Left Arm Off Chest

[PJ1120]

Just noticed Rich thinking this really helped with his new club head swing. Does this mean that the intent is to "backhand" the ball?

[ALIF]

For me, that is definitely the intent.

[pappaf2]

Sometimes I've also seen it referred to as throwing a frisbee with your left arm (Monte I think) or a karate chop (dan c). I've been struggling with my game for a while and used that intent last round. Basically trying to blast the left humerus off my chest to start the swing. Almost the feel of pulling the left humerus off the chest and having it lead the downswing. Had my best ball striking round in a god knows how long.

[juststeve]

All those are good thoughts because they get the arms moving faster than the turn.

 

Steve

[PJ1120]

Can one have the thought of the left arm leading and trial arm following or is the intent for both to be traveling at the same speed? If I'm at P4, it seems easier to get the club head to the ball faster with a left arm intent.

[Hawkeye77]

Monte used to say one handed backhand for lefty tennis player.

[Stanks]

Make sure your back swing is dialed though. If you're just armsing it up with no rotation, you're gonna get pinned and stuck then flip.

[BirdieDoc]

Isn't Monte a righty? A lefty tennis player would backhand with their right hand. Most posts are presumed to be for a right handed person die to stats so sorry if I presumed wrong but it sounds like the left arm/hand/lead arm/ whatever else you wanna call it, is what is being inquired about.

[iteachgolf]

Huh? A lefty would one handed backhand with his left arm

[Ty_Webb]

I don't think it's about what Monte is or isn't. It's "imagine you were a left-handed tennis player hitting a backhand".

[juststeve]

I was taught to make the forward swing wih both arms contributing equally. There are many other fine instructors that place an emphasis on left side control. Whose to say which is best?

 

Steve

[Soloman1]

It's hitting a "backhanded cross-court winner," not just a backhand.

 

From the right side of the court, step in with your left foot and hit it across the court to the left side. Your left shoulder will start down and away from the target with your left arm low, and move upwards as you rotate hard and blow the arm off the chest. That's why lead arm adduction is important to the arm release timing for some players.

 

I started using this analogy in 1973.

 

Try it. Make a fist with the left hand and keep the thumb up.

 

Edited: as iteach said, It is a left handed player backhand, so you are using your left hand. No wonder people can't play golf, or tennis! lol

[rich_s2]

The crazy part is that when I do this my hips are actually more open at impact then when I fire my lower body and keep my left arm pinned pinned. I think its because I stall my hips and move them more laterally than rotating. Seems so counter intuitive but helped with path and speed. In my latest driver fitting, my path was .5 degrees in to out. It was 4-6 before.

[RRstein82]

While I hit a two handed backhand, I'm pretty sure you don't switch the racquet to your off hand when hitting a one-handed backhand...

[PJ1120]

I haven't played tennis in years but it wouldn't be a backhand if your off hand wasn't applying the force?

[ScratchyDawg]

Centrifugal force pulls my arm off my chest. There is no conscious effort to do anything with my hands or arms.

[PJ1120]

That statement will cause some interesting replies. I've read there is no such thing as centrifugal force.

[CasualLie]

I did experiment with the left arm off chest from Monte for awhile, it was a good "temp fix". It took me awhile to categorize this as well as other examples as a "feel" but I do not think you actually want to start the downswing with the conscious effort of getting left arm off the chest. As stated in other posts above, at best an "intent" and other things have to be in place or this is not likely to help. Point being, it is not for everyone. Ultimately it did not "fix" an issue I had for a long while (and still have if I get lazy), not enough rotation early in the downswing. I started focusing on transition, and what has helped when practicing at home, not while playing a round of golf, is to get the core moving left from the top first. In rapid succession with medium speed - core, left hip, left knee going left, stacking and if done properly then the club has dropped down to where it needs to be (no conscious effort to do anything with arms), and at that point where everything needs to rotate through fast, then sure, fire the left arm as a "feel" if that is what is going to keep the rotation going with speed; i.e. no stall.

 

[ScratchyDawg]

Call it what you want. Perhaps it's a different term nowadays.

[Golfbeat]

And then ...... there are the instructors who want the left arm pinned to the chest and let the body turn the arms shoulder triangle rotate through impact.

[ferrispgm]

GG advocates something like this...says that the stretch created by leaving the arms up while you pivot acts like a rubber band to accelerate the arms.....I like a lot of what he says about angles, tilts, lower body action, etc....but I feel like he is mistaken in this regard. If you look at how the body works it's a series of eccentric (loading) concentric (unloading) contractions. The concentric motion has to be initiated. Our muscles while elastic are not like springs or rubber bands...there is some rebound effect when you stretch a muscle but if you want the most speed you need to facilitate it hence getting your arm off the chest.

[Golfbeat]

Yes, it is the GG crowd, Jake Gilmer, Jake Hutt and then Dana Dahlquist. It's probably more feel related: the dog waggles the tail or the other way around.

[CasualLie]

The problem comes in when there are so many different ways to explain essentially the same motion when viewed on video, and then even more ways the student can interpret. Communication between instructor / student is paramount. Start framing that communication in a video to appeal to the masses and it is a slippery slope.

The left arm pinned to chest example, to some that might make sense, and how they interpret and action it works out, but to others they could totally over do it and have a mess of a swing.

[airjammer]

 

is this a good example of what you think it should look like?

[PJ1120]

I don't see his right arm doing anything. I'm hoping Monte chimes in. At a recent lesson he said the right elbow to the belly button and left arm are the same motion but just a different feel. Maybe I'm stupid but I don't understand that. One is a pulling motion from the lead side and the other is a throwing motion from the trail side. Aren't they different intents?

[pappaf2]

they are different intents that seek to get the same desired result. Left side might work for some, right side might work for others.

[ScratchyDawg]

I think there is also a misperception of an effect of the downswing when we transfer weight from the right foot to the left foot, which drops the downswing plane. It appears that the golfer is pulling the club down as if he were pulling a church bell. It even feels like a pull.

[Soloman1]

 

[airjammer]

 

This is my swing from yesterday, it’s obviously not a very good swing but I’m under par cumulative for the last 3 months. One of my main faults is that I never decelerate my chest and arms coming into the ball. Bradley Hughes would be proud because this is exactly what it looks like when you actually accelerate through to the finish. This is also how I know he and none of his professional students actually do it? Anyway, I went down a rabbit hole the last couple of weeks and it’s worse than it normally is.

The points of posting this is that, there are many reasons one might not get their arm off the chest..it’s actually pretty complicated. Unfortunately, for most you can’t just pull your left arm off your chest in the downswing while your shoulder/ribcage are still turning..you must fling it off your chest thru deceleration

 

[PJ1120]

I think it's a great looking swing. Are you pulling with your lead side or throwing with the right? I can't tell from looking at someone's swing.