Bending left arm in backswing...

... is this really bad?

I know it's best not to, but it naturally happens as I try and keep everything relaxed. Am I loosing distance and accuracy? Are there drills to fix it?

Hello jweighell, I do the same thing. No matter how hard I try my left arm always tends to bend. I am average height with average to short arms and not a lot of flexibility and it just happens. Is it a bad thing? I don't know, and I have read mixed reviews on it. All I know is when I am hitting the ball well, a slightly bending arm doesn't seem to matter and when I'm not hitting the ball well, a slightly bending arm doesn't seem to matter .

I'll be interested in other feedback to your post though. Standing by .

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I would suggest that any golfer who says they've never thrown a club is either a liar or a poser. To all of you "gentlemen golfers" out there, respectively..
Jim

hi
check your grip. sometimes a bad grip can help cause your elbow to flex at full swing. try and cup your left wrist out to the left as far as you can so your knuckles point up and you can see them all and see if you still bend the elbow at full swing. the try the other way with left wrist cupped back to the right so you see no knuckle on left hand and your elbow WILL bend, try and find where you you get a good grip and very little elbow bend.
bill

hi guys
when i starting playing golf my left arm was bent and i couldnt hit the ball
two years later my left arm is still bent but i average 230/240 yds and accurate off the tee with a 3 wood and good accuracy and length with irons
nuff said!

Worry Not If You Closely Pay Atention Even The Best Players In The Worl Also Bent The Left Arm At The Back Swing,if You Loose Distance And Accuracy Pay More Attention In You Downswing And Clear You Mind Of Worries (may Affect You Perfomance)
Cheers...

All that being said, if your left arm is not straight at IMPACT you will have a very crumby shot to look forward too...

Chessbum...

Hi,

I was/still am sometimes bending the left arm on the backswing and somewhat on the through swing(just after hitting the ball). I was able to video my swing and post it on here or I wouldn't have realized how badly I was doing this. After some great input, I went to the range and consciously worked on keeping the left elbow as straight as possible (it's almost impossible to keep it completely straight for me, anyhow) and widening the arc of my swing. The results were amazing. I was hitting my 5 iron and eventually all of my clubs approx. 20-25 yards farther with a beautiful high trajectory.

I'm not an accomplished golfer by any means, but I do know that the difference in trying to keep the elbow straight produced the kind of shot that I would be happy to have all the time.

Hope this helps...

Gary (GWC1957)

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As a man thinks in his heart...so he is

I have been experimenting at home this evening, and have tried changing my grip slightly and working on a wider swing arch does seem to help keep my left arm straight... I'm anxious to go and try some things at the range as it does feel like it should produce a good solid strike!

Looks like the reviews are still a bit mixed. I think I'll go with Slater on this one. Just came from playing and played one of my better games. Didn't even think about my arm/elbow bending but I'm sure it probably did..

thanks teevino
i wasnt trying to be smartarsed with my post
but eventually you come to realise that you have to build your game to your physical limitations and therefore having a slightly bent arm has never hindered me at all
i think we over analyse everything too much im at a point now where i can get round a course in a tidy fashion with or without the "perfect swing"

my thoughts on it are it is ok, as long as you are not doing a back swing that is all arms moving around the body, which causes the bend, with no shoulder turn. If you get a good shoulder turn with a little bend in there, maybe it is better because you are more relaxed.

I hope this doesn't just sound like meaningless semantics, but I try to take a wide arc with a firm left arm. I don't try to keep it ram-rod straight, that brings in too much tension. Having a firm arm, at least for me, keeps it from getting sloppy.

Bill

Hi

I have a natural bend in my left arm on the backswing but do not allow excessive bend which some players do in an effort to wind up for a big hit, leading to an overswing.

Keeping the left arm rigid is not going to help as it will create tension and a breakdown later in the swing. The key is to keep the left arm straight but not rigid at setup and allow for a little natural bend which will be straighten out on the downswing due to the centrifugal force you create in your swing.

It is definitely worth reviewing the basics to ensure that this is a natural bend and not the result of a bad setup (eg posture and grip).

Cheers

JCBDB

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JCBDB

Great all around feedback to my last post. Thanx Guy's.. I've found all of what ya'll say to be true for me. Shootin, when I first began to play, that was the way I swung. No body turn at all, just arms around the body. Mainly because I didn't have a clue.

I have also on occassion caught myself allowing the left arm to bend dramatically. Not good. That is the "sloppy" that Broadus speaks of. Firm but relaxed with a "natural" bend that comes back to straight on the down swing is for me fundamentally sound. And I cannot overstate how important I have found "relaxed" to be. Of course this one principle is what everyone always ultimately comes back to.

I agree again slater, too much analyses just causes paralyses .

__________________
I would suggest that any golfer who says they've never thrown a club is either a liar or a poser. To all of you "gentlemen golfers" out there, respectively..
Jim

thanks again teevino
one thing i have practised more than anything is my preshot routine!
i meticulously check grip,alignment,ball position and posture then its one waggle press forward and go that lets me swing in a relaxed manner as you said and more often than not results in a good shot!
the rest i can live with