Bending my left arm!

I was playing golf a few days ago.

There is an app on my iphone that allows me to video my swing.

John, in the shop agreed to video my swing.

Having viewed the video it is noticeable that I bend my left arm (I'm right handed) once I get near the top of my backswing.

Has anybody got any tips or drills to help me stop this?

Russ

I think a good question is why do you do it? extra power? feels natural? do you lack rotation?

I used to use a knee support and put it around my left elbow, instant feedback and just hit a bucket of balls with it on.

My coach is very strong on the connection aspect.

Try putting a towel under both your arm pits and across the front of your chest and then make your normal swing. The idea is to try and prevent the towel from falling to the ground. Will encourage your arms to say closer to your body and will also help keep your left arm from bending too much.

Give it a try Russell it certainly helped for me :-)

Thanks for the replies guys.

Alun, it does feel natural as I wasn't even aware that I was doing it! When I don't bend my left arm I hit better shots, but trying to keep my left arm straight can affect the rest of my swing. I need to work on it.

Nigel, I will give that a try the next time I'm on the range/practice ground.

Russ

just out of curiosity, if you hit better shots by bending it why don't you stick with it? or like me you want a textbook swing?

Hi Russell,

I too had this same problem when i first had a lesson, i manage to now eradicate the bent left arm simply by just remembering to keep it straight, and literally after 5 or 6 shots i was still bending my arm as it felt so un-natural. But now i do it automatically and my shots have improved no end. This straight arm allows for whip of the club when you start the backswing and creates torsion on the club and this will once working properly give you the distance. One great tip my mate used for this was to cut off both ends of a cola bottle (2 litre one) so its a plastic sleev put it over your arm equal sides of the elbow and this stops the arm from bending, looks alittle weird but it works a treat. Also i think keeping the arm straight gives you a better angle of attack and actually when your arm is bent its a total waste of energy, as that part of the swing where your arm is bent isn't adding anything to the swing. It took me awhile to but i then had to start again with just a short backswing and then worked it now that i am getting a full backswing now, and have never looked back. Hope that helps its defo worth doing

Alun, sorry, it said I hit better shots when I do keep my left arm straight.

Nigel, thanks for that, I'll give it a try. Might look stupid on the practice ground but if I can keep my left arm straight I should be hitting the ball better.

Russ

ahhhh right lol that explains it. my bad.

Thanks for the replies.

Played a couple of rounds since this was first posted.

The problem is that when I concentrate on keeping my left arm straight it cocks up the rest of my swing.

Not been to the range yet, hopefully I'll be able to get there tomorrow.

Russ

I have the same problem russ, come from the inside or release the club, I don't have the mental capacity to do both lol :p

Managed to get upto the driving range this morning.

Today's Golfer magazine are giving you a free golf lesson and I managed to have mine there and then.

I didn't mention my left arm, but decided to let him spot it for himself.

So typical, he moved the ball back a bit in my stance for the driver (just bought myself a new Titleist 913 D3) and I was smacking the ball down to the bottom of the range.

He said I had my shoulders open when addressing the ball with my driver. This was preventing me from turning my hips properly, and so I was bending my arm to allow the club to get to the top.

I'm hoping to play 18 holes tomorrow morning and get back on the range again this week.

Hopefully the improvements will continue as my driving is my main problem at the moment. My short game is coming on leaps and bounds, putting has always been good. So if I could get the ball in play more often from the tee my scores should come down quickly.

I'll keep everyone informed about how I get on.

Russ

Sue What website is this coach? You say he is a genius, are you related to him or is he genuinely a bit good? Dave CAC handed Geordie

I've noticed this bent arm thing in my game a bit recently which tends to combine with a bit of an overswing coming back.

Problem is, if I thing about it when playing my shot, it tends to take over the swing thought... often with disasterous consequences.

I now allow myself a swing thought only on my practice swing. When I go for my shot, I trust myself to repeat the practice swing and try and think only of what I want to do with the shot. I find it works better that way.