Left Arm Bent too Much on the Downswing!

by Danny
(New Zealand)

I want to know how to fix my left arm bend.

Please help? Thanks, Danny.

Louis Answer:

You can see from the lines I have drawn in the picture that you have started to release the club very early in the down swing. The white line indicates where your club should be.(you lose distance with such an early release of the club)

This action has caused your left arm to bend during this early release of the wrists.

The position of your shoulders are also closed to your target and your weight has not shifted sufficiently to the left side for your hips to lead and clear out the way.

The way to solve your left arm bending and all the other problems is to practice making one piece take away with the club, hands, arms, and shoulders all moving together in the take away and back swing.

This will ensure a proper coil of the upper body in the back swing with the hands and arms moving together with the shoulder turn.

Now, on the down swing I can see that you right elbow has returned nicely to the side but you need to focus on moving your knees gently left to get the weight onto the left side quicker and then the left hip will be able to clear. Think of the move as a "bump and turn."

This move should pull the arms and hands down into the hitting area,(to hip height) and the left arm should be more extended outwards, instead of collapsing inwards.

Refer to these pages for the back swing and down swing movements. Go to The take away then follow the links at the bottom of the page to the back swing, and down swing moves.

Read them, internalize them, and practice them till you develop one smooth movement.

Thanks for the submission and let me know how you are doing.