Good Extension and a way to achieve it

I gave a lesson today that had such a dramatically successful result, that I though I might share with you.

He wanted more distance.

He was taking the club on a good plane, good shoulder turn; hands were setting and releasing ok. But what I noticed was that his arms were staying too connected to the body. He would take the arms and pull them inwards to the chest. All the books tell you to "stay connected" he told me. And he did it to the extreme. The position of his left arm was shortened because the right was so bent and holding close the body.

So I said, "Connection is all about keeping the arms within the boundaries of the shoulders and not physically touching or pressing inwards to the body. If you do that, you are shortening the left arm's potential to be extended."

"Ok", he said, "How do I do that?"

"At setup", I said, "Take you right hand, and begin to pull the left arm down and that will feel like you are pulling the left shoulder out of its socket a little. Allow the right hand to keep this new tension feeling throughout the takeaway and to the top."

It was an amazing result. Like a cannon going off. Instant power and effortless. The harder he tried to swing with his hips through the shot, the more power he generated.

This ended up doing two things for him. It gave him good extension with both arms and it gave him a firm right wrist to hit against. Those together gave him nearly a 15% increase on all clubs and hit it instantly higher with more spin.

He was a happy customer. Try this next time you want to feel more extension.

Interesting theory Greg

Wouldnt that approach do 2 things however

1. Add tension to the arms through the swing

2. Encourage a hands led takeway as the right hand pulls the left shoulder ?

Im always striving to add extension with a connected swing so if this helps me I will be well chuffed ! I struggle though with sometimes taking away the club with hands rather than shoulders and thus losing extension and occasionally fanning the hands open

I only told him to pull down with the right hand. He still took the club back using the same shoulder turn first. The tension was still basically the same.

Can 'i just check- the shoulders start the takeaway not the hands?

Correct...........

what about extension on the downswing, keeping the club away from the ball as long as possible. I push away from the target with my hands against everything else that is moving toward the target and this keeps my left arm radius thus left arm very straight and accurate(hopefully, lol).

Lets not forget when the arms stay within the radius of the shoulders it will be different for different body types. Broad shoulders have more room to stay connected than say thin or slender folks.
Also, while the shoulders initiate the backswing, some folks overdo it. While the back to the target concept is good, some folks overdo that too.
I guess there should be no extremes in golf but its human nature to think if one pill is good, two are better; not true in golf or hardly anything else either.
Hitting against a firm right hand with the back of the left hand pointing at the target means the right hand should at least be palm facing target depending.
Unlike some gimmicks, it is not necessary to try to time the release; if the grip is sound, release will come naturally. Overdo the grip and you will overdo the release; underdo the grip and you will limit the release. Anyway its nothing you should try to time; may work on the range but it won't hold up on the course.

Ah, just the discussion for which I was looking. I am pretty sure the extension with my left arm is not good. Just one more thing on which to work. I don't understand how I can pull my left arm down with my right at set up. You mean with both hands on the club in a normal address position? I can see kind of pushing down on the club whereby I stretch my left arm but I don't understand your instruction. Also, this extended position has to be evident when you get your hands waist high in the backswing, no? I think about my left arm being really stretched tight at that position which is the thing I find so difficult to do.

Besides explaining your instruction, what are some problems besides loss of power one encounters when the arm is not extended?

It can be the feeling that the right hand "pushes" downwards...sure (makes sense since the right is on top of the left). This was to counter the problem he was having where the arms were too close to his chest. Telling him to simply extend the arms away was not working. So you always look for other ways to say the same thing. So the statement "pull the left arms down with the right hand" worked.

The discussions about tension are all valid. Do you do this all the time after proper entension? Probably not. As long as you can be in this position without the initial tension force making you change to this new position, you should be able to then be in a natural setup with it.

Your question about other problems: Try consistancy. If you have to re-extend to get back to the ball from a folded point at the top, you will ealily create a new timing issue prone to error.

__________________
I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

I see what you mean by pull now, pulling straight out from your body keeping the same angle. I guess pushing down with the right hand could lower my hands which I may not want. Your thought makes more sense. I definitely think I am re-extending on the downswing. Thanks.

Jambalya

Have a look at this thread also

http://www.golf-tuition-online.com/g...xtensor+action (Extensor Action and left wrist cup)

There is a something technical called extensor action which is all about using the straight left arm to get width and power. I find the straighter and tauter the better but I know some people disagree (which of course is fine, theres no right or wrong ..just what works for you)

I turn my elbows outwards at address so that they both point towards the corresponding hip. This tends to straighten the arms and narrow the triangle the arms form. It also assist the right arm folding and the left to rotate correctly in the takeaway.