Keeping your left arm straight for lower scores sounds correct but it is a bit of a misnomer. If you look at tour players most of them keep their left arm mostly to completely straight. Most of us with less shoulder muscle strength or flexibility can’t achieve this comfortably. So should we say keep your left arm as straight as you can on the back swing?
This one of the golf mechanics of the golf swing I struggle with. I have had two left shoulder and one right shoulder rotator cuff surgeries. In the last year I also tore the labrum in my right shoulder and just for fun tore the bicep tendon completely from the right shoulder. So I can certainly emphasize that it is not that easy to keep the left arm straight on the back swing. See how the arm muscles work in the golf swing.
Why should we even try? Because if you don’t keep your left arm fairly straight in the back swing you will most likely be a bad ball striker. Of course there are always exceptions, see Angel Cabrera, Kenny Perry, Lee Westwood and even Ratief Goosen. But these guys hit tons of balls and are exceptional athletes. So why not have a better swing like this video, Digital video of golf swing, very cool!
The basic principle for arm motion in the golf swing is a lever system. This motion is similar to the swinging of a hammer. You hing your wrist and even your elbow to strike the nail with force. In golf the left arm works as the guide for the lever on the back swing allowing the right arm to hinge much like a hammer motion. If the left arm adds another lever by bending in the back swing it can add potential power but unfortunately makes it much more difficult to hit the ball consistently.
With most amateur golfers when the left arm over bends in the back swing the wrist lever and right arm lever never get set causing massive loss of power. To stop over bending the arm you have two basic choices. Shorten your back swing to fit your natural flexibility range or start stretching. The stretching is the most productive but most of us will not spend four nights a week to increase the strength and flexibility in our left shoulder.
So the easy answer is to shorten your back swing. Find out how far you can swing you
r arms back without your left arm bending. For most of us this means are left arm will stop around shoulder height on the back swing. Notice Ben, great player on the right how his hands don’t get higher than his right ear. He has been one of the best players in Hawaii for years and does not hit it short.
So shorten your back swing and hit the ball with much more consistency. You will also hit the ball farther, yes. When you have a golf swing that fits with you natural flexibility you don’t spend a lot of energy trying to fix things on the down swing. So with this shorter back swing you can actually create more speed on the down swing.
If we can help let us know.
Jim Hartnett, PGA
