Importance of Left Arm Stability

The stability of the left arm (right arm for lefties) is one of the most critical areas of the
golf swing for generating swing consistency and producing torque during the backswing.

One of the most common faults experienced by golfers of all levels is the break down of
the left elbow during the back swing.

A break in the left side creates several problems:

1) Breakdown in the timing of the swing affecting swing consistency.
2) Loss of torque on the backswing affecting the power and distance of the swing.
3) Loss of swing accuracy.

Consistency
The more moving parts there are in the swing during the backswing the more complex
the motion becomes requiring extra coordination on the downswing to bring everything
back together at the strike zone.

A break down of the left elbow occurs for several reasons:

1) The elbow is broken at the address position and gets worse on the backswing.
2) Over rotation of the backswing creating too much tension in your golf muscles
which first shows up as a break at the elbow.

This breakdown is widely overlooked by golfers for two reasons:

1) They may realize that they are breaking the left elbow but choose to ignore it
because they do not understand the importance that the stability of the left side
has on the outcome of the swing
2) They do not realize a break is occurring as it is impossible to feel the break
during the backswing unless the break is massive, or they are not paying close
enough attention to their swing accuracy performance.

Here are a few signs to watch out for that point to a left elbow break occurring during the
swing:
1) Loss of swing timing resulting in miss hits - usually striking the ground before the
ball.
2) Pushing your shots to the right with a loss of power.
3) Erratic accuracy with a slight fade.

Essentially you can lump all of these faults into one problem area – swing timing. At its
best the swing is most consistent when there are only two major parts of the swing to
coordinate:
1) Release of the hands
2) Uncoiling of the trunk and left side as one unit.
If you introduce a third movement of the left elbow break into the swing, the coordination
of the swing becomes more complex by 50%.

An elbow break may be subtle as may be the case for many of you low handicap players.
In your swings a minor break is difficult to detect as a loss of distance or crispness of the
strike may not be noticeable, especially on shorter clubs. However, if you are observant,
the loss of consistency will show up in a wider spread of accuracy.

This why I always contend that you practice on the range in segments of 5 shots. With
each shot you note the distance you are from your target as a measure of your swing
consistency. Should the spread of your accuracy circle increase, this is one area of the
swing to review.

Power Loss
Power is defined as the rate at which energy is released in the swing. You can increase
the power of the swing by either creating more stored energy in the swing or by speeding
up the release of that energy on the downswing, or both.

Energy is created on both the backswing and downswing. I always contend that it is much
easier to create and conserve energy on the backswing than it is to increase the speed at
which it is released on the downswing.

The energy that is stored on the backswing is a function of the torque that is created in the
turn. The greater the torque, the more energy stored.

Torque is a function of the radius of rotation of the backswing, which is defined by the
radius to the furthest extent of your swing from your turn axis which is the club head.

The wider the arc of the swing, the greater the torque built up in the trunk and legs which
increases the stored energy in the backswing. However, if a break occurs at any point in
the radius of rotation of the swing that releases muscle tension in the backswing, torque
and energy will be lost.

The effect that an elbow break has on the torque depends on how much muscle tension is
released. A subtle break, as in the case of a low handicap player, may not result in much
noticeable power loss, only an accuracy loss.

However, if the elbow is broken at the start of the swing, resulting in a complete
breakdown of the elbow at the top of the swing, as much as 40% of the potential torque
of the backswing could be lost.

This is because the elbow break reduces both the radius of rotation from the left shoulder
to the club head, and the muscle tension in the triceps is completely lost – taking them out
of the total muscle forces contributing to the torque equation.
How to improve Left Side Stability

There are four ways to improve left side stability:

1) Ensure the left side is straight and “firm” from the shoulder to the hands at the
beginning of the swing. This should be one of your pre-swing checks that you build into
your stance routine.

Often I see players get into their stance with the elbow joint facing the target in a bent
position. The chances of the left side staying firm in this position during the backswing is
zero!

To correct this condition, I always advice students to rotate the elbow joint “inwards”
towards their trunk. This way the tension of the backswing is working against the elbow
joint and not against the triceps.

2) Reduce the rotation on your backswing. Over rotation of the backswing causes a
tremendous amount of stress on the shoulder muscles and the triceps.

Very often a break takes place without you knowing it because it is very difficult to
“feel” the break. It is difficult to observe a break even if someone is watching your swing
because everything is happening so fast.

The best way to get a sense on how far you can turn on your backswing without creating
an elbow break is to slowly rotate your backswing in front of a mirror to find that point
where you first start to experience muscle tension in your elbow. If you swing beyond
this point, you will cause a break.

3) Slow down your backswing speed to avoid over rotation that can cause an elbow
break. You need to remain in control of the extended backswing arc and not over stress
the elbow joint.

4) The ability of the triceps and left shoulder muscles to overcome the tremendous
tension that is created during the backswing is a function of their flexibility and their
strength at maintaining their position.

Golf Fitness for Shoulder and Triceps

Here are three conditioning routines that you can apply to improve this area of your
swing.

As always, please check with your doctor that you are able to perform these routines
before you attempt them.
Triceps Strength
I believe a press up routine is a great strengthening exercise for both the shoulders and
triceps as well as many other muscle groups. If you have a problem with doing a full
press up, start with a half press up.

1) Start by doing only two or three repetitions if you are new to press ups as part of
your daily routine. Only increase the repetitions by one count after you complete a 7 day
cycle.

If you can do more repetitions, make your starting count no more than 60% of the
maximum number you are able to do. This way you do not over stress the muscles, which
allows you to do the exercise daily, taking a rest day only on the seventh day.

If a half press up is too strenuous, you can choose to start strengthening the triceps using
a light dumbbell.

Hold the dumbbell in your left hand with the left elbow joint pointing as high above your
shoulders as possible. Support the left arm with your right hand. Now simply extend the
left arm.

Do not snap the arm straight in the exercise as this may injure the elbow joint. Stop at a
point just before the fully extend position. Now let the weight back down slowly and
repeat the cycle. Again only increase the cycle count by one cycle per week so that you
do not over stress the muscle.

Shoulder Flexibility
2) Lie flat on your back extending your hands above your head as much as possible.
As you extend you hands, also try to lay your arms as flat as possible on the ground. Hold
this stretch for at least 60 seconds.

To help extend and flatten the stretch you may want to hold two light dumbbells in your
hands.

3) Again while lying on your back, pull your left arm across your chest with your
right arm until you feel the stretch in the shoulder joint. Hold that position for at least 60
seconds and repeat the routine for the right shoulder.

If you perform all these routines daily for 4 weeks you will improve the stability of the
left side for better swing consistency and greater backswing torque.

Good luck!

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Les Ross is the owner of "Highlanderllc School of Golf" which provides "live" online
technical golf instruction at www.highlanderschoolofgolf.com
He is also the author of the books "Breaking the Distance Barrier" and "In Search of
Putting Excellence" which both apply "physics" to the golf swing to help golfers extract
the maximum performance potential from their swings.
www.breakingthedistancebarrier.com

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