Ball Striking Principle *2: A consistent long radius to your arc. Part 2/4)

If we accept that the golf is swing primarily a circular motion then it would make sense to keep the club head on the very perimetre of that circle. This not only is a feature of creating power but is vital for ball striking consistency.
If the arms get drawn toward us at the top of the swing then they are no longer on the arc which means that they will have to be outstretched again to make contact with ball. This in/out movement is a huge calculation for your brain to make mid downswing and inevitably leads to topped and fat shots.

Straight left arm
This topic is some what covered by golfers trying to "keep their left arm straight". This is not the best way to think about this for a number of reasons.

• Not everyone has the flexibility to keep the lead arm locked out. A really straight left arm would lead most golfers to becoming very tight and stiff in their movement
• The left arm is only straight during the backswing and prior to impact where shortly afterwards it rotates and folds allowing the right arm to dominate and straighten.

This is a video taken from the 'Everyday Golf Coach' app that explains the concept and demonstrates a great drill that will help you maintain your radius all the way around your swing.

Keeping your hands away from your body will more than likely mean that you shorten your swing. As odd as this may feel you will need to trust that it will in time, bring more distance. 

Ball Striking Principle *2: A consistent low point of your arc. Part 1/4)

Achieving a consistent, powerful contact on the ball is very much down to you being able to accurately predict where the arc of your club head will bottom out. Once again, here is Mile Bennett of "Stack and Tilt' demonstrating this skill perfectly.

This level of accuracy and control requires a number of principles falling into place.

1. Dynamic Posture: Holding posture angles throughout the swing
2. Consistent Swing Radius: Keeping your hands stretched away from your body until late in the follow through
3. Centre Point: Keeping your body from moving laterally in the back swing
4. Arm Dynamics: Unwinding the arms,wrists and club head at the correct time and in sync with the body 

This is partly why golf coaching can get a little messy at times. The pupil is normally after a relatively 'quick fix"but until all these principles are mastered the ball striking will be a little unpredictable and heavily reliant on timing.

Dynamic Posture:
 This is the principle of simply holding your posture angles until well after impact during the swing. This screen grab is taken from the Everyday Golf Coach app where I explain this concept in more detail and demonstrate the 'x' drill to create a powerful pivot motion of the body while staying in posture. The images represent a still at address position (top right), back swing and impact (main still). A useful thought is to imagine that your back side is touching a wall and must remain touching until after impact. This would keep you from standing up out of your posture prematurely.

This is a tricky move to master but is absolutely essential. If you are just starting out then I would recommend putting a few hours in on the range to get this right. It will take a lot of concentration initially but like all movement patterns, once fully learnt it will eventually happen without any conscious attention on your part.