Left Arm Pain

Question
Recently I have been experiencing increasing pain on the outer part of my left arm while playing golf.  The pain is progressive - it starts as a mild discomfort and builds throughout the round.  I haven't changed much in my swing lately except to be more balanced in my take-away and follow-through and strangely enough my drives have been straighter than ever and my iron shots have been steadily improving as well despite the increasing pain I have been experiencing.  The pain was so bad yesterday I had to stop playing after 13 holes.  This was after having played golf three times over a period of four days which is unusual for me in that I usually only play one or two times a week at most and most routinely just once.  Any ideas on what I could be doing to cause this?  I've been playing for many, many years steadily and this is the first time I have experienced this kind of problem.

Answer
Hi James:  Your problem is not uncommon and is usually caused by being less than fully extended at and through impact.  I'm going to assume you play right-handed because your left arm would develop soreness first.  Either your left wrist, left elbow or both is/are bend at impact.  I'm guessing it's your elbow.  This puts a strain on the tendons and muscles of your forearm because the shock of impact is absorbed in the bend joint rather than throughout the entire body.

Your change to improve your balance has resulted in a change in how you arrive at the ball at impact.  I would do this test; when you're ready to hit a shot, take your left hand off the club and let it dangle.  Let it go so limp that a slight breeze might make it sway.  If your hand swings away from you so that you have to pull it back to put your hand back on the grip, you're standing too close to the ball and cannot fully extend at impact.  You can also check this in front of a mirror or have someone else stand on your target line to see if your arms are hanging straight down from your shoulders at address.

Another possibility is in your attempt to stay balanced, you are not making a turn and pivot away from the ball.  This will cause you to get out in front of it too soon, preventing a full extension at impact.

Check these out and let me know how you make out.

Fairways and Greens,

John
www.golfnutts.com