Women’s golf tips: Why your underarms are the key to consistency and power

By: Kellie Stenzel, Top 100 Teacher

September 15, 2020

When you make your golf swing, keeping your underarms close to your body helps you to be more efficient and increase your swing speed.

Kellie Stenzel

Golf can at times seem so simple and other times so complicated. When you deal with golf instruction, some is so technical and scientific, but necessary for growth and understanding. The best instructors know how to interpret the material and make it easily applicable. Wouldn’t it be great if you could take care of your swing path and clubhead speed with one thought? Well, good news: you can! Your underarms are the key here.

When you make your backswing, keeping your underarms close to your chest and upper body will accomplish two great things. First, it will help you make a proper, circular-shaped swing path, and second, it will help you rotate your upper body. Implementing this athletic coil away from the target will help to create power and also encourage a proper swing path.

underarm drill — Notice the difference between these two setups? On the right side, the underarms are tucked close to the chest — a perfect starting point for the swing. Kellie Stenzel

Keeping your underarms close to your chest on your downswing will help promote a proper downswing path, allowing your arms to swing more easily down your shoulder line while also creating a circular path and, thereby, more direct contact with the ball.

This one simple concept can have a huge influence on swing path and athletic body motion. When your arms stay closer to your body, they help it to move properly.

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By: Trillium Rose, Top 100 Teacher

Keeping your underarms close also helps to add speed and power. What does a gymnast, skater or diver do when they want to spin faster? They pull their arms in closer to their bodies to become more aerodynamically efficient. The same concept applies to golf.

When you make your golf swing, keeping your underarms close to your body helps you to be more efficient as well as increase your swing speed.

One of the most efficient ways to improve your golf game is to work on keys that can make multiple good things happen all at the same time. Keeping your underarms close to your body is one of those keys. Work on that, and not only will your contact be more consistent, your ball will travel farther as well.

For more tips from Kellie Stenzel, click here. And for more women’s golf content, visit golf.com/womensgolf.