Left Arm Rotation in the Golf Swing - Golf Tips
How Left Arm Rotates on Golf Backswing to Find the Golf Swing Plane
Jul 29, 2009
To hit the golf ball consistently a golfer must swing the club onto the correct swing plane on the backswing and on the downswing. This can be made simple or difficult depending on set up and the initial takeaway path, but when the one piece takeaway is completed it is left arm rotation that determines swing plane.
Why Left Arm Rotation is Important
Being able to hit the ball squarely, without a glancing blow, requires the golf club to swing in plane. This means that the club shaft aims at the ball at the top of the swing, in the same way a pool player would line up the cue at the ball. If the club is not swung on plane on the backswing a golfer has to adjust on the downswing, which is very difficult to do correctly while accelerating at the ball. The most efficient swings move the club onto plane at the earliest opportunity, which is half way back on the backswing. Follow these tips on how to make the left arm rotate correctly and swing the golf club into plane.
Left Arm Rotation on Backswing
- The less a golfer has to rotate the left arm the easier it is move the club onto plane time after time. The amount the left arm has to rotate is linked to the address position.
- If a golfer sets up correctly the left arm swings naturally onto plane, but if the arms are set poorly, swinging the club onto plane is almost impossible.
- Make sure a line across the arms, two inches above your wrist watch, points at the target, as this makes the arms hang down in a neutral position. This might sound relatively unimportant but it is probably the most crucial aspect of address. Get this wrong and a golfer immediately makes the swing complicated.
Swing the Club into Plane
- The swing should start off with a one piece takeaway where the butt of the club points at the golfers spine as it did at address.
- From half way back the left arm rotates so the shaft of the club points at the ball.
- As the left arm rotates the right arm folds.
- The move could be summed up as ‘turn, then point the club at the ball’.
- From this position the golfer has to keep the club in plane to the top of the backswing and all the way back to half way on the downswing.
- A useful tip to help a golfer do this is to concentrate on keeping the angle in your right wrist (made as the right arm folded) the same to the top of the swing and during the transition onto the downswing.
- If the left arm over rotates normally it leads to a flat swing where the club points to the left at the top of the swing.
- If the left arm doesn’t rotate enough the swing tends to become steep with the club aiming to the right at the top.
See also: Get the Right Hand to Work Correctly in the Golf Swing or Drill for Perfect Swing Width
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