Rotate your left forearm to gain more distance

By Kim Jeong-kyoo

Korea Times Golf Columnist

A good posture, combined with a proper grip, enables a great swing. A great swing just happens. You cannot create a great swing with strenuous in-swing efforts. Once you’ve gripped your club and addressed the ball, you’ve already decided the fate of your shot.

To launch big, booming drives, you need to release your clubhead fully. To this end, you need to set up correctly like a weight lifter. Adopting a weight lifter’s posture helps you turn your body effectively and swing your arms correctly. You’ll turn your shoulders and hips properly, rotating your arms effectively.

Undoubtedly, your arm rotation helps you square your clubface and speed up your club to the full through your ball. This allows you to hit the ball straight and far to your satisfaction.

To rotate your arms correctly, you need to set up properly. Stand over your ball comfortably. Tilt your upper body forward so your arms hang freely, with your hands under your chin. Imagine you’re a weight lifter in the Olympics and in position ready to perform weight lifting. Once you’ve set up correctly, just focus on rotating your left forearm clockwise going back and counter-clockwise coming down.

You’d better start swinging your club back with the outside muscles of your left forearm pushing your clubhead. This sets up natural forearm rotation, allowing your club to work on plane. This also helps you rotate your shoulders and hips, presenting more chances of completing your backswing. You’ll eventually create an ideal swing arc, coiling your body fully every time you swing.

Forearm rotation on the backswing helps you react naturally on the downswing so you can rotate your forearms properly. That will allow you to square or slightly close your clubface when your club meets your ball.

Amateur golfers have a tendency to rotate their left hand instead of their left forearm. Employing your left hand plays havoc with your ability to control your swing. You need to turn your left forearm rather than your left hand both going back and coming down. To ensure consistency, you need to keep your hands staying quiet or passive throughout your swing.

Using your hands and wrists excessively, you’ll have trouble hitting the ball consistently. This also decreases your overall swing arc, preventing you from hitting your ball as far as you want. You’d better let your hands simply hold your club during the entire swing.

Adopt a neutral or just a touch strong grip. Grip your club so both your left-hand back and your right-hand palm match the face of your club. Too strong a grip causes your club to work back too much inside of your target line. Too weak a grip pushes your club to go outside the target line. Also, too weak a grip leaves your clubface open when your club meets the ball, inflicting slices on your game.

Critically, you need to hold your club mostly with the last two or three fingers of your left hand. Grip your club chiefly with your pinkie, ring finger and middle finger.

You may fear you will leave your clubface excessively open if you rotate your left forearm. However, you don't need to worry. Rotating your left forearm going back, you’ll naturally rotate it back coming down. You’ll hit your ball with the clubface aligned squarely or slightly closed.

Often, neglecting to rotate your left forearm causes your club to move on too upright a plane. This can push you to come over the top, swinging your club from outside to inside the target line. Also, failing to turn your forearm can cause you to tilt your body left toward the target into a reverse pivot.

It is a myth that you need to raise your hands high above your head to complete a proper backswing. You’d better feel the inside of your left forearm facing the ground at the top. This shows you’ve correctly rotated your left arm and swung your club on plane.

For a good backswing, you need to let your left forearm rotate in the same degree as your shoulders turn. Importantly, you need to keep rotating until the top of your left shoulder hits against your chin.

The three most common causes contributing to the failure of enough forearm rotation include weak left-hand grip, too close a distance from the ball and too tight a grip pressure.

An excessively weak left-hand grip prevents you from rotating your left arm enough through your shot. This makes it hard to deliver your clubface squarely at the ball. This deprives you of every chance of hitting your ball far and straight. Let the V created by your left thumb and forefinger point to your right ear or right shoulder.

Similarly, standing too close to your ball can cause your chin to bury against your chest. This inhibits your shoulder turn, making it hard to rotate your forearms. At address, you need to create at least a full hand's width between the butt end of your club and your left thigh.

Also, to create enough space between your club and your left thigh, stick your rear end out like a weight lifter. Letting your rear end protrude helps you keep your spine straight, allowing you to bend correctly forward from your hips. Steer clear of arching your back or foregoing enough forward bend from your hip-sockets. That way you’ll have more chances of moving your arms and shoulders properly.

Namely, sticking your bottom out makes it easier to get your arms to hang down naturally from your shoulders. This helps you create enough room between your chin and chest. With enough space between your chin and chest, you can turn your arms and shoulders freely. You’ll eventually release your club fully through the ball.

Also, to enjoy powerful forearm rotation, you need to avoid gripping your club too tightly. Too tight a grip makes it hard to remain relaxed. This prevents you from rotating your forearms and clubface as you swing through your ball. Make sure you loosen your grip on your club at address. Importantly, avoid tightening your grip during your entire swing. Typically, you’ll wrongly increase your grip pressure when you change your direction from backswing to downswing.

To learn to rotate your left forearm properly, stand upright and make a level swing of your arms back and through. Swinging this way, try to feel your arms rotate automatically. Then, grab a club and repeat the same swing several times.

Now, take your normal address posture and swing your club, feeling the same rotation of your forearms. Finally, tee up a ball and hit it. That way you’ll turn your forearms naturally, hitting your ball farther and straighter. You’ll feel as though you rotate your left arm much like a tennis player aiming to hit a backhand.

Succinctly, rotate your left forearm going back. Make sure the toe of your club is pointing straight up waist-high, where your club shaft gets parallel to the ground. You need to start turning your left forearm about hip-high on the downswing. Granted, you need to keep rotating your left arm through your shot and all the way to your finish.

To do this properly, just imagine you’re carrying out a karate chop move as you start your downswing. That allows you to rotate your left forearm at a timely moment without a deliberate effort.

That also allows you to begin your downswing with a slight lateral shift of your body. You’ll move your left knee and hip over your left foot. That forward movement drops your arms so you can slot your club into a downswing path.

Picturing a karate chop, you’ll return your right elbow in front of your right hip effortlessly. Also, you’ll keep your belt buckle pointing at your ball, with your shoulders remaining closed to the target.

Imagining a karate chop also helps you resist the urge to throw your club from the top. You’ll automatically preserve the 90-degree wrist angle longer until you hit your ball.

Critically, you will keep your head staying behind your ball until well after you hit your ball.

If the karate chop move feels uncomfortable, you may imagine you’re playing tennis and hitting a backhand with your left hand.

Finish your swing in balance with your right shoulder closer to your target than other parts of your body. This shows you’ve turned your body properly through your shot or released your club fully. Let your weight shift into your left heel, with your right heel off the ground. Make sure your right foot sits on your big toe, your belt buckle pointing a touch left of your target.

Finally, don’t forget to fix your mind’s eye on your target during the entire swing. Golf is a target game. You need to send your ball to your intended target. Avoid being obsessed with your forearm rotation or other parts of your swing. If you do, you’ll rotate your left forearm to hit your faraway target with less effort.