How to Fix a Bent Lead Arm in Your Golf Swing: 4 Drills for Home, Range, or Course

Any golfer who wants to improve their consistency needs to monitor their left arm and ensure it’s not bending.

The second your lead arm bends is when your club starts to veer off its optimal path. This causes errant shots and poor contact.

Not enough amateurs and even intermediate golfers address this issue. It’s a relatively easy way to improve ball striking, ultimately lowering your scores.

Use the tips and drills below to make yourself aware of how your left arm operates in your swing. If you find it needs some improvement, utilize the drills for both the driving range and at home to start working on it immediately.

Key Takeaways

Not everyone has as much time as they’d like to work on their game. If you’re in a rush, commit these key takeaways to memory.

• Focus on torso and hip rotation instead of just using arms, which causes the lead arm to bend.
• Create a wide arc with optimal wrist hinge throughout the swing to prevent the left arm from bending.
• Improve overall flexibility with golf-specific exercises like lunge rotation.
• Use half and full backswing drills to monitor arm and wrist positions. Use a mirror if you don’t have Hackmotion.
• The left arm and wrist should be straight throughout the swing to encourage proper swing plane and consistent ball striking.

Why the Bent Left Arm Hurts Your Swing

Your left arm, or lead arm, can hurt your swing because it directly affects how you make contact with the ball.

Your left arm represents your swing plane. By bending it, you throw the club head off plane and will have to make adjustments mid-swing to get it back on track and through the impact zone.

The straighter you can keep your left arm at impact, the more effective your golf swing plane will be, increasing your chances of solid contact.

Proven Tips on How to Fix a Bent Left Arm

Straightening a bent left arm is a bit more complex than just keeping it straight.

Use these tips to effectively straighten your left arm in the hopes of improving your ball striking right away.

Focus on Body Rotation

Many amateurs swing with only their arms, which causes the left arm to bend. Focusing on rotating your torso and hips will automatically encourage your left arm to stay straight.

You can use less arms by ensuring your shirt buttons and belt buckle start the swing. If those two things move, the rest of your body, including your arms, will follow.

Your body will naturally want to keep a straight left arm to stay on plane.

Focus on Better Wrist Hinge

For those who already rotate well, the issue may lie in a more subtle area of the golf swing. Bending the left arm causes inconsistency and reduces power because it expends all the potential energy built up.

Improving and optimizing your wrist hinge can help maintain this potential power and keep your left arm straight for better ball striking.

• Use a mirror or Hackmotion to set wrists early in the back swing.
• Maintain the hinge with full extension of the left arm.
• At the top of the swing, your left arm should be straight, and your wrists should be hinged while not being cupped or bowed.
• Use your left side to pull your hands down to the ball.
• Only release wrists at or just after impact.

Improve Flexibility

Being more flexible and having more responsive muscles will make it easier to keep your left arm straight in your golf swing.

At-Home Routines

• Side-Step Rotation – Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, cross your arms across your chest, and take a lateral step while mimicking your golf rotation with your torso and lower body.
• Hip Hinge for Hamstrings – Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, let your arms hang in front, holding a golf club parallel to the ground. Slowly bend at the hips, lowering the club to your shoe laces while feeling the stretch in your hamstrings.
• Lunge Rotation – Lunge forward while rotating. This is a bit more strenuous but will strengthen every important muscle in your swing.
• Walk – Simply walking can loosen your body and get the blood flowing, making your muscles more responsive.

Pre-Rounds Routine

• Half Lunge Rotation – Take a small step forward with your arms across your chest. Rotate in both directions slowly and deliberately to stretch your shoulders.
• Forearm Flex – Extend one arm straight out in front of you with your palm facing out and your fingers straight up. Use your other hand to pull your fingers backward, stretching your forearm gently.
• Reverse Lunge Overhead – Take a step forward with your right leg and rotate your torso to the right while extending your left arm straight up in the air. This will loosen your entire upper body and make keeping your left arm straight much easier.

Push Down on Your Grip

To engage your wrists while simultaneously preventing a bend in your left arm, feel like you’re pushing down with your left hand during the back swing.

You can see exactly how well you’re doing this with Hackmotion. The app will display exactly how much your wrists bend and in which direction.

As you engage your wrists and push down, your left arm will be forced to stay straight. While practicing this, just ensure your head and spine angle remain still. Everyone tends to dip their head while pushing down at first.

• Video Timestamp: 1:09 – 3:16

Effective Drills to Practice Arm Connection

While there are no specific drills to address a bent left arm, here are a few drills that will encourage it while also helping with other aspects of ball striking.

Halfway Backswing Check

To ensure your left arm stays straight from the beginning, you can perform this drill at the start of any practice session or round.

If you can’t keep the left arm straight for a full swing shot, break the swing down into pieces and start with a half swing.

Wearing your HackMotion while working on this drill will give you data to work with and check your progress.

• Video Timestamp: 2:53 – 4:03

Combined Top Drill

This is a great drill you can do even if you’re on the course and feel your swing out of alignment. You can ensure your left arm is straight, on the right plane, and with a neutral wrist to control the club face.

This drill is specifically designed in the Hackmotion app and is synced to the sensors to warn you if your left wrist and arm start to bend. You can still do this drill without Hackmotion; however, it will be a little less precise.

Ruler Drill

This drill is an excellent drill for those who need more physical feedback. With the addition of a ruler or short alignment stick, you can easily identify if your left arm bends.

This works great for beginners to really feel the correct sensation when making the first move away from the ball.

This drill also doubles as a wrist flex indicator. You’ll only be able to flex your wrist in one direction, the correct direction.

• Video Timestamp: 6:05 – 8:29

Horizontal “Baseball” Rehearsal Drill

For anyone new to golf, this is a great drill to identify the correct upper body rotation while maintaining a straight left arm.

Even if you’re not a beginner, this drill could be used as part of the perfect golf warm-up routine to get the blood flowing without causing too much strain.

Its genius is in its simplicity, and it can also be used with Hackmotion for accurate feedback on how you move compared to how you should move.

Final Thoughts

The importance of keeping the left arm straight is often overlooked. Many people mention it, but don’t exactly know why, and more importantly, they don’t know how to fix it.

The drills and tips above specifically address this issue and help to understand the role that a straight left arm plays.

Hackmotion monitors even the smallest movements within the swing to provide instant and detailed feedback. Use your practice time wisely by addressing your left arm bend and maintaining the correct positions throughout your swing.