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Ross Jan 21, 2020
Hi Dave. First, the elbows only point at the hips at setup and again through impact*. They don’t keep pointing at the hips during the backswing. Watch the Shoulder Turn Lesson Video for more on this. Yes the right (back) elbow does bend a little on the backswing. There have been discussions on this if you search. Keeping the elbows pinched helps a lot of things. Nothing to add if it is working for you. Taking a deep breath through your nose and holding a few seconds, then releasing the air just before you start your Routine is a great way to relax right before you take your shot. Good to hear from you Dave… glad you’re making progress !!* Remember at impact the hips are slightly opened due to the body unwinding… so the elbows/hips don’t line up exactly like they were at setup.
Ross Jan 19, 2020
The whole upper torso does not turn back down like it is a separate thing. We are unwinding from ground up like a rubber band. On the downswing, the body essentially is unwinding in the opposite direction. The right or back elbow will open up on its own due to inertia. You don’t want to activate muscles in the hands/arms to try to make it open. The elbow (in general) is still a little bent when, it arrives in front of the back hip just before impact. The back arm will eventually straighten out after impact.The elbows get back in front, when the body unwinding, brings them back down through impact. It is like the body “swings” the arms/club back down and through impact. I don’t usually use the word “swing” because a “swing” stays on one path and is not “turning”… but it is as if it was a “swing” that the body was moving in a rotary path.
Ross Apr 20, 2020
Yes, exactly! You should feel balanced in all directions once centered. Watch Athletic Setup.Ross Apr 27, 2020
No… and you are totally correct. The video was made before I discovered just keeping the shape from impact. There have been discussions on this in the forums. Here is a link to a post also in the Blog… https://movelessgetgood.com/to-hinge-or-not-to-hinge/
This will help explain… RossRoss Jan 04, 2020
Watch the lesson video “Square Club Face” in the Swing Section. It will explain. In general the Leading Edge will be “roughly” at a 45° angle “roughly” about waist high (everyone different). Most golfers use their hands to help take the club back on the backswing in they usually open the club face by rolling the face open. With my method we use the shoulders to take the arms/club back on the backswing. If a golfer truly uses the shoulders on the backswing, the face should just remain how it was at setup and that would have the leading edge at about 45° at waist high.Ross May 18, 2020
No, you want to focus more on the large muscles… it is an abbreviated movement to get the body to move the arms.In an actual swing on the backswing the front arm (left arm for a right handed golfer) will stay straight and the back arm (right arm for a right handed golfer) will eventually bend a little … then on the forward swing the right arm will straighten out and left elbow will bend down (not out that’s a chicken wing). At the very finish on a full swing, most of the time, both arms will bend unless using an advanced shot like holding off the toe from turning over to carve or cut a controlled shot.
Ross May 31, 2020
That’s great Anthony! It might take some time to become part of your swing, so if you don’t quite take-it-to-the-course be patient. It also helps to focus on the Large Muscles (in this case Shoulders) to move your arms/club on the backswing. And when the shoulders finish going as far as they can go… start the downswing.Ross May 30, 2020
The arms do not actually pull themselves down… they are “pulled” down, when they are relaxed at the top of the swing and the body unwinding, swings them back down. They’ll travel on a path that relaxed arms take when being moved. This should take them back to impact, if they don’t disrupt the path trying to help, on either the backswing or the downswing.Ross Jun 05, 2020
It takes practice. You can maybe practice, taking the club back about half way and completely stop for a couple seconds… then unwind your body and finish the swing. Maybe thinking “hips” to start the downswing.Ross Jun 14, 2020
I do hold the angle created by the shaft being inline with the front arm and back wrist hinged in slightly, BUT you do not want to have an angle created by forcing your arms to be straight down under your shoulders. This is a tough concept. I know I have a lesson video on arms under shoulders and once you’ve setup with the shaft inline with the front arm, and let the arms/club now “hang”, the hands/arms will drop on top of the pec muscles. With shorter clubs (SW, W, PW etc.) they’ll be more under the shoulders, but with longer clubs not so much. The main reason for the Lesson Video is to tell students to NOT lift their arms up or out. It is also important that you do not try to create an extreme angle with the writs bent down in at the back of the thumbs, because, the club shaft during the swing will straighten that angle out, and you can’t maintain that angle. Sorry for the confusion. Best bet is to just start with the club shaft inline with the front arm, let the arms/club hang, the sit down to the ball.Ross Jun 13, 2020
The Front arm will be straight (as possible) at setup, all the way to the top of the backswing (sometimes a little bend okay at top as long as it straightens back up on the downswing, and through impact (with front elbow pointing back at front hip), then it bends just after impact with the front elbow pointing down.I think it is important at setup, for the grip pressure to be equal. My hands/wrists feel like an “bubble” to me holding the grip with equal pressure. That feeling is carried via the shoulder turn to the top of the backswing, still equal and then back down through to the finish where the grip finally relaxes. I actually feel the grip/arms/shoulders are a “triangle” or “template” that is one unit, moved by the shoulders (backswing)… then the body’s rotation on the downswing.
Ross Jun 17, 2020
All golfers arrive at the top of their backswing at different heights. Many more flexible players can turn their shoulders farther and arrive maybe a bit higher. This does not necessarily equate to improvement. In many cases, high arms on the backswing, means at some point the arms did lift independently and disconnect. This may look powerful, but more often leads to problems. An efficient backswing using my method, uses the shoulders to move the arms/club up around the spine. Again, everyone gets to different points along this path and then they’re finished. Also, once the shoulders turn as far as they can, the shoulders then turn the hips a little to complete the backswing. With my method, the hips do not turn themselves on the backswing. They’re turned via the shoulders winding up. The hips will definitely be use to start the downswing to unwind the body.One other thing to keep in mind about your comments above. I do have a Straight Arm Drill to help teach my students how to use Large Muscles to move the arms/club, but that is only a drill. In a full swing, the back elbow will bend a little on the backswing (no more than 90°) … and then on the downswing, the front elbow will bend down after impact, as the back arm straightens out (for most shots). Some advanced shots may have differences with elbows bending or not.
This is the comment Femgolf1 is referring to:
~ I will try in words but a video is in order on this one…
The reason I said “not good” is that the club does not come from anywhere into the ball. It is not redirected with the hands to be on some arbitrary path or plane on the backswing… or taken away to the inside so it can return in to out. These kinds of thoughts are what have most golfers struggling. If you think the club comes from some direction into the ball, you’ll use your hands, arms or hips to get it to a place in the backswing, that will allow it to return how you were told it should be coming from. This disconnects the arms from the body and loses the athletic connection. You would not see a football quarterback take his arm inside behind himself. He just turns his shoulders back a little the unwinds from ground up. If you are truly using the large muscles, in this case the shoulders, to carry the arms and club up to the top of the backswing… and then all the way to the finish, the arms and club stay essentially in front of the body both directions. What I mean is, as the shoulders turn away 90 degrees, your arms are still in front of your chest extended away from the body, they are not across your chest and behind you. The real key is to not let the arms or hands get evolved. Use the shoulders to push the arms and club to the top and then the athletic unwinding to bring them back down keeping them in front of the body all the way to the finish. The width of this entire trip is very narrow. I will put this on my list for a new video this spring to show you …Ross ~Ross Jun 29, 2020
What I’m referring to in this comment is NOT the width of the arc the arms make as the elbow bends a little, it is the the width of the distance the arms/club will move with relation to the ball. In other words, the arms/club will be moved more lateral by the shoulders on the backswing vs. the arms moving themselves across the chest and behind the golfer. In the photo below the width I’m referring to will be between the arrows roughly. Every golfer is different. Now you know the “width” I’m referring to.