Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a GOLF.com series in which we’re sharing improvements, learnings and takeaways from amateur golfers just like you — including some of the speed bumps and challenges they faced along the way.
Proper arm position in both the setup and the swing is essential to good ball-striking. If you’re a player who tends to get loose with the arms, you’re more likely to slice or hook the ball, which is going to add strokes to your scorecard.
That’s why everything needs to align in your setup before you start your backswing. This will give you a better chance of staying on plane and keeping your clubface square.
Because the trail arm is a major influence in the outcome of your shot, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Drew Steckel has some advice on where it should be positioned before you even start your swing. Take a look below to check out Steckel’s tip on how the trail arm should look at setup, which will set up the rest of your swing for success.
How to ensure your trail arm is correct in the setup
“In my experience, amateurs to tend to have their trail in a weak position at address,” Steckel says. “When it’s too weak, or on top of the club, it opens the shoulders at address and causes problems for the swing sequence.”
The easy fix is to simply soften the trail arm at setup, which will eliminate players from rolling their forearms in the takeaway. By combining this with the proper grip, Steckel says you’ll be setting yourself up for much better results.
“A proper setup helps to pre-position the swing, allowing the trail hand to work properly,” he says. “In turn, this allows the trail wrist to bend in the proper motion on the backswing.”
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Next, Steckel says he’ll have his students use cross-handed drills to get the proper feel for how the trail hand works, and how it impacts wrist angles.
“One of the most important results of developing the proper feel of wrist angles is that it will eliminate the variables for how and where the face angle works,” he says. “Most amateur golfers suffer with the wrong wrist angles. From my experience teaching newer golfers, they almost always have an instinct to use a baseball grip, which leads to a trail arm with an open shoulder and wrist angle problems.”
Whether you use a baseball grip or not, here’s Steckel’s grip advice.
“A very key point is that the thumb and the index finger must feel the pressure points and the torques of the club,” he says. “Another checklist item is to make sure that the club is in the fingers and not in the palm of the lead hand. A third key, at address, is always know where the butt of the club is.
Breaking down the lead arm vs. the trail arm in the golf swing
“Most golfers have the hands too far back at address, which drags the club back and creates a predominantly open clubface, which is one of the most common swing flaws for amateurs.”
Steckel says that by softening the trail hand and using the proper grip, you’ll have better control of the club path and overall ball flight.
“Trail wrist alignments and elbow positioning will dictate the start and finish line of a shot,” he says. “Having trail wrist bend at address makes the takeaway and face alignments match up to a desirable in-to-out pattern, which leads to the desired ball flight.”
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