Shooting the lead arm off the chest??

[finncox]

Would a failure to let the lead arm separate from the chest as the club releases lead to extreme in-to-out or out-to-in path problems? Possibly due to a need for the body to make up for the arm being pinned against the chest, so you can actually get to the ball?

I have had trouble lately finishing "high hands, low club" a la SD, and I realized that I've been focusing too much on lower lead arm roll into the finish, and axis tilt. As a result, my lead arm has stayed pretty pinned against my chest, and I've been missing both ways, and it feels like my body is having to work itself to death when I swing the club.

Doing some practice swings yesterday, allowed my lead arm to separate from the chest a little more into release and it felt much better, and more natural. Anyone else experienced anything like this?

 

[finncox]

I guess I should clarify that what I'm really talking about is the upper lead arm.

 

[natep]

I've tried it both ways and had pretty much equal success. When I saw the overhead sequence of Tiger in his book you can clearly see that the lead arm starts separating from the chest at the start of the downswing, and the angle gets bigger and bigger before impact. So I tried it and played well. I have also played well with the left arm pinned to my chest until after impact. I'd like to know what the more knowledgeable folks around here think about it.