Subscribe now to watch the full video.

Investigating Arm Bracing

This breakdown can be very useful for players relying too much on the smaller muscles of the arms at the bottom of the swing. Golfers in this category will usually struggle with consistency and power, while displaying inefficiencies such as a shorter "flat-spot", a stall of the body, and a lack of width through impact. If you struggle with one or more of these faults, this brief investigation is a great starting point for getting back on track.

Tags: Poor Contact, Not Straight Enough, Early Extension, Release, Drill, Intermediate

00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000
This drill is investigating your arm bracing.

00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:10,000
So down at the bottom there's a couple different swing issues that fall into the same category.

00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:14,000
Basically I'm pulling on the club with my arms instead of pulling on the club with the body.

00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,000
And I call how you pull on the club bracing.

00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:24,000
So the common thing would be down at the bottom, I could either pull with my shoulders.

00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,000
You'll see them, especially that left shoulder kind of retractable.

00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:37,000
I could pull with my elbows, that would be more of a left arm chicken wing or a right arm kind of bicep curl bending like this.

00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,000
Or I could pull with my wrist.

00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:46,000
These are all different ways to pull the club or pull on the grip, which does help speed up the club going down into the ball.

00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,000
But it also narrows the arc on the way through.

00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,000
Ideally I want to have the arc widening.

00:00:53,000 --> 00:01:01,000
I want my arms, my wrists and my shoulders all lengthening through impact, not bending and shortening.

00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,000
I want the pull on the club to come more from my body movement.

00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:13,000
So even though my arms are bringing the club away, my body is pulling the club away from the ground.

00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,000
That combination produces that more consistent flat spot.

00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:23,000
So sometimes golfers are unaware of their pulling and I'll have them all stand over there and grab on the club head.

00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:35,000
So if you don't have someone to play with, what I'm going to do is you can either hook the club into a bag or on a chair or something like this.

00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:40,000
So now first one I'm going to try and bend up.

00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,000
So I'm pulling into the club this way.

00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:48,000
Second one I'm going to bend with my arms and pull it towards me like this.

00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,000
This thing is a little light so I can't pull too hard.

00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,000
And then last one I'm going to pull with my shoulders.

00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,000
Okay so those are the different arm pull methods.

00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,000
Now I want to feel a body pull method.

00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:07,000
So I could bend backward almost like I'm doing a dead lift or a back bend.

00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:13,000
But that would be too much extension and that would still make it hard for me to create a good flat spot.

00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:20,000
So now what I'm going to do is I'm going to pull while turning my body.

00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:26,000
So I'm basically pulling on it that way instead of straight up at me.

00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:33,000
That's a little bit closer to what we want to feel down it impact.

00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:41,000
Because the club is going to be in a pretty much set position here.

00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:42,000
It impact.

00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,000
The club is a metal rod.

00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,000
It's got some bend and lead in it at impact.

00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,000
But it's a pretty much a fixed metal rod.

00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,000
So it's set at a certain angle.

00:02:54,000 --> 00:03:01,000
And I'm going to be pulling kind of in this direction kind of more back up away from it.

00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:06,000
So I could either get into a position like this and pull more with the body or I could

00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:11,000
get into a position like this where I would pull from my hands.

00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:12,000
Can be really useful.

00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,000
I'll stand on the club and have them pull a couple different ways and getting into this

00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:22,000
position to feel like I'm doing it more from the body helps them recreate a good impact

00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:23,000
alignment.

00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,000
So if you feel like it's more of a force thing that I'm just I feel like I'm hitting it too

00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,000
much with my hands.

00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:33,000
Play around with how you're pulling on the club until you find a position where you can

00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:38,000
pull strongly with your body but still have the arms being soft enough that they are

00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,000
lengthening or moving away from you.

00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:45,000
You solve that riddle and you'll be able to build a much more consistent flat spot.

00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,000
Have your chest more open in impact and get that classic follow through position that we're

00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:50,000
looking for.