Right elbow to body

[Shamed04]

I was wondering. I noticed alot of good players on the downswing if their right elbow is not already close to their right hip it seems to go there. I must release early b/c my right arm/elbow stays disconnected from body. Does anyone know how to get the correct feel of keeping your right arm close to your side, or any tips regarding this area of the swing?
Thanks

[BrianW]

Re: Right elbow to body

Try tucking a head-cover or glove under your right armpit and keep it gripped there until high in the follow through.

[rotator]

Re: Right elbow to body

Hi Shamed,

This one works.

When you make your normal backswing, trace the ball/target line with the clubhead end, until the shaft is parallel to the ground and over the toe line. As you continue the backswing from this parallel ground position, the butt end of the club now traces the ball target line, until you get to the top and the shaft is over your shoulder and pointing down the target line. All of this will keep you on plane.

The next part is what you are interested in.

Start the downswing with a slight bump of the hips to the target. This will start to drop the arms, but the wrist cock (left wrist) and bend (right wrist) should be retained until you reach the toeline position again. The hands should always lead the clubhead down to impact and release. As the arms and club are coming down, the butt end traces the ball/target line, until the shaft again is parallel to the ground and over the toe line. The right elbow and wrists have not released yet, but it is from this "delivery position" that they are going o fire to impact and follow through.

The lateral hip bump and the dropping of the arms, while tracing the ball target line, will cause your right shoulder to drop, and the elbow to lead and tuck into the side of your body.

Try this in slow calculated motion, until you feel the necessary actions, then you can gradually speed up and blend the motions, so it is not position to position, and a smooth uninterrupted flow. It will make sense to you shortly and become natural.

As a precaution, don't forget the body has to be turning in synch with the arms and the arms should stay in front of your body throughout back, down and through swing, as it should for a proper swing motion, for this to work.

Ted

[bill reed]

Re: Right elbow to body

hi
remember that the elbow must be in front of the hip bone and then let your hips drive into the ball. if your elbow falls behind the hip bone then you start to swing out to in.
the best way i have found to do this is to practice swinging in slow motion in front of a mirror with only a 3/4 swing and keep doing it till you get the feel of the elbow in front of the hip and then how the hips help drive the arms forward.
work on the swing tempo and getting the right timing of the elbow moving in front of the hip bone.
once you get the feel then try a full swing but keep the speed down at first.
its also good to work on your chipping and getting the elbow in front of the hip.
with my open stance i have a lot of hip movement and slid so i have to keep my elbow tucked in front my hip on the downswing.
cheers
Bill

[jambalaya]

Re: Right elbow to body

I try to not let my right arm separate from my body for the entire backswing. Just keep it there. I fold the right arm as I lift the left while turning the shoulders. That is what the head cover or glove drill BrianW suggested is all about. I for one had a hard time with the head cover drill but a lot of people swear by it. I just let it be my main thought for a while until it became a part of my swing.

[rotator]

Re: Right elbow to body

I try to not let my right arm separate from my body for the entire backswing. Just keep it there. I fold the right arm as I lift the left while turning the shoulders. That is what the head cover or glove drill BrianW suggested is all about. I for one had a hard time with the head cover drill but a lot of people swear by it. I just let it be my main thought for a while until it became a part of my swing.

Hi jambalaya,

As I said in an earlier post Harrington uses this drill constantly. Prior to tournament play, you can see him with headcovers under both armpits actually hitting full shots, driver included. They showed this on the coverage of the last Open Championship. What was remarkable to me, was with the driver, neither headcover fell out, whereas when I do it with one head cover under the front armpit, it fell out in the through swing.

Perhaps, it is an easier drill to be comfortable with, if you are a single plane swinger, versus a two planer or hybrid more upright swinger.

I'm not sure if he actually keeps his arm locked to his side when he is in play. We should look for it on you tube. Somehow, I somehow think he does not, but the repitition of the drill is an ingraining of the idea that the arms and body should remain connected, and the arms should stay in front of the turning body. This, I heartily agree with, for the sake of solid and consistent strikes.

Ted

[jambalaya]

Re: Right elbow to body

Hi jambalaya,

As I said in an earlier post Harrington uses this drill constantly. Prior to tournament play, you can see him with headcovers under both armpits actually hitting full shots, driver included. They showed this on the coverage of the last Open Championship. What was remarkable to me, was with the driver, neither headcover fell out, whereas when I do it with one head cover under the front armpit, it fell out in the through swing.

Perhaps, it is an easier drill to be comfortable with, if you are a single plane swinger, versus a two planer or hybrid more upright swinger.

I'm not sure if he actually keeps his arm locked to his side when he is in play. We should look for it on you tube. Somehow, I somehow think he does not, but the repitition of the drill is an ingraining of the idea that the arms and body should remain connected, and the arms should stay in front of the turning body. This, I heartily agree with, for the sake of solid and consistent strikes.

Ted

Amen to that. It dawned on me one day after always having trouble with connection and keeping the arms in front of me that if you keep the right arm pinned, you accomplish the goal without thinking about it so much. I still can't do the drill though. I just get too self-conscious about it after a couple of swings.

[rotator]

Re: Right elbow to body

Hi jambalaya,

Further to the previous post, here's a you tube video of Harrington's swing in play.

His right elbow seems to lift away from his body. When I tried this drill a while back, I could not stay with it because I had the need to extend the arc of my swing and felt that fixing the upper arm to the side restricted the arc. It made me feel cramped. I've seen several practice swings of Harrington hitting driver with headcovers under both armpits, and he did not lose them, so he may not be giving it the full swing. It's a good drill though.

Ted

[jambalaya]

Re: Right elbow to body

I was told you really can't do a full swing with the drill. But if you make an effort to keep the right arm pinned I don't think you will get too far off. It has helped me.

[rotator]

Re: Right elbow to body

Sorry, here's the video.

[BrianW]

Re: Right elbow to body

I think he uses the head-covers as a drill to get the feel of the upper arms staying connected to the chest. In his video swing they do not stay tight but do not lift away that much.

I currently use a rotary or on-plane swing and stay conscious of my upper left arm being pinned to my chest in the backswing and my right doing the same in the down swing. Along with this my right elbow stays close to my side while working up and back in the backswing, my left mirroring this in the downswing and follow through. A glove tucked under the armpits helps while practising and it is possible to keep them there in a full swing as long as the wrists break at the top of the follow through.

[rotator]

Re: Right elbow to body

Hi Brian,

I was aware you use the "single plane" swing, or perhaps a variation of it. As you know I am currently using 4MM, with some minor changes to suit my particular whims. I, as you do, use the term "currently", because who knows when experimentation may get us going on cross handed golf, or something else.

I know that with a single plane swing I could hold a headcover or towel in my armpits through the whole swing.

What I have done in play, when I was getting out of synch with flyaway arms, is I've tucked in the loose upper part of my shirt under my left armpit and hit drives. There are several PGA players who do that, likely if one studies them, they are single planers with rotary action.

Ted

[jambalaya]

Re: Right elbow to body

It seems to me the drill would be hard for someone like Loren Ochoa. She lifts her arms higher than just about any golfer I've seen. My back elbow separates a bit on the backswing but it still feels like the arm it is pretty much pinned down. I don't think about the front arm because it is not going to move much if one keeps the back arm pinned. Too many things to think about is paralysis to me.

[BrianW]

Re: Right elbow to body

I came across this video when helping someone else. I think it gives a good explanation of the relationships between the elbows, arms and torso.

[jbrunk]

Re: Right elbow to body

I was wondering. I noticed alot of good players on the downswing if their right elbow is not already close to their right hip it seems to go there. I must release early b/c my right arm/elbow stays disconnected from body. Does anyone know how to get the correct feel of keeping your right arm close to your side, or any tips regarding this area of the swing?
Thanks

Shamed,

I think this depends on your ball flight. For example, if your misses are hooks, then this right elbow to the side drill is not for you. This drill was absolute poison for me and I am still fighting it years later. Additionally, I am not a fan of the connected feeling. Your arms should be free to swing as they need to as a result of your body pivot.

Good luck.