Width in backswing.

Can you have too much width in backswing ?

Only if it introduces excess swaying.

Or you have been eating too many pies

Yes, you can over extend. For example, try extending the backswing with a pretty straight right arm - you'll have very little leverage. So, without swaying, you can overdo the attempt to create width. A good way of looking at width is the distance of the hands from the head. Let the rigth arm bend to a right angle - not beyond (as that will collapse the swing).

Sorry, maybe I did'nt express my question very well.We have been warned against the dreaded sway so much I do think it inhibits the backswing. I would much rather see some lateral movement in the trunk with the legs and hips providing resistance.

I focus so intensely on striking the ball properly that I put very little attention on what I'm doing otherwise. If whatever I'm doing somehow prevents me from focusing on striking the ball properly then I do it less or not at all. On the other hand, if whatever I'm doing allows me to focus better, then I keep doing it. If I must sway to help focus, I do that. If I must not sway to help focus, then I don't sway.

Perhaps your focus, when placed on sway or lateral hip motion or resistance (against I don't know what and for what purpose), is misplaced. I know if I focused on sway or hip motion or whatever I'm doing that isn't important, I would not strike the ball as well as I do. But that's just me, we're all different.

It just occurred to me that perhaps you focus on "the dreaded sway" precisely because you've been told that it's "the dreaded sway". What is so dreaded about a motion that in itself, means nothing? What if instead of dreaded, you used the term benign as in "the benign sway". Don't you think that you wouldn't care so much about it then? What if, since it's benign, we didn't even mention that motion but instead we spoke of striking the ball properly, sending the ball to the target, etc. Don't you think that you'd focus on that and forget about any sway or hip motion or whatever natural body motion you shouldn't focus on?

Because really, what are you trying to do; move your body in a very precise fashion or send the ball to the target using that club in any which way you can?

Martin, I dont concentrate on not swaying, I am mainly concentrate on a full extension of my left arm without it being ramrod straight. I like to feel my right upper arm comfortably held to my body. I have been using this method for a few weeks with good result. So many are afraid of lateral movement and usually make a reverse pivot. Final point ,if the right hip is allowed to move in concert with the trunk, that is a sway.

Yep. Especially if it impedes a wrist cock. It is also important to maintain a proper width in between your legs - I just saw that this morning with Leadbetter.

James

Staying connected is important so the arms do not get too far away from the body. I like to feel the left bicep brushing against my left chest while my right arm is in the tray position.
Don't let the arms get further than you can support the swing, such as arm run on where to get more backswing, one lifts or goes beyond their flexibility and loses control of the club.

Martin, I tend to agree with what you have said here (Did I say that ) Striking the ball solidly is of paramount importance and if more focus is placed on that there should be less need to consider body movements

So you are still working out how to move your body and swing that club. If that is the case, try everything, keep what works, discard what doesn't. When you reach the point where you are satisfied with your technique and it is adequate for your purpose, it will be time to forget about it and instead place your focus on striking the ball properly and send it to the target.

Beware of what you are tying to do, you may be tempted to exaggerate it at first. This is a good thing, it allows us to see clearly what something does. But as I've found out, I have never needed to exaggerate anything when I was playing. So after some time, I quit exaggerating anything and simply did what was needed and nothing more. For example, the straight left arm. While it may seem that it is required to swing the club properly, in fact it isn't so critical. You can get away with a bent left arm anyway. The same goes for sway or OTT or even the grip. What we can't get away with is to not practice.

I've written a whole bunch about practice so I won't go into details here. Suffice to say that it isn't the technique itself that will allow you to strike the ball properly and send it to the target. Instead, it is the extensive practice that will make it so. Jim Furyk is ranked #2 in the world. If all we had to judge his performance was his swing, we wouldn't believe that for a second. It just goes to show that no matter the technique, practice will make the biggest difference.

There isn't one technique that is perfect or guaranteed but there are many that are adequate and successful. Some techniques help more than others. None are dreaded or evil or even wrong. A good way to judge that is to look at how many players use the technique. If it's popular, it must have some value. I like to think that popular techniques are just easier to do than any other because I also like to think that we're fundamentally a bunch of lazies. If it's easier to do, the difficulty level is lower and so we can do it better than if we tried something more difficult.

So you see, the answer to your question "can we have too much width in the backswing" is that yes we can but only because it makes it more difficult to strike the ball properly. It doesn't make it impossible. The key word here is "too much". Same thing for the straight left arm. As we flex the arm, there is a sort of sympathetic flex of the rest of the limb such that we also flex the hand, wrist, shoulder, etc. As we do that we stiffen up the whole limb when that in itself makes striking the ball more difficult. But then we could understand that we must not flex the hand, wrist or shoulder (inactive hands and such). That would be a mistake, we must grip the club with the hands and so we must control it with the hands. We must distinguish between too stiff and flexed and too loose. When we don't flex the hand, wrist and shoulder, we lack the control we need to swing the club right and to strike the ball right. It's all gradients depending on conditions, ability and intent.

Try it with any specific technique you now use. Exaggerate it either way and see what happens. If it's too much, you will soon find out.