You know the Forum is an exchange of ideas which are eyes openers. I don’t know who the Forum Member was, but he commented, “the way you keep the arms straight on the Back and Forward Swing is keep the arms close to the torso or armpits.” I have even seen videos that demonstrated how to stretch the arms like in a Yoga Class. It worked for me because I was concentrating on the arms only. It is like saying, “The horse before the carriage.” “The chicken before the Egg.” It is that simple. Epiphany.
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Nicely said, @Patrick Anlauf!!
While I consider "straight arms" to be pretty much a non-negotiable (barring any physical limitations that preclude this), as is the case with various components of this swing you have some leeway with regard to arm/torso connections. The Tees in Armpits Drill excerpt from the book below provides a baseline for sufficient connectivity. You don't want to go any less than that to where either or both of the tees fall out. You can connect a little more than that, but as @GolfLivesMatter says you don't want to overdo it either.
Thanks for your very helpful post!!
That's awesome Patrick! Having that lightbulb come on is a wonderful thing. All that hard work pays off in the long run. Thanks for sharing. Keep it crispy!
Good post. So the question might be, "what would cause the arms to be disconnected from the torso?", and what is "connected vs. not connected?" I suggest reviewing your setup position, then your takeaway.
If one sets up to the ball at address with the hip bone over the ankles, or the tip of their butt is roughly over their heels, they will tilt from the waist just enough to grip and ground the club. Thus the upper arms will be touching the torso, assuming the insides of the armpits face outwards. From there, one major way to become disconnected is with an arm swing to the top. Thus, the starting point is good, then wrecked by an arm lift. Most folks do not realize they have an arm lift, thus even if they had a good setup, they will abandon a good setup and start adjusting their setup to appease the arm lift.
Some start off with a good address position, then as the club travels back, their shoulders flatten which gets the upper portion of their lead arm too high, then on the downswing the most common fault is early extension where the arms become overly connected to the torso at the start of the downswing. Lifting the club combined with lack of shoulder rotation will get the lead arm too much on the chest.
Or, if ones sets up with nearly straight knees, they will have an excessive tilt from the waist (torso overhang), thus the arms will start off being away from the torso at address. If someone has torso overhang and doesn't realize it, but then continues to focus on keeping their arms closer to their torso, the first move on the backswing could be a lifting-type, or rocking motion back to get the arms back against the torso.
So what part of the arms are actually connected to the chest? For me, at address the very upper part of the bicep is barely touching the outer sides of my chest. They are not "clamped" on, or pushed against my chest. So many folks overdo this to the point they lose fluidity during their swing. I have seen some folks totally misinterpret trying to stay "connected" to the point their entire bicep is resting on their chest at the top, which actually promotes an arm lift to accomplish that "connection". But as usual, all too often folks get all whacky and overdo everything which is why golf can be so frustrating.
You're right, it's the chicken and the egg, but from what I've found, there's often a series of chicken and eggs that eventually lead back to one MAJOR chicken and egg, and more often than not, the "final" chicken and egg is something that a person assumed to be correct, or completely overlooked.