(club whooshes)
- Hello there Adam Bazalgette here,
founder of Scratch Golf Academy.
Today's subject I think is a really good one,
people ask about that, and that is in golf,
the right elbow in the downswing,
the trail elbow, how does that work?
Well I'll show you some references,
you know, we'll work on it a little bit,
but I'll especially, as the video goes along,
show you a reference I think most people don't see,
what you are really trying to achieve with that,
and when you get that clear in your mind,
you can really make some progress.
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Okay, lets get started.
So let's look at the most common reference
you see for this right arm.
Trailing arm for the left-handed golfers,
obviously is the left arm.
Let's look at the most common reference you see,
and we'll look at it from two different angles,
and we'll come out and hit some shots.
So there's two guys that don't really need an introduction,
Tiger Woods on the left, Justin Rose on the right.
So let's have a look at that right arm as it comes down,
that trail arm, let's see how it does.
There's no question that arm
is close to his side there for sure.
Let's look at Justin.
Same thing, right arm very close.
Now let's have a look at,
let's say put him there,
and we'll put Tiger there in the backswing.
Now watch especially with Tiger here,
if I take him right to that mid downswing,
watch the difference in the look of his arms.
See how much closer that is that is on the way down?
Maybe a little less dramatic with Justin,
but dramatic enough for sure.
So yes, the right arm is close to the right side.
I think it's more though,
the case of loading the shaft in a dynamic way.
So look at the space there.
Now certainly his weight's moving to the left,
but it doesn't account for all of that increase in angle.
Now let's just quickly confirm that with a rear view.
Happen to have both players.
That's an old one of Rose these.
And Tiger from the rear view.
Let's move him over just a little bit.
Looks like he's hitting some sort of fairway wood
off the the tee.
So look at his right arm,
I wouldn't say it's tucked up against his ribs,
it's reasonably close though.
Definitely a lot closer as he comes in there though.
Same with Justin, right arm isn't flying for sure,
but it's certainly more up against him in the downswing.
Okay, just trying to stick that arm
against your side in the downswing,
it might help you, I kind of doubt it though,
I've seen so many people try to work on this,
they tell me that's what they're working on.
I haven't seen that look that great.
As I say, I've used the towel a lot,
if you can learn to load the club properly,
I've got other videos on lag here at the channel,
that to me would do the trick,
but to me there's another way of looking at it,
another reference for that right arm,
for the right-handed golfer that is really the key.
Let's try a shot, see if I can put it into practice.
Felt like that was fairly good.
Let me show you one video, on the computer,
a couple of references, then we'll get right into this,
this I think will really help you.
So Davis Love, great career on the PGA Tour,
and obviously a fantastic balls striker.
Let's look at him as he gets to impact,
let's say just past impact.
Now, the references I wanna make,
a right elbow at least up to,
preferably a little bit past the right hip,
at least as you look at it from this angle,
and then right wrist bent, and I'm telling you,
when you can do those two things,
you have a great mechanical advantage
of applying pressure to the golf ball.
And the amount of pressure you put on the ball,
determines how far it goes.
Now certainly solid contact, club head speed,
there's other factors, but this is a major major factor.
Let's look at Grant Waite, great bull striker on tour.
He's the guy Tiger Woods beat,
with that amazing bunker shot in Canada,
on the 72nd hole, from about,
I don't know, what was it, 220 yards or something?
So here comes Grant, there's the bull leaving the clubface.
Again, right elbow up to the right hip,
maybe just past it, as we look right wrist bent,
that is the look you're going for.
Now let's see how I do with that.
I'm just hitting a little three-quarter shot.
Again I'm able to force the handle forward,
and apply pressure to the ball,
and not only does this hit the ball more solidly,
but you'll hit the ball before the ground,
a lot more often when you do it that way too.
Now watch from the rear view here.
And again, just a little three-quarter shot,
and there's the right arm appearing to get closer,
and again it's not sticking in the right sides,
close to the right side, it's passing the right side,
so as I get ready to hit the ball, I haven't hit it yet,
you really, other than a teeny bit of my sleeve,
you really can't see my right arm at all,
that's the kind of a look you should be having.
That applies pressure effectively.
Now this is an exaggerated version of a poor impact.
Let's just have a look here, this kind of a scoop,
but you'll see that right arm a lot longer from this view,
on a typical player, than you would on an elite player.
So the key really is, you've got to apply pressure,
when you can do that,
you're gonna get the results you we're looking for,
because the ball's going to respond to that.
So I've used an alignment rod,
you could use a bucket of balls,
you could use the door jamb at your house,
try this for yourself.
Go ahead and set up there, and just push against it.
Now don't let your hands go way forward,
or your head move around.
Engage your abs and glutes a little bit,
and apply pressure, about where the left thigh is,
and you just see how much of an advantage that is,
versus when that right arm would be trailing that right hip.
It is just such a difference maker,
so that's what we've gotta try to learn to do.
Now, why do I think people fail to do this so much?
And again, I mean,
this doesn't say this is the case for everybody,
but I've had a lot of experience,
trying to help golfers get better with their game,
and just listen to them, and talk to them, and watch them,
I think it's just that instinct I've got to hit the ball,
I've got to stay down and hit it.
So when you're thinking hit this object,
you probably aren't going to look like that.
When you're thinking I have to apply pressure,
if you had a little tree stump you had to knock over,
you certainly wouldn't hit it like that,
it's just a better mindset to me.
So try these couple little looks here.
Get the club up in front of you at about this position.
Different people are different with their shoulder mobility,
wrist mobility et cetera, see what works for you,
and without a little bit of movement here,
but just apply as much pressure,
push the trail hand till it bends, and the elbow's forward.
The elbow won't be fully straight,
but it'll be mostly straight,
and just feel what that's like,
and then try to do that down here.
That would be excessive.
As you'll see though, it just isn't that difficult to do.
So next we'll hit some balls,
I'm just going to hit one ball here,
gonna rehearse that feeling,
make a small backswing hip-high,
and really try to force that thing forward.
Now that ball shot off, nice and low and hard,
that's the feeling we're looking for.
So as we try to blend this into a real swing,
there's one thing you really have to bear in mind,
and one thing you have to factor in here...
By the way I have a three-part video series,
absolutely free, on solid strike, solid strike formula,
just go down to the description box, and pick it up.
but let's look at Tiger here, so if we look at him there,
and we touched on him earlier with his motion there,
there is a huge amount of change there,
between where the backswing looks, he's particularly,
especially in this swing here I would say,
versus some of the swings in his career,
is particularly noticeable with that,
but what I'm getting at, is you have to have flow,
there has to be some softness in that right wrist,
some gathering of the club there.
You might be, on a small scale,
able to just punch some balls out,
and feel like your right arm's a metal piston,
and that would be helpful for you, probably,
if you went about it the right way,
but you've got a dial back,
and get some flow in there as well,
so you feel the club load,
and you can add the pressure, and firm up a bit.
And you can do this, you've just gotta camp out with a bit,
and keep blending it, till you find the right mixture.
Now final word, and this is important,
this whole impact thing doesn't just happen in a vacuum,
so I'm telling you if this trail arm,
the right hand for the right arm, for the right hand,
and go, if it's in a bad position going back,
it's narrow, you know where it's stuck behind you like this,
that's gonna hurt.
Often clubface positions hurt people,
you get a kind of a crummy weak grip,
and the face gets open,
your mind's so busy trying to lash the face close,
you won't be able to do this,
so you have to have some of that.
Finally, you know, if you complain is comlex
so many people whip the club
behind them then they lift it up again
your subconscious has to manage this and
adjust for so many things and try to
balance this thing out your odds of
really applying the pressure in a nice
direct way not super good so you've got
to work on other things you have a
reasonable position with the clubface
the right arm and the plane and all that
but to some extent if they're decent
just the knowledge the sense the
awareness of what to do down here can
write a few subtle wrong should we say
at the top of the backswing hope this is
helping you I hope this will help you
hope that's helpful for you with golf
right elbow in the downswing if you
liked the video I'd really appreciate a
thumbs up again helps us get some
momentum at the channel hope this did
help you I think if you can master some
of these things you will compress the
ball a lot lot better and enjoy your
game more
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