chicken wing/Loss off distance

Question
QUESTION: Eddie,

thanks for your time first off, i have played for 12 years and at one time a 3 hdcp....i have developed an awful chicken wing with my left arm, it stays close to my body..it does not fly..this fault creates this awful low pull hook and loss of power...i usually hit a 7iron 155-160 yards and my driver 235-250 yards....now im lucky if i hit my 7 iron 140-145 and driver 215-220....i have video that shows my spine angle changing downward on the downswing....i belive that the main problem is weight transfer....because after impact i am still flat footed...my grip is neutral my normal ball flight is right to left.... How do i correct this? any help would be great!! Thanks

ANSWER: Hi Rich:

You gave me good info, but I just want to make sure you are asking about how to fix a chicken wing and the resulting loss of distance?  If this is your question, it's easy but it does take work.  First off, what is a chicken wing?  It results from a pulling motion with the left arm.  In golf, there should be no pulling motion, there should only be a swinging motion.  From the top of your backswing when you swing down towards the ball, your left arm is pulling the club across the ball and then you try to close the face to hit it solid.  The pulling across of the ball results in a loss of distance, a pull to the left and if the face is closing, a pull hook.  Simply put, to fix a chicken wing, you must allow your left arm to rotate during the swing and into the finish.  So to feel the proper movement of the left arm, hold your left arm straight out in front of you chest high, palm down.  Then, turn the palm of your left hand up towards the sky.  Notice how the left arm has to rotate to get this done?  That is what needs to happen during your golf swing.  So I would instruct you to take the logo on your glove, the knuckles on your left hand and your left forearm, and as you swing the club into and through impact and on into the follow through, allow the logo, knuckles and forearm to rotate down and over.  At belt high in the follow through, the logo would be facing the ground, the clubface would be turned over and the right hand would be over the top of the left hand.  This would produce a right to left ball flight (which you say you have now), but your clubface would be flush against the ball, which would increase distance and lower trajectory.  Use your hands and forearm (left) correctly and there is no more chicken wing.  Remember, a chicken wing results from a pulling motion.  Allow the rotation of the left arm to occur and it's physically impossible to chicken wing it.  Good luck.

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks again Eddie.....I have a very good friend of mine that lives in california By the Name of Bob E Smith...played on the tour and SR.Tour who probably has told me exactly what you said....how soon we forget!!!

I wanted to add that i also hit behind the ball quite often with my driver and 3 and 5 woods.....along with an occassional shank...now that you know my life story...would you add to your earlier answer?

Merry Christmas!!

Answer
Sure, it's all the same.  When you pull with the left arm, the only thing you can do to try to "hit" it is to incorrectly use your hands in an attempt to save it at the bottom, and it could very well lead to hitting it fat or shanking it.  With your woods, it's like drop kicking it...hitting behind the ball.  I would always encourage you to swing the club forward towards the target.  Sounds simple enough, but few golfers swing the club past the ball towards the target.  They try to just "hit at the ball".  From what you describe, that is what you do as well.  But, with practice and working on what I said earlier, you will understand this more and more.  Best of luck.

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member