Click here and enter your email address to watch the full video
Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best Young Teachers in America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America. Meet your new instructor.

Subscribe now to watch the full video.

Trail Elbow In Front Of Pec

A great checkpoint for the movement of the trail arm during the backswing is looking at it from the down the line camera. Good shoulder movement will keep the trail elbow close to in front of the trail pec. For a right handed golfer, this means your right elbow will be just on the edge of your right pec. If you can see a lot of space between the right arm and the pec, then your shoulder is going to have a hard time externally rotating during the downswing.

Tags: Backswing, Drill, Intermediate

00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000
The drill is right elbow in front of right peck.

00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:08,000
So during the backswing we talk about what the arms need to do and what the body needs to

00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:09,000
do.

00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,000
And one of the simple ways to look at what the right arm needs to do is it basically is going

00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,000
to elevate slightly and it's going to externally rotate.

00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:21,000
So we have a few different ways that we can kind of practice this general movement.

00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:26,000
But one simple checkpoint that you can use if you're using a mirror at home or if you're

00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,000
videotaping your swing is if I was to do that

00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:33,000
standing up in front of you or standing facing you just like so and I was to make that

00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:34,000
movement.

00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:38,000
What you would see is from that camera angle this elbow would be more less in front of this

00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,000
right peck just slightly not completely in front of it but it would be kind of touching

00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:43,000
it.

00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:48,000
As opposed to if I was to let this arm go around me kind of like so obviously there's

00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:53,000
a big distance between this line of my right peck and my right elbow.

00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:58,000
So what you can do is you can check from the down the line camera or using a mirror and

00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:03,000
you can make sure that your body is controlling a lot of the depth and the right elbow

00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,000
stays more or less in front of that right peck.

00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:11,000
The problem is if the arm gets too much behind you like so then transition is typically

00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:16,000
going to encourage that movement and it's going to get steep with the arm path which is

00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:20,000
going to require one of the major compensations.

00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:25,000
So you can use a video or you can use the mirror and basically work on that elbow staying

00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:30,000
a little bit more in front of that peck that will make the movements that we're trying

00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,000
to do during a transition a little bit easier.

00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:40,000
Now this may feel like your arms are going much more vertically than your use to because

00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,000
a lot of the depth is controlled by the body turning.

00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:50,000
So the body turning on its good path helps control the depth and then the arm lifts kind

00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:51,000
of helps control this height.

00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:56,000
If you're used to not turning your body and just kind of pulling with your arms behind

00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,000
you then this is going to feel very steep and out in front of you.

00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:05,000
But use video, use mirror so that you can reaffirm what you're actually doing is the

00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:10,000
right thing that you should be doing and it'll make the transition ultimately the whole

00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:15,000
down swing a lot easier if you get into a more solid backswing position.

00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,000
However I usually try to build the downswing first so that you know at least what your

00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:23,000
brain wants to do and what you're trying to do with this club before you worry about some

00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,000
of these details during the backswing.

Subscribe now for full access to our video library.