“The Dave Way” Steps & Drills
Step # 3
“THE ARMS”
| Realizing that when the golfer is in control of their arms and wrists, then they are in control of the entire swing. |
I am in the process of teaching my son to play golf. Now grant
it, he is not even 2 years old yet (at the time of this writing)…
but he does a pretty good job at remembering how to hold the club.
He remembers which side of the club you hit the ball with and
he knows how far away to stand from the ball at address.
But without me standing behind him, helping guide his swing
into the ball, it is so funny to see him trying to hit the ball on
his own.
His body stays pretty still, he doesn’t move his feet around.
But what disables him from making contact with the ball
(besides the fact he’s a baby) is his arms and wrists bending
and braking and just flailing around in general.
No, I am not calling you a child if you have a golf slice. The
point I am
making is that, besides your arms and wrist, controlling your
entire body (shoulders, head, torso, waist, hips, legs, feet)
throughout the golf swing is very simple… something a child
can do.
But controlling your arms and wrists is extremely difficult
because they are constantly in motion. And might well be the
definitive root of your golf slice.
You are moving your arms so fast and the smallest incorrect
bending (let's refer to this as “over-action”) of your wrists or
elbows can mean the difference between a great shot and a
horrible one.
What I have found is that by limiting the amount of elbow and
wrist bending, that has to take place throughout the golf swing,
the less likely you are to slice the ball.
Therefore Drill #3 is going to instruct you to keep the “arm
bends” to a minimum.
Drill #3 will allow just enough bending (at the right spots) to
let
you get the maximum distance without sacrificing any accuracy
what-so-ever, and obviously, help eliminate your golf slice even
more.