There has always been a lot of discussion about keeping the lead or left arm straight “ish” during the back swing. Often ignored is how much bend should a player get in their trail, right arm. Tour players generally have about 60 -90 degrees of bend while many amateurs have 120 degrees, too much bend.
Typically as a player learns to add distance to their game they learn to hinge the wrist and bend the right arm creating levers for power. It is important to also hinge the trail wrist properly as this is a major power source in the golf swing. Eventually the bend in the right arm becomes excessive creating all kinds of problems such as loss of power, control and consistency. So next time you go to the range hit balls feeling light your keeping your trail, right arm nearly straight. If your like the majority of people when your right arm feels “straight” it will probably be bent about 80 degrees. Use a video camera to check your angles, this can be very hard to feel so the camera will be a great help. I have had great success with poor to tour players working on this fundamental so you should probably give it a try!
Jim Hartnett, PGA
www.myhome4golf.com
