Right elbow troubleshooting. Open to any/all suggestions

[Jeremy8810]

I've finally gotten the chance to video my swing to try to get rid of one/two major issues before taking lessons to really polish the swing.

 

In looking at my swing, the one major issue I currently have is that my right elbow just gets completely behind the swing. At impact it's probably a good 3-5 inches behind where a pro or pure ball striker would be and at a drastically different angle. I'm about an 8 handicap, and shot 77 the other day with absolutely abysmal ball striking. I honestly may have had 2 good swings with clubs other than the driver or putter, so I'd love to consistently strike the ball to get the game to the next stage.

 

I have had a couple range sessions now trying to address this issue, but no matter what I do, I can't seem to get the right elbow where it needs to be. Have any of you that have struggled with this issue found anything that works? I'm open to drills, feels, thoughts, or even training aid suggestions. I know one issue that I have found may be that my backswing is a bit inside, so I'll experiment with that next time I get out. I know every swing is different and the solution could be a myriad of things, but I just can't seem to find any resources that really explain a drill or thought in a way that registers with me.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Jeremy8810
grammar

[mufasis]

If you’re getting stuck behind you’re probably using too much lower body too early. From a neutral good setup with a good take away and top position you really should feel like the hands move down and toward the ball before anything, then you can turn on the rotation aggressively. I would watch some Mike bender videos on transition..

[mufasis]

 

[Noodler]

I'm not totally following what your elbow problem is (especially without video), but the easiest way to alter the trailing elbow position that I've found is to modify your trailing hand grip position.  A stronger grip for my right hand (my trailing hand) brings the elbow in and pointing at my right hip.  This keeps it from "flying out" in the downswing.

[scooterhd2]

use something like smart ball my tour striker. a empty small range bucket works, or get a ball from the dollar store.

 

[Jeremy8810]

13 hours ago, mufasis said:

If you’re getting stuck behind you’re probably using too much lower body too early. From a neutral good setup with a good take away and top position you really should feel like the hands move down and toward the ball before anything, then you can turn on the rotation aggressively. I would watch some Mike bender videos on transition..

Good point. This is definitely part of or the whole problem. I have tried to address it, and I got decent results by having the feel be to slow my lower body down in the downswing, however, it is very inconsistent. I wanted to address the upper body and try to speed it up. I think in the long run, I'd love the solution be rooted in me feeling like I'm trying to speed up the upper body vs slowing down the lower body.

 

It's a chicken vs the egg problem in my mind, so just trying to address both sides of the problem.

[Jeremy8810]

@scooterhd2, I've been looking into that trainer or the Izzo smooth swing. I think ultimately I'm leaning towards one of the "hip trainers" that force you to get your elbow in front of your hips. I've never been a big fan of any of the "connectivity" drills...maybe that's a sign that I should be doing them more...haha

[mufasis]

13 hours ago, Jeremy8810 said:

Good point. This is definitely part of or the whole problem. I have tried to address it, and I got decent results by having the feel be to slow my lower body down in the downswing, however, it is very inconsistent. I wanted to address the upper body and try to speed it up. I think in the long run, I'd love the solution be rooted in me feeling like I'm trying to speed up the upper body vs slowing down the lower body.

 

It's a chicken vs the egg problem in my mind, so just trying to address both sides of the problem.

No one really knows what you're doing without video but I can promise you that if you focus more on a good setup and pivot, from a good top position you should really feel like the arms work down and in front of you coming in to impact, your body should also be working but its just not as fast as you think to really create power and good impact positions....

[mufasis]

Remember to create speed the hips and arms and hands actually need to slow down, if the hips are too fast in relation to the arms you get stuck and flip. I know this problem all too well my friend and after working on this I have never hit the ball better. Playing around a 5 index at the moment...

[mufasis]

Here is a great video of Tiger Woods talking about what he feels like his arms are doing...

 

 

Edited September 19, 2020 by mufasis

[Jeremy8810]

14 hours ago, mufasis said:

Remember to create speed the hips and arms and hands actually need to slow down, if the hips are too fast in relation to the arms you get stuck and flip. I know this problem all too well my friend and after working on this I have never hit the ball better. Playing around a 5 index at the moment...

All your comments are super helpful and you are spot on. For some reason my filming app deletes my swings after my session. I have no clue why.

 

Anyway, was working on a bit of what was in that video already. It looked worlds better than it did the other day, but still hip thrusting, stuck, and flippy. I think I've got to integrate that Tiger thought of not moving the hips on the downswing combined with some of the other feels I'm working on. I'm honestly happy that it is this bad, because now I know this is going to take 1000s of swings to work out, but the results will be worth it.

[mufasis]

No problem. Just keep working at it. It will feel very awkward, almost like you’re swing way out to the right, but once the arms are in a good spot the rotation of the hips brings the hand path and club path left. You’ll get it!