Flying left elbow?

I have been pulling balls and in my efforts to correct same I also started pushing some too. Had a lesson yesterday and my pro got me to stop in follow through position. My left are had completely lost contact with my right and my left elbow was pointing skywards. He got me to hold my arms together better on follow through and hey presto I was hitting much straighter. However it feels a bit stiff and awkward and I feel I lost distance by doing it. Can anyone give me any tips or suggestions on this please? Like is this a common fault. Any tips on curing it etc. Thanks
Brian

The drill your coach suggested is a good one and should feel easier with some practice. Follow through impact while maintaining the triangular relationship between your arms, chest and hands. Stop when you are pointing the club down the line towards the target with both arms full extended, right shoulder held back below your chin. Don't get too quick while practising this.

Try this drill....get into the impact position, with any club. Your hands should be ahead of the club face. From this position begin to rotate your right hand and fore-arm over your left in a counter-clockwise manner as you go into a follow-though and then into a finish position. If done correctly your left elbow should fold downwards. Do this drill many, many times to get the feel of how the elbow folds in the the backswing. Hope this helps.

Thanks for both of those great tips.
Brian

here is something to try
take practice swings left hand only and do not allow your left forearm to rotate on the downswing and notice what happens,
then swing again and on the downswing rotate the left forearm on purpose and feel the difference between the two, why does a flying right elbow occur? One big reason is the left elbow points at the target to long in the downswing/follow through
good luck
have fun

How's your grip? Reason I ask is because if it's too strong, you'll unintentionally compensate by not releasing the club...because if you do, the ball will end up way left via a nasty hook.

I developed a pretty strong grip to combat a push slice (something a lot of slicers do), but apparently overcooked it and also developed this chicken wing thing you're describing. The solution for me has been to take a more neutral grip, which will allow me to release the club and not hold onto it into the followthrough.

I'm a novice at this game, but saw some parallels between my issues and yours, so I thought I'd chime in.

Good point but my coach said it was OK. Will definately re-check it though.

The simplest drill to stop this is to tuck a wood cover under your left armpit. The object of the drill is to hit balls without the wood cover falling out, this will keep your body connected through impact. If you are still pulling shots it is because you are not turning your shoulders on the take away. Hope this helps

Yes of course. Every tip helps. I am going to the range later today and will try them all out.

Hello Miffin:

Following up on your post concerning the dreaded "chicken wing" or flying left elbow.

First off, in the golf swing both of your arms should reach full extension just after impact. If you look at the correct impact position the left arm is straight but the right arm does not straighten fully until after impact. Many higher handicaps achieve full extension too early, usually at impact which leads to the chicken wing.

Try this test to see an interesting demonstration on just how different impact and the follow through are and how the former is reliant on the latter in the golf swing. From your adress position take your left hand off the club and point it to a position that you feel would represent your full left arm extension in a golf shot. Your arm should be extended toward but right of the target line. Now take your right arm and reach it across to attempt to touch your left hand without bringing your left arm back. You will see that the right arm can only reach your left forearm. One of the great mysteries in golf is how to achieve that full extension of both arms past impact. In other words how do we make that right arm longer or the left arm shorter.

Those who are not able to grasp the above stated concept will usually chicken wing it to allow the right arm to extend as far as the left. Sensing that they are not able to acheive the proper right arm extension, they instinctively pull back with the left hand which bends at the elbow creating the wing. This results in poor inconsistent contact and usually weak shots.

Well, how do we acheive the proper extension? In the proper impact position you will see that good players have the left arm pressed firmly against their torsos. The upper portion of the left arm will appear glued to their chest. This pinching action of the left arm to the torso aids in releasing the club. This is why it is vital to stay behind the ball at impact. If you get ahead of the ball by swaying or lunging you will not be able to acheive this connected left arm and torso relationship.

That describes impact but again, what about the extension in follow through? Two things. You must tilt your torso away from the target during the release. You must also pull your left shoulder back to allow the left arm to remain straight (no wing) but moving behind your torso as your right side (shoulder arm and hand)release through to the target. Many high handicaps who's swing theory is to simply hit at the ball will neglect to rotate fully with both shoulders which provides the arms the ability to extend. Usually they will quit with the left shoulder although they fire with the right which again leads to the wing.

By combining the torso tilt with the rotation of the shoulders you can acheive pro quality extension. Again, you must stay behind the ball for any of this to happen.