When swinging, get the right arm into the act in the proper way

It is often said that most high-handicap golfers have an underutilized left arm. They do not swing the left arm fully or strengthen the left forearm and hand.

But I suspect that many, on the contrary, suffer from an underutilized right arm. That is, they do not use the full right arm. Their right hand may be too dominant and so may overpower the left hand, but that is a different matter. It is not the hands I am talking about now but the arms.

Let me ask you a question:

Do you actually swing your upper right arm?

Or does it just lie there, following the left arm or the left shoulder, doing nothing much positive on its own?

With these questions in mind, I want to discuss the total role of the right arm.

1. The upper right arm MUST swing.

2. The elbow will bend naturally owing to the action of the swinging left arm.

3. The right forearm, during the waggle prior to swinging and also as the hands approach the line to the ball on the downswing, points toward the ball.

Because so much emphasis has been placed on the fact that the right arm is relaxed at the address, I fancy that too many golfers have forgotten all about it. Yet it has a vital role to play.

Try these two ideas and see what they do for you:

1. During your pre-swing waggle, trace the ''delivery line'' of the clubhead with the right forearm. That is, move the forearm along an in-to-out path.

2. When you swing, SWING the right upper arm. Feel that it is swinging along a line parallel to the line-of-aim. Free it. Let it MOVE.