o overswinging.