As we head into the 2026 golf season, plenty of amateur golfers will be going through their preparations to tune up the swing and nail their fundamentals – but which are the commonly overlooked aspects which could hold the key to success this year?
Understanding how to get a straight left arm in your golf swing is a crucial lesson for golfers of all abilities, but many amateurs make one common mistake… failing to understand the relationship between the lead and the trail arm in the golf swing.
Avoid This Trail Arm Fault That Kills Your Lead Arm Position
Your lead arm will only be straight if the trail arm is folding at an appropriate rate. If the latter folds too much, the lead arm has to bend as both hands have hold of the grip.
If you imagine the lead shoulder is the centre point, the lead arm controls the swing radius.
If you fail to control the radius, and the lead arm has to extend in the downswing, you’ll lose the wrist angles early, which can lead to a number of common faults as you scramble to make decent contact.
If you keep the lead arm straighter throughout the swing, it simplifies everything down the line.
Ged Walters demonstrating the correct position of the trail arm at the halfway stage of the backswing which by cause and effect leads to the extension of the lead arm
(Image credit: Kevin Murray)
The golf grip also plays a crucial role in controlling the radius. If the club is too much in the palm of your hand, it will restrict your wrist angle and shorten your effective arm length, forcing the lead arm to bend in compensation.
The grip trainer in the image below is an inexpensive way to master this crucial area of the game by educating club golfers about the correct hand placement on the club.
Scottie Scheffler uses a very similar tool in…
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