O f f T h e Te e

Fairways & Greens

By John Klocksin with Al Barkow

Hit More

Why Proper

LEFT ARM ROTATION

Makes A Huge Difference In

DISTANCE & ACCURACY!

he surest way to accurate power shots hit as far as you are capable and on target is a clockwise and counter-clockwise rotation of the left arm. If you take the club straight away from the ball for the first 18 or so inches of the backswing, then rotate your left forearm clockwise, you will create the widest, most extended swing arc your body structure and flexibility will allow. And, you will put the club on the correct swing plane, which is to say, your swing plane.

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At address (left), an observer looking down the target line should see only a portion of your upper left arm and left hand. The two, in conjunction with the right arm, form the letter X. This indicates the symmetrical, V-shaped position of the arms that you want. As the hands get to waist-high in the backswing (center), the left forearm begins its clockwise rotation. At the completion of the backswing (right), the left forearm is fully rotated and the club is on the ideal plane. The plane was formed by the rotation of the left forearm. Note how the angle of the hands and wrists conform perfectly with the angle of the left forearm.
Furthermore, in a kind of chain reaction, the left arm rotation aids and abets the rotation or turning of the hips and shoulders to fully complete your backswing. With that done, in the downswing you can return the club to impact with no re-direction from the original swing plane. You wont feel a need to drop the club to the inside and risk a sharply hooked shot, or swing it over the top and from outside to inside the target line and slice the ball. Retaining a one-path plane almost invariably produces solid contact with the ball, with the clubface dead square at impact. A dead-solid strike is one of the two primary sources of maximum power. The other is clubhead speed, which is maximized by the counterclockwise rotation of the left forearm in the downswing. An extra added attraction is that by knowing you are going to make sweet-spot solid contact, you will feel confident about adding a little more of a rip in the impact zone when you need some extra yardage and without losing accuracy. What are the specifics of left arm rotation? First, it is important to think of only the left forearm rotating not the hands, which will respond naturally and correctly when not forced into the action. If the emphasis is on the movement of the hands and wrists, they will rotate independent of the bigger, less flexible forearm. The result is a handsy or wristy backswing, with less overall width and length. Also, the club will go too quickly and too much inside the target line, which requires re-directing the

This close-up of the left forearm with a piece of marked tape in place provides a graphic presentation of left forearm rotation. The red dot on the tape begins to appear as the hands get to waist-high in the backswing. Note the neutral left-hand grip position in which only one knuckle of the hand is seen at address by the golfer.
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downswing. In all, power and control are diminished. With left forearm rotation, the hands are relatively quiet throughout the swing action. An important element in creating left forearm rotation in the backswing is the left-hand grip. It should be neutral in that you see no more than one knuckle at address. If the grip is too strong the left hand turned well to the right so two or more knuckles show you are likely to swing the club back too much and too quickly inside the target line. The accompanying photographs indicate how the left arm should rotate. Notice also how the right arm is above the left arm when the club is hip-high in the takeaway. This is evidence that the club has been taken straight back from the ball. Left forearm rotation begins at this point. The feel of rotation is similar to that of swinging a baseball bat. As an exercise to perceive this, raise the club about 2 feet off the ground and in front of you, then swing it back and forth as if it were a baseball bat. Left arm rotation will occur automatically. You also will notice that when you swing the bat to hit the ball, the left arm will naturally rotate counterclockwise. The same thing happens

when you swing a golf club. At play is the well-known mechanical principle that an action creates an equal and opposite reaction. In this case, a clockwise rotation of the left forearm in the backswing invokes a counter-clockwise rotation of the left forearm in the downswing. As mentioned earlier, this counter-cloc kwise rotation is t he release that produces power. Golfers usually associate the term release with an uncocking of the wrists. With the rotation method as described here, the difference is the left forearm does the releasing. This is the key element in the development of both power and control. A release of only the hands (and wrists) is far more subject to inconsistency. Wristy golf is too often erratic golf. You know youve made a sound counter-clockwise rotation at impact when the club moves to the left of the target and is lower to the ground than you are (probably) accustomed. You also will see the right forearm more or less crossing over or above the left arm. Most golfers, when they swing the club back, keep their left arm in essentially the same position it was in at address. They do this mainly out of a subconscious notion that this keeps the clubface square. What actually hap-

pens, though, is the club goes on too upright a plane, the turn of the hips and shoulders is minimized, and the club is more often than not brought back to the ball on the dreaded outsideto-in slicers path. You must always keep in mind that we hit a golf ball from the side of it, and therefore the club must swing around your body, not above it. This is the natural way to swing a club, and left arm rotation accomplishes that very thing. To follow up this thought, at first when rotating the left arm you may sense the clubface is opening in the backswing. However, a simple test will show you this is not the case. On the practice tee, where you should experiment first with this method before taking it to the course, stop your backswing at the top after left arm rotation. Then, drop the club back behind the ball. You will see that the face is as square to the ball and the target line as it was at address. A corollary value to the left forearm rotation concept, as suggested earlier, is that it enhances the level rotation of the shoulders and hips. You will not tilt your body to the left into a reverse pivot in the backswing. This, in turn, means you are not likely to hang back on your right side when you make your downswing.

In the downswing, the counter-clockwise rotation of the left forearm is matched by the right forearm, which takes the higher position as the club moves past impact. This rotation is a natural response to the clockwise rotation in the backswing, and is the release that creates maximum power and control of each shot. The hands have gone along for the ride, serving only to hold the club firmly throughout the entire swing.
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This sequence illustrates what happens when the hands and wrists are the dominant elements in the backswing. When the club is taken straight back from the ball with the hands and wrists quiet, the clubface remains square (center) as the club moves gradually to the inside of the target line. However, when the hands and wrists take over the rotation, you see the clubface fanning open (right) and the club moving too much and too sharply to the inside of the target line.
In his last years, when Ben Hogan talked about the golf swing, he spoke almost exclusively about rotation. It may not have been his secret, but it was definitely a major aspect of an efficient, effective golf swing as he conceived it. It began and ended with rotation of the left forearm. GI John Klocksin is the head professional at the Bowling Green GC in Milton, N.J., and a regular instruction contributor to Golf Illustrated.