The importance of keeping the right arm above the left during the takeaway.

[Volgolfer]

Bump. Keep this puppy going.

 

So, to follow up on my post to this thread last year, I lost my swing for the first three months of this year. Couldn't figure it out. Had the pro at our club look at me and in two swings said "you need to get the right arm above your left in your backswing." I had forgotten that key bit of information from a year abot. Went out and shot a 77. Problem is it feels so un-natural. But I guess the swing is an un-natural act...

[Nard_S]

Just saw this thread, really hits home. I struggle with arm break down and shoulders going flat quite a bit. I have always attempted to have left and right even 1/4 way back, always thought right over left as heresy (why, don't know) but I will give this a go.

 

Good thread.

[SunkTheBirdie]

For years I struggled with crossing the line at the top, humping goats all over the place like a rural Scottsman, flipping hands around only to make contact and hitting it left or right. I struggled swinging and the swing always felt like too much effort. I'd make swing changes but they would never last too long. They were mostly band aids. I've been a mid single digit handicap for a good portion of the past decade but never could get to the point where the swing wasn't all about timing with too much effort. A week ago I was looking at Adam Scott's swing and noticed something that he does, and pretty much every other player too. They keep the right forearm above the left arm in the backswing when looking at the swing from the face on. Me, left forearm was almost immediately going rolling higher than the right.

Dan(iteach) would give this advice to lots of folks as well and it's a great backswing tip for those that need to get more up and not as much around. It always shortens the backswing.

 

Another similar feel I like to use to keep the right elbow pit (below the biceps) facing vertical longer, This also helps out the backswing to get on plane better.

 

thanks!!

 

Great tip.

[Invert99]

 

Take a look at that swing sequence, Chad Campbell, who if you check into the stats, even now is still the best ball striker on tour by any number of quantitive assessments; the idea of his right side above his left would appear to be utterly foreign to him. Maybe it would help him putt better?

 

However in the slow motion you can see that at the 9'oclock position his right forearm is above his left forearm if you were to view the swing from face on. The feel might not work for him but for someone who struggles with a rolled inside takeaway an exaggerated feel will allow them to get to a similar backswing position as he achieves. As someone with a flat shoulder turn this feel has helped me get my shoulders working steeper better than focusing on just turning the shoulders has.

[jimmymac50]

26 years ago, I went up to Treetops and took a lesson from a young Rick Smith. The main feeling that I left with, was to keep the right forearm above the left at least until chest high. Had the best year of my life. Flash forward 26 years and many many swing changes later, game not so good. After reading this forward, yesterday I went out determined to go back to this feeling no matter what the results. Felt strange. After becoming somewhat comfortable with this, I had the best ball striking round of this early season. Very optimistic about the upcoming year. Still feels like spring training with the short game. Welcome to golf. Had to be conscious to keep it inside on the takeaway or pulls develop. Thanks for the thread.

[AlexCzervic]

What leads the arm?

 

AC

[slantsflood]

Playing around with this....In my current takeaway, I have to do some weird arm manipulation to make this work.

 

I've never noticed that either in pro swings like others have said. What kind of take away are you guys feeling to achieve this?

[Jim Waldron]

This is another way of approaching my ASI arm pushaway concept. Keeping full stretch on right bicep and pushing out 4-8" as you blend in the Pivot. Right arm will stay straight until hands pass hip height and above the left arm.

[radiman]

I've been trying to incorporate this feeling at the start oh this season after some success on the range. I immediately began hitting the driver better. There irons took a while, but today they started following suit. I'm a little lost around the greens though. I shot -1 on the front after only missing 2 fairways and hitting 8 greens in regulation. The back was a different story. The wheels fell off for a few holes. Hit 3 wayward drives that put me behind some small trees and one iron that I absolutely nuked over the green and into the water.

 

I'm not quite sure what this has done regarding my attack angle. With driver I am definitely hitting up on the ball more. With my irons I seem to be picking the ball rather than hitting down on it. My misses now tend to be thin rather than fat. I'm having a hard time incorporating this into my short game though. Hopefully that falls in line soon too.

 

The positive is that it feels like my upper body is swinging more freely if that makes sense. Which in turn helps my lower back throughout the round. I am pretty sure that this was something I was doing years ago when I was playing my best golf. But, after years of stupid swing changes, it feels a little unnatural. I'm still at the point where I need to consciously swing this way. But, as time goes on, and my comfort level increases, so does the quality of strike and swing speed. Since it's still in the early stages of the change, I want to get a video of my "old" swing to help track my progress.

[phillyspecial]

I wish I had understood this concept in conjunction w more left arm rotation. As I focused on/ overdid the left arm rotation, it always prevented me from reversing the shallow to steep. Only after I started w this and later left arm roto am I on right track to more steep to shallow move. Only took literally 3 years of wasted time but who's counting. It's a great feel if you just can't seem to get out of the shallow to steep move.

[oscar@wrx]

For years I struggled with crossing the line at the top, humping goats all over the place like a rural Scottsman, flipping hands around only to make contact and hitting it left or right. I struggled swinging and the swing always felt like too much effort. I'd make swing changes but they would never last too long. They were mostly band aids. I've been a mid single digit handicap for a good portion of the past decade but never could get to the point where the swing wasn't all about timing with too much effort. A week ago I was looking at Adam Scott's swing and noticed something that he does, and pretty much every other player too. They keep the right forearm above the left arm in the backswing when looking at the swing from the face on. Me, left forearm was almost immediately going rolling higher than the right. I wasn't sucking the club under the plain much at all so I never thought to look at this part of the takeaway.

 

After realizing that I headed out to the range the next day and forced my right arm to stay above the left until it naturally reached the same level as the left which was at the top of the swing. Gone, IMMEDIATELY, was across the line at the top. Gone, IMMEDIATELY, was the need to reroute the club and dropping it so far inside I had to get more than one goat a pregnancy test. Gone, IMMEDIATELY, was the need to time my swing. It felt really awkward but it was working. By the end of my first range session it felt comfortable. It also allowed my shoulders to turn on a better plain that more closely resembles 90 degrees to spine tilt at address. I'm not 100% cured yet, but, with only two range sessions, the swing feels like night and day. The swing looks good and it feels good. The range ball flight says it's working. The course will be the ultimate test.

 

If you're struggling going across the line at the top, are having trouble rerouting the club, or are humping the goat, or all three, or hell, just check it anyway, it may be your takeaway. It may be an issue like it was for me.

Wouldn't keeping the right hand pronated produce the same effect without the negative effects of beng susceptible to a flying elbow?

[Frankensteins Monster]

For years I struggled with crossing the line at the top, humping goats all over the place like a rural Scottsman, flipping hands around only to make contact and hitting it left or right. I struggled swinging and the swing always felt like too much effort. I'd make swing changes but they would never last too long. They were mostly band aids. I've been a mid single digit handicap for a good portion of the past decade but never could get to the point where the swing wasn't all about timing with too much effort. A week ago I was looking at Adam Scott's swing and noticed something that he does, and pretty much every other player too. They keep the right forearm above the left arm in the backswing when looking at the swing from the face on. Me, left forearm was almost immediately going rolling higher than the right. I wasn't sucking the club under the plain much at all so I never thought to look at this part of the takeaway.

 

After realizing that I headed out to the range the next day and forced my right arm to stay above the left until it naturally reached the same level as the left which was at the top of the swing. Gone, IMMEDIATELY, was across the line at the top. Gone, IMMEDIATELY, was the need to reroute the club and dropping it so far inside I had to get more than one goat a pregnancy test. Gone, IMMEDIATELY, was the need to time my swing. It felt really awkward but it was working. By the end of my first range session it felt comfortable. It also allowed my shoulders to turn on a better plain that more closely resembles 90 degrees to spine tilt at address. I'm not 100% cured yet, but, with only two range sessions, the swing feels like night and day. The swing looks good and it feels good. The range ball flight says it's working. The course will be the ultimate test.

 

If you're struggling going across the line at the top, are having trouble rerouting the club, or are humping the goat, or all three, or hell, just check it anyway, it may be your takeaway. It may be an issue like it was for me.

Wouldn't keeping the right hand pronated produce the same effect without the negative effects of beng susceptible to a flying elbow?

 

Video it. You'd think it would, but in reality, it doesn't.

[tinman143]

I know this thread is about the backswing but would you also want the opposite true about post impact? I.e. Left forearm above right to about arms parallel?

[FormerBigDaddy]

Bumping this bc this just blew my mind about 20 years into my golfing career. Better late than never.

[Frankensteins Monster]

I’m glad this little thread helped out a few people. That’s what makes the game of golf great. Little revelations like this, even if it helps one person, makes it all worth while.

[ef131313]

Thank you for posting. This has helped a lot.

[Gibbs]

Old thread but a classic. I think what this takeaway promotes is a slightly steeper backswing, giving the player an opportunity to shallow in the downswing. With a left forearm roll to start you’ll always be flat and can’t shallow and rotate from there. This has been my experience. The takeaway sets up so many good positions and sequencing the body throughout the whole swing. 

[Djmc25]

Bumping this from a Google search. This fixed my golf swing this winter. I went from -8 AoA on my short irons and -6 on my long irons to -4 on my short irons and -2 on my longer irons. I would roll the left over the right but also push the club away in an outside takeaway. 
 

this resulted in a long, disconnected backswing with very little rotation left to give on the downswing. This led to internal rotation too soon in the trail shoulder in the downswing, also I’d have to stall and flip. 
 

now I’m simply keeping the right hand on top as long as I possibly can, the club naturally sort of “jumps” (releases may be a good way to describe it) as my hands pass my trail thigh. This now acts as my pivot point for the downswing. 
 

basically before my pivot point was too close to my body, then too far away on the way down. I’ve reversed the pivot point pattern (for me I’m describing where the club passes the hands in each direction) so now it’s further away in the backswing and closer to the body on the downswing, so I can just turn and release the club. 
 

I’ve also noticed this eliminates the need to think about timing the swing up. Just sort of allow it to release in the backswing and I feel a natural pause. 9 straight rounds with 50% or greater GIR, when all of last season I averaged 42%. 

Edited March 11 by Djmc25

[smdykas]

this feels really good, but I am hitting pull hooks. I must be doing something wrong. 

[Esage]

Just started working on this a week ago (turning the steering wheel to the left) and i've seen better ball striking with my driver and irons.

Edited March 25 by Esage

[Milk Diesel]

I've struggled with an inside flat takeaway with an open clubface. It's caused me to EE, slide, have major back pain, and almost quit golf. I have NEVER had a single swing thought have the effect this did. Something about that picture showing the forearm alignment made things click. I've tried other thoughts to fix this and they don't stick. This isn't a reply after 1 range session either. 

 

Almost makes me sick to just be finding this after a few years of pain. But glad I did. It honestly helped my short game even more then full swings.