Best Way to Practice Your Left Arm in the Backswing

Though golf is very much a two-handed game, with left and right working as one with as even strength as possible, the harder you make your left arm work in the backswing the better it will be.

• The beginner needs to develop the correct takeaway in order to produce a perfect backswing. Swing the club to hip height. The back of the left hand should face forward and the toe of the club directly upward. Feel your left thumb on top of the club Hinge up on the left thumb to form the backswing.

• The club should be supported on the left thumb at the top of the backswing. The grip should be constant, with the left hand in control without opening. For a useful exercise, trap a tee peg between the club and your hand and keep it there throughout the swing.

Practice these simple exercises

• The left thumb should be slightly down the side of the club. From here feel yourself swing the club round and onto the left thumb.
• Balance the club between the left index finger and the pad of your hand.
• Practice holding the club in your left hand only and swinging it across your body and up to the top of the backswing. Then swing it back down slowly but no further than your starting position. Twenty left-handed swings a day work wonders. Remember to keep breathing!
• Hold your left arm out in front of you, palm down, with your right hand holding your left elbow. Pull the left arm across your body to your right shoulder. Repeat this until you feel freedom in the shoulder.

• At the top of the backswing the left shoulder turns, rounding in towards the right one. This is very different from opening and turning the right shoulder away. This error usually produces an unwanted flying’ right elbow. Think of your backswing as being dominated by turning the left shoulder, swinging the left arm and supporting the club on the left thumb.

The typical fault of women beginners is to allow the clubface to look downward – a shut face as it is known – in the takeaway.