Ross Nov 07, 2015
I’m not sure what you mean in your first question:
“When you work to get the elbows back in front to point at the hips, how do I get my turn to sync with my body rotation.”
Your “turn” and “body rotation” are the same thing. The unwinding of the downswing, brings the arms down and around to the left (right hander)… they’re connected because of the way we wind up. So… if on the downswing you can “unwind” your body (turn), without moving your arms, then your backswing is not right. Many golfers move their hips with their shoulders on the backswing and don’t create and “windup” from top-down. This might be what you’re experiencing (guessing since I have not seen a video).
I don’t feel anything touch on the downswing. My body has a sense where my arms/club are, and the body’s job is to “unwind them down and around”. It is all done in one continuous motion. Kind of like, I was using my body to throw something, using both arms, from right to left by turning.
When in doubt, shorten the backswing, so the arms can be controlled. Watch the Straight Arm Drill too. It can help teach you how to control your arms using your body.
Forget about elbows for now and lazily let the body move the arms from about 8:00 on the backswing…through impact and around to the left… in one motion.