Too Much Right Arm?
- Thread starter Keefer
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Perhaps this is why people struggle so much with golf. Because they do have a dominant arm.
I think you'll find people on both sides of this issue.
Some believe Vardon came up with his grip to take some of the right hand / arm out of the swing. Before that it was 10 fingers. Look at Jim Furyk, he plays with a double over-lap grip. How much right hand /arm is he applying in the swing?
VJ's right hand almost comes off the club shortly after impact.
Wulsy-just about everyone has a dominant hand/arm. Are you saying don't let the naturally dominant hand/arm over power the non-dominant hand/arm.....i.e., swing both hands/arms with as much equal power as possible? I've tried that before but it's not easy.
Pete J, I think the whole idea that there is a "dominant" arm in the golf swing is not really related to having a dominant arm ie being either right or left handed.
It's more about the roles of the l. and r. arm/hand in the golf swing and the simple truth is you need both. And you need both as much as each other. In other words: you don't do most of the necessary things you need to do to the golf club with one side or the other. You do them with both.
The question is as old as the hills, and it belongs in the dark and distant past.
It's more about the roles of the l. and r. arm/hand in the golf swing and the simple truth is you need both. And you need both as much as each other. In other words: you don't do most of the necessary things you need to do to the golf club with one side or the other. You do them with both.
The question is as old as the hills, and it belongs in the dark and distant past.
drewyallop
New
It is a peculiar pathology we have, this need to focus on a single body part. We grasp at any simplification because it holds out the promise of an answer to the maddening complexity of a consistent golf swing. The thing I like about the teaching here is that the focus is on results and doing whatever is necessary to achieve that result. BM showed me where my hands and club should be when the shaft is parallel to the ground. Of course, I forget that when the next "lead with the left/right arm" meme comes down the net. But after it all goes sideways then I am back to that one position and it always works - do whatever you have to to get to that position (interestingly,that position makes even more sense when incorporating "ideas about the release". Important note: my lesson was before that video surfaced here. Says something about BM's intuitive understanding of the swing)
Drew
Drew
Dear wulsy,
Great point, but what do you think the capabilities and golf demographics of all that read these posts are?
I see beginners, average capability folks, advanced players and probably even elite golfers looking at this site frequently.
One thing I think that is common for all however, is the hope that some 'nugget' they read will help them improve. So I find it impossible to conclude one solution may be right for those 'good at golf', could possibly be right for all.
In fact one other thing that SHOULD BUT IS MUCH TOO OFTEN NEGLECTED IN THESE POSTS, is that golf is a game of distance, and ACCURACY, so when we now consider the elements of how the body creates a swing, from a beginner to an elite professional several interesting things become evident, especially when considering both the improvement desires in both distance and accuracy.
So, based on admittedly limited testing, my findings are that the use of the trail hand to enter into adding energy to the swing, has a very significant 'potential error producing' effect, and one that if allowed to continue as a baseline, takes much more practice and lesson time to blend in with the distance and accuracy of the lead arm. In comparison, the 'dominant' lead arms shoulder complex and torque generating capabilities deliver adequate distance, but with MUCH LESS ERROR GENERATING movements.
My suggestion, start with a lead arm preference, measure the accuracy/repeatability and level of natural trail hand/arm participation, and add trail participation GRADUALLY until an elite capability IS REACHED.
i used to be much more right side, trying to feel like i was throwing the club like a baseball or something. but the club has a weight (and weight distribution) that makes it a much different animal. the state of my current research says the left side plays a much larger part than i previously cared to admit.
compare a hammer thrower to one of those tennis ball launcher things people use at dog parks. no way a hammer thrower could get that heavy thing out there without big help from the left side, while the tennis ball launcher could probably get away with being mostly (or all) right side.
compare a hammer thrower to one of those tennis ball launcher things people use at dog parks. no way a hammer thrower could get that heavy thing out there without big help from the left side, while the tennis ball launcher could probably get away with being mostly (or all) right side.
also, using the left side more has really seemed to help me get my low point forward on chips and pitches. when i was all right side, it felt like the whole stroke was a compensation in order to avoid hitting the ground before the ball.
Kevin Shields
Super Moderator
Very provocative statement.
As I mentioned I've read where Harry Vardon came up with his grip to take some of the right hand / arm out of the swing and to have them (hands / arms) work together more evenly as a unit.
I use a ten finger grip because of joint issues. If what Vardon said is true, would going to a Vardon grip take some of the right hand / arm out and help keep the right hand / arm less over-powering and taking over the swing?
Also, does anyone who uses the Vardon grip put the right hand pinkie on top of the left index fingers knuckle instead of in between the index and middle finger? I thought I read where there are variations of the Vardon grip that accomplish the same thing (keep the right hand / arm from taking over).
I use a ten finger grip because of joint issues. If what Vardon said is true, would going to a Vardon grip take some of the right hand / arm out and help keep the right hand / arm less over-powering and taking over the swing?
Also, does anyone who uses the Vardon grip put the right hand pinkie on top of the left index fingers knuckle instead of in between the index and middle finger? I thought I read where there are variations of the Vardon grip that accomplish the same thing (keep the right hand / arm from taking over).
Would this mean that the Vardon would then be bad news for the player who is naturally left hand dominant in the golf swing, and needs to feel more right hand to balance things out?
Maybe in that case the interlock would work better. My nephew is left handed, but swings right handed and uses the interlock. I wonder if anyone uses a reverse overlap which would take some of the dominance of the left handed player playing right handed?
The more research I do on on the Vardon grip it looks like Vardon and others of his time did put the right pinkie on top of the left index and not in-between the index and middle finger. That feels more comfortable for me.
It is interesting on the thoughts of the grip by Golfers of that era. Vardon and J.H Taylor believed the pressure points between the thumbs and index finers of each hand should be the firmest. Where-as today it's the last three fingers of the left and middle two of the right.
Anyway I'm going to give the Vardon grip a shot and see if it helps with my right hand / arm taking over so much in the swing.
How so?
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