How to be Connected in a Golf Swing

It might seem simple, “keep your arms connected to your body”, but it is very important to know how, and I believe there are many players trying to do this with the wrong concept.

Some questions I would like to answer in this article:

1)      What does a connected move away look like compared to a disconnected move away?

2)      Common misunderstandings?

3)      Where do you connect your arms to your body at address?

4)      What exercises are good to practice connection?

What does a connected move away look like compared to a disconnected move away?

First of all, it is very important to have a visual image of what is right and wrong, and this will help a lot in the understanding of connection.  The first 2 pictures show the same position in the move away, with the club parallel to the ground.  Some people might think that on both the arms are touching the chest, so both are connected, but this would be incorrect.  The first picture is disconnected and the seconded is connected.  If we look at the same position taken from the side, it is clear to see where disconnection happens.  It happens when the triceps and the latissimus dorsi muscles separate, where as in the connected move away, these muscles remain connected.  When you look again at the picture from the front, perhaps you can see that in the disconnection move away the left arm has rotated more with the back of the elbow visible and the left shoulder higher, where as in the connected move away, the elbow is pointing towards the ground.

2)      Common misunderstandings that affect connection?

• A phase I hear a lot is “one piece takeaway” .   There is no such thing as a one piece takeaway, and when players have this concept and try to move everything (body, arms and club) away together, it will greatly affect connection later in the swing.  Your wrists should remain soft in the takeway with your wrists cocking naturally.  You can see in the correct picture above when the club is at waist high, the wrists have cocked slightly.

• Another misunderstanding is when players are trying to develop a wide move away.  A lot of the time when players try this, they overly stretch their arms pulling their shoulders forward out of posture.  This will always result in disconnection in the back of the shoulders.

• Many players believe that your arms should sit on top of your chest at address, and the connection point between arms and body is the chest.  Also, these same players might try and keep their elbows as close together as possible.  This concept pulls the shoulders forward off the natural bodies posture and makes connection in the takeaway and swing almost impossible.

3)      Where do you connect your arms to your body at address?

The best way to understand where your arms should connect to your body is to stand up straight in your natural posture, letting your arms hang down; if your posture is ok, you will find that you arms hang on the side of your chest.  Try and feel where the connection point is because this is the same point when you take your golf address.  Connection between arms and body at address should happen more on the side of the chest rather than on top of the chest, with the shoulders remaining back in the natural body’s posture.  If your shoulders are naturally sitting forward, do not try too hard to pull your shoulders back, but you should consider doing some postural exercises to correct your posture for your everyday life, as well as your golf.

4)      What exercises are good to practice connection?

Towel Drill

A well known drill is to trap a towel underneath your arms at address, and keep it in place during the whole swing.  This is a good drill and one I recommend, but it is very important you do it right.  As I have said above, the connection point is on the side of the chest, not on top.  Take a look at the 2 pictures for the right and wrong place to connect the towel.  Also, knowing what muscles you should use to keep the towel connected at address and during the swing is vital.  Most will use muscles in their shoulders and arms to push their arms down onto their chest – this is incorrect.  Your arms should be pulled back by the muscles in the back of your shoulder blades to keep connection.   If you learn to be aware of what muscles you are using during the exercise, when you take the towel away, you will have no trouble repeating the same connected move away when swinging without the towel.  When doing this exercise, do not try and make full swings.  Make short swings so you can feel the connection and develop an awareness of how to be connected.

Palms facing up –

• Take any object that is a little shorter in length than the width of your shoulders.  Now, taking your golf posture, rotate your arms and hands so your palms face to the sky.  Trap the object with the ends of your hands, as seen in the picture.
• As with the towel drill, use the muscles in the back of your shoulders to keep the object trapped at address and during short half swings.
• This is a great exercise to sense the connection between arms and body during the swing.  Repeat it a few times and then take your address with a club, feeling the same connection during the swing.