Oh no...not a new fault!!

Had a lesson last night, things have been going quite well and I'm getting the feeling that the stuff I worked hard on over the winter ( getting rid of the tilt, getting rid of the sway, getting width) are largely coming through. Toward the end of the winter I also worked on getting a better hinge. I go back for a swing check fairly regularish (2-4 weeks). Usually there's some little niggle e.g. ball creeping back in stance, hands forward at address, tendency to whip away on the inside, trying to swing too hard etc etc. Generally speaking if I need tweaking it's always one of those things and within a few balls it's been spotted and corrected. Last night however, the pro picked me up on a bend in my left arm near the top of the backswing...wtf!! I've never been prone to that before...even worse, the more I thought about correcting it, the worse it got. What is that all about??

Maybe an age thing JAS ;-)

I've learned to live with a bent left arm - I'm just not supple enough to keep left arm straight past about half backswing   

It would have to be a pretty major bend to be worthy of worrying about. I hope your pro gave you good reasoning for pointing it out?

I think it's started developing from putting more effort into getting a better hinge.

Try taking the left arm across the body keeping it straight and hinge the wrist without the elbow getting in on the act. The more pronounced you try and make the wrist hinge the more the elbow folds.

Not convinced it's an age thing Davie, thinks it's just coordination and trying to introduce a change has allowed it to creep in.

Or maybe, just maybe. Your swing is actually perfect now and your pro has to find something for you to think about so you need more lessons or that so his job is safe...

I wouldn't worry about it, was it not Ben Hogan that said "bent arm, who cares?"*


















*No it very definitely wasn't Ben Hogan (or probably anyone)

Maybe your pro will find something else when your arm isn't bent anymore?   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYMoyEeSVCE

Still working for me.  Complete revelation.  Lower swing plane gives me the time I needed to transition more successfully and I get that lovely feeling of swinging in to out.  Can't wait to get to the golf course these days.

I also think JAS you should give up on the lessons.  Think they're messing with your head too much and perhaps making your swing too mechanical.

I'd say my swing is typically miles better now than it used to be, as is my understanding of it. By and large when I hit a bad shot these days, most (certainly not all) of the time I pretty much know what I've done whereas before I had lots of lessons I wouldn't have had a clue. Lessons nowadays are more about keeping the swing in a good place, stopping niggles before they become problems.

I'm sure he will Navy as that is the nature of the beast.

JAS ... you make swinging a golf club sound like an exact science which, of course, it isn't.  Get rid of the crutch.  You don't need it.