Loading the right arm in the backswing

When watching golf on TV, one of the aspects of top players swings that most pick up on is the width they have in their backswing. This is true; most great players share the same trait of maintaining a wide arch during the swing that helps create speed and keeps the club swinging on plane.  The problem is that most think the width comes from the left arm and keeping it as straight as possible during the swing; this is the conceptual fault that creates problems.  When players focus so much on keeping the left arm straight, they create a lot of tension in the wrist, forearm, elbow, and shoulder joints. You combine this with the fact that many young players are hyper-mobile in their elbows, and you get a look where the left arm is over extending and flexing past straight, a very uncomfortable unnatural movement.

“As many great coaches have said in the past if there is one thing that KILLS a good golf swing, it is tension”

 This overly tense left arm robs the swing of 3 natural movements:

1)    Tension in the shoulder, forearm, and hand stops the arms rotating naturally.  This will have the effect of making the backswing plane steep, and many will hit slice shots and toe impacts because of this.  Good rotation of the arms is essential to swinging the club on plane and producing solid straight shots.

2)    Tension slows the swing down. When muscles are tight, they will not move as fast. Think about a runner before they start a race. They are constantly shaking all parts of their body to remove tension. If they tighten up, it will affect their speed greatly.  It is clearly visible in a golf swing when tension is in the arms and the shoulders. The swing looks slow and stiff with club head speed never being maximized at impact.

3)    Tension in the left arm affects the efficient cocking of the wrists in the backswing. One of the vital levers in the swing that helps create speed is your wrist cock. The cocking of the wrists on the backswing, and un-cocking at impact, provides a huge source of power.  If players don’t cock their wrists fully on the backswing, they will need to compensate to make up for that loss of available speed, normally in one of the 3 following ways:

1) Over turning the shoulders. This would be common with young players who have great flexibly, but it is not a swing that will last very long!

 2) Making a longer arm swing which will result in reducing the width of the swing. In this case, you can see the left arm is straight but the swing still looks narrow. This shows it is not just the left arm staying straight that provides width.

3) I know it sounds crazy, but with some players focusing so much on keeping the left arm straight, it creates so much tension that their swing becomes powerless. They will actually bend their left arm more at the top of the backswing to create power.

To allow your swing to have natural movements with good tempo, there should be softness to your left arm not tightness. Of course, I do not want your elbow to flex in the swing as that would result in a loss of width but it must stay relaxed.  If you lack width in your swing, the most likely problem is in your right arm.

 How to Fix

It is the width of the right arm during the swing that determines the width of your arch, not how straight your left arm is.

As we know, the backswing only takes about 0.700 seconds, which means the club is moving fast. A fast moving club is heavy and must have force applied in the opposite direction to stop momentum at the top of the backswing and allow the change of direction into the downswing, maintaining the arch.  While both arms will provide resistance to the momentum of the club, it is the right arm which most players do not know how to use nor realize the importance of.  The angle between the forearm and bicep should not become less than 90 degrees at the top, and the angle between the right arm, triceps and the rib cage should also not be less than 90 degrees at the top of the backswing.

Exercises

1)    If you are finding it hard to understand this, just take a club and swing it with your right arm only. Swing at the speed you would in your normal swing. To stop the club at the top and maintain the arch, you will feel how your right arm provides resistances to the momentum of the club. This should be the same feeling in the swing.  Hit balls practicing with your right arm only. You will develop the awareness of the roll the right arm has to play in the swing.

2)    Make a backswing with you right arm only and stop at the top. Now, take your left and move it to join your right arm at the top of the swing. Your right arm should be just wide enough so that your left arm can remain relaxed and not stretched. This will give you the feeling of what the top of the backswing should feel like and the correct concept of how to make your swing wide and powerful.

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