Alligator Arms?

Alligator arms - The affliction of shortening your arms during the golf swing at impact. Now I'm not sure that you will find this definition in Websters Dictionary but you will certainly find it across golf courses and driving ranges everywhere. What's the cause of this affliction? Most likely when a players make their target the golf ball, the player's body will react to that target changing the angle of their spine dropping down to the ball.. This leaves only one thing to do, shorten the arms. During the golf swing the the club moves in a circular fashion and anything moving in a circular fashion will create centrifugal force. By maintaining focus on our original target instead of making the ball our target we can allow our arms to relax and let centrifugal force take over. This action will allow more speed in the club head, a downward angle of approach that will compress the golf ball, generating more distance. Secondly, by maintaining focus on the original intended target are club will move on the desired plane resulting in more accurate shots. So if you have been a victim of "Alligator arms" explore the feeling of extension in your arms, and remember the secret to golf is being aware of your target while you swing.

Last week I was interviewed by a local radio show and was asked what we can do during these cold winter months to keep growing our game. This is the perfect time to raise your awareness of trust and concentration. This time of year the air is cold and damp, the ball is not going to go very far, so don't worry about distance. And no one is on the range so you can forget about anyone watching how good you are...it's perfect! How can we work on concentration?

Try starting with the shaft of the club, and make swings until you are able to remain focused on where the shaft is throughout the entire swing. Recognize when you lose your connection to the shaft, what is interfering with your concentration, and then start again. Take this exercise to parts of your body; hands, feet, spine angle, etc. Once you're able to concentrate and know where you are in relationship to the swing then and only then can we get to where we want to be. What about trust?

When we trust something our physiology changes and our muscles become more relaxed. When we don't trust something then our muscles will become tense. To raise your awareness of trust, make a swing and observe what muscles are tensing up. Then make swings with the intention of relaxing that muscle. Trust your self that your body will react to your intention.

Remember outcome is not important during these exercises. Recognising interference and tension is the goal so that our bodies have something to learn from making us more trusting, focused golfers.