Golf Video

Learn how to keep your left arm straight in golf

Posted on by Pedro Dodson

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34 thoughts on “Learn how to keep your left arm straight in golf”

  1. I haven’t taught this drill in a while, needs some refining!
    Time to post a new video – what would you like to learn? Leave a comment
    below 

  2. Best tip I ever saw. After doing this technique I now hit my driver
    straight every time. I use to always hit my driver to the right. Thx
    

  7. the only point in the swing the left arm needs to be straight is at impact.
    left arm bias in the back swing can restrict the right shoulder from
    turning fully. In fact a good drill is to start back with right hand
    straight (need to level out both shoulders to do so) when you feel the
    shoulder turn is complete extend the hands and arms. you will get height
    and extension and lag. all good for club speed and overall balance. 

  8. This is an awesome way of teaching hinge. I have been giving some lessons
    for about 15 years and the instruction has changed tremendously. I think it
    would provide another good view down the line. Thanks for the great tip!

  11. I am not sure that early wrist set is good for the majority – its hard
    enough for high handicappers to hold wrist set even for a fraction of that
    length. Usually left arm breaking down is two things – #1 Swing is too
    long #2 left forearm and/or grip turned too far left at address (weak).
    Watch Ernie Els to see what I am talking about – he said in an interview a
    key was pointing left elbow at target to “pre-set” the arm then just turn
    shoulders and forget arms/hands and just focus on balance.
    But anything beats the breakdown, even a 1/2 swing to waist height.
    Usually to get people to swing drastically shorter (like most of them need
    to) you have to drastically slow down their takeaway so that the time to
    the top is the same…

  15. dont need to overdo this drill. Having a moderate amount of hinge while
    feeling your hands stay low during the first half of the backswing should
    help over-hinging the wrists too early

  17. Ugh this is so hard for me to do. It feels very unnatural. Maybe it’s
    because I played baseball and I’m used to swinging a bat. The technique is
    similar yet very different. It’s like I’m so close, yet so far away ;(

  19. Wouldn’t you say it’s more a function of the left shoulder traveling too
    horizontally in the backswing, Therefore the player will have to add some
    kind of lifting to get the club going up. Basically a steeper shoulder turn
    from the start would do the trick as well I’d say

  20. I’ll give you an A for creativity, but I cant say this was ever spoken or
    mentioned in any way by Mr. Hogan. It’s funny how you brought up applying
    “pressure with the first three fingers” as a fault because its not. Mr.
    Hogan DID frequently mention how he applied upwards pressure with these
    fingers for a number of reasons.

  21. this doesn’t seem like great advice considering the number one problem
    amateurs have is take the club away with the hands and pulling it way inside

  22. that’s what what I was thinking.In fact,that first take-away he did looked
    pretty good,like nicklaus. Most people bend their arms because their lazy
    and they want to generate their power with their arms instead of coiling
    the body and generating power from the hip turn.

  23. Good point Brian, more turn does help many golfers and keeping your left
    arm “perfectly straight” is not a must. But be careful about over rotating
    your lower body during the backswing as it can lead you towards major swing
    issues (as could an exaggerated early wrist hinge). Its just not that easy
    to give swing tips to the masses!

  24. excellent drill. I start each warm up session by hitting 15 balls with just
    the left hand followed by 15 balls with just the right hand.

  25. i doubt of a reply of this comment but here goes, hope anyone will reply.
    i’ve always been taught that my left hand should hinge after half of the
    backswing, not immediately. this drill will make me hinge immediately,
    right? will that be detrimental?

  28. You are right. But I did not say that applying pressure with the first
    three fingers is a fault. The thing that Ben Hogan did not tell people was
    that the pressure in his first three fingers came from applying pressure in
    the joint of his left wrist. In M F he tells us to make a downward rotation
    with the left wrist in the waggle, as you would if you actively applied
    pressure with the first three fingers; but he actually kept his left wrist
    wedged in when he waggled.

  30. Making this video totally irrelevant then?…best way to learn the
    swing?…go out and play, make all the mistakes, and you’ll learn how to
    play by watching low handicappers.

  31. At waist-height in the backswing, how much should the wrists be hinged? I’m
    thinking that this might change according to club length and the type of
    stroke?

  33. So I’m pretty sure I have this problem, I will give this a try, but I used
    to at address start the backswing with a small hinge in the wrist like this
    drill, most people I know say don’t do this, they drag the club back but
    not to over do it like you do in the video.

  34. I think this video is poor. I would think creating a steeper downswing is a
    bad idea for most amateurs. avoiding contact with that club on the ground
    can be got around in many ways, and i don’t see how this encourages a
    straight left arm , at all.

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