In this video, we discuss one of the most common golf instruction myths. Many instructors will make it seem like having the leading arm perfectly straight in the takeaway and transition is something that you need in any great golf swing. But in reality, you don’t need to have that leading arm perfectly straight in the takeaway, while it may help some people; it can really hurt some golfer’s game.
We show examples of golfers who have a very straight lead arm in the golf swing, like Justin Thomas, and examples of golfers who have a noticeable amount of flex in the lead arm, such as Fred Couples. Both golfers have obviously seen great success on the golf course, showing that you don’t NEED to keep that leading arm straight.
By learning about the golf instruction myths and avoiding them, you’ll be able to play better golf and improve your scores in no time. This video is a must-watch for anyone looking to improve their game!
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Hey everybody thanks for tuning in I'm George Conley with scratch golf tips and Today we're going to be talking about a Very common misconception or a myth in The golf instructional space I did a Video fairly similar to this a few Months ago may have been years by now About keeping your head down and how Keeping your head down is not always the Most solid advice so we're going to be Going off of that with another Installation in this series today now The golf myth that I'm referring to is The myth of keeping your front arm Straight in the takeaway in the Backswing you've probably heard this a Million times from all different kinds Of people a lot of great golf Instructors won't necessarily dive into It but when you're getting into the game And maybe your grandfather or father is Just teaching you the basics they'll Often say it for a right-handed golfer Keep that left arm straight in the back Swing and this can be very very sound Advice but depending on the golfer Depending on that individual's golf Swing that advice can actually be very Detrimental to the golf swing let me Explain it's important to understand the Pros and the cons to these types of Advice that can be very decisive so First off referring to the pros I'm just Going to use this wedge because it's all
That I have right now if you have a Very straight arm in the takeaway one Thing that that's going to do is it's Going to create the most Arc in your Swing and this is absolutely a positive Another word that you may hear about the Golf swing Arc is the term width if this Arm is straight then the golf club is Going to be as far away from you as Possible creating the largest Arc around Your body that the golf swing can so Think about this circle versus this Circle when that arm is straight you're Creating the most width and that is Going to lead to the most swing speed The most powerful swing that you can Have because that club is traveling the Most distance another very important Pro To this that cannot be understated is if This left arm stays straight throughout The backswing and down in through Transition that club because it's Already the furthest away from your body That it can be the positioning of that Club in relation to your body is going To be very consistent it's going to be Reliable because It's straight it's it is the it's an Arm's length away from you at all times And that takeaway if you have your arm Bent a little bit it makes it much more Difficult because maybe you'll Flex it a Little bit you'll bring it in a little Bit throughout the swing it makes it
Much more difficult to have that Consistency in the Gosling so those are The pros why and that's a big reason why This is actually very good advice for Some golfers who need that level of Instruction however there are definitely Cons to this the number one con to Trying to keep that left arm straight is There are people especially the older Golfer demographic which as we all know Makes up a large part of the golfing Demographic they don't have the Flexibility to keep this arm straight And rotate the body so what they'll Often do is they'll try and keep the arm Straight but they can't lock this arm And then have solid upper body rotation So they just use the arm as the rotation When in reality if they have a little Flex if the tension comes out of them a Little little bit then they can get more Rotation so in reality I know that Earlier I spoke about the straight arm Leading to the most power but if the if The straight arm is going to restrict Your upper body from rotating absolutely Bend that arm rotate more and then You'll actually get more power from it This is why this advice is so decisive It can really work wonders for me this Helped a ton for other golfers it can Actually work very heavily against them It can ruin their swing it can ruin Their scores which we do not want to do
With any piece of advice there are no Definites in golf everything works Differently for each golfer we can even See that this isn't consistent amongst All golfers we look at professional Golfers someone like Justin Thomas if You look at that arm at the top of the Backswing it's as straight as an arrow It's beautifully high up he has the high Hands that left arm could not be Straighter and Justin Thomas as we all Know is one of the greatest golfers on Earth right now and he's one of the best Balls right here so it clearly works for Him he's he's a younger guy very Flexible very strong so he can have that Movement but you look conversely at Another one of the greatest ball Strikers ever someone who has one of the Sweetest golf swings that we can we can Recollect Fred Couples Fred Couples did Not have that left arm completely locked Up and straight he had a little bit of Flex in it and honestly that Flex Allowed him to have that smooth Effortless swing Rhythm I made a whole Video on Fred Couples and that effort Effortless swing Tempo that he had and Having that lack of straight arm Actually helped him a lot so that just Goes to show the two different types of Golfers who benefit really well from Either end of the straight arm Spectrum So the main myth that is to be busted
Here is that you need to have a straight Leading arm in the golf swing for a good Golf swing it's simply not true any huge Generality like that generalization of The golf swing is a very rarely true Because like I said every golfer is Different different things work for Different people so if you're struggling With the golf swing you're looking to Change things up and you're on one end Of that Spectrum pretty intently just Try going to the other side that's all I Ask and maybe it'll help you a lot maybe It'll ruin you but you can always go Back to what you tried it's just Important to see both ends I know that When I started golfing I did not have a Very straight arm at all I came from Baseball where you start up here right So I was used to in transition having a Very bent arm it didn't work for me I Was hitting Wicked slices I would hit a Drive Square on the face but it would Slice so much it would go 200 yards so I Had to leave it behind and then after Some work some some drills that got me Into the straight arm I found that I Could much better control my club face I Didn't lose much distance I actually Gained a lot when you consider the loss Of the RPMs from the slice but it helped Me a ton so try it out see how it works For you I'd love to hear your thoughts On this debate because I know that many
People have pretty definitive thoughts But in this video I take a fair early Middle of the line view I just don't Think definitives on these things are Very good for golf instruction as a Whole so uh leave something in the Comment section down below I read all The comments on these videos and reply To them so I'd love to hear your Thoughts on this topic if you'd like to See more content like this you can Always subscribe to the scratch golf Tips YouTube channel or posting a few Times a week and that'll allow you to See all of our videos coming out in the Future you can also go back through our Page you can go through our uploads or Our playlists we have over 150 videos Already existing on the channel so you Can go back and watch all of those as Always we very much appreciate the Support play well and take care [Music] Foreign