How To Make The Perfect Backswing

In this lesson, I’m going to be talking about arm structure – what is arm structure, how do you create it and how do you maintain it throughout the swing. Arm structure can make a massive difference to your ball striking ability.

In its most simplistic form, there are two main moving parts to a golf swing; how we move our body and how we move our arms. This lesson is about moving the arms correctly.

Address position
The left hand and the right hand should form a Y-shaped structure, in relation to the club shaft, at the address.

The backswing
As the club moves back, it’s important to keep your elbows together, approximately a ball width apart from each other.

When the lead arm is parallel to the ground, the lead arm and the club shaft should have created a 90 angle (possibly even more acute), or an L-shaped structure. The left wrist is hinged and the right arm has softened. This is what is commonly referred to as lag.

The downswing
As the golf club approaches the ball, the club begins to catch up and the lead arm and the club shaft begin to form a straight line, leading to compression of the clubface on the ball.

Common errors in arm structure

One of the big errors players make is how the right arm moves. A lot of players bend the right arm too much at the takeaway and this effectively reduces what we call “width” in the golf swing. When the right arm bends too much we tend to lose the structure of the arms. The left-arm begins to fold and the hands get too close to the right shoulder. This causes a whole range of issues with steepness and clubface control.

The distance between the elbows, throughout the entirety of the golf swing, plays a vital role in maintaining the structure of the arms.

A good exercise for keeping the elbows together uses what we call the “smart ball”. This is where you place a small ball between your elbows to maintain the structure of your arms. You can also use a balloon for this. The idea is that if your elbows stray too far apart, the ball, or balloon, will fall to the ground.

Watch the full video here: