The Arms
Once the upper body is set, you will be left trying to figure out what the arms are doing during the setup. We will not concern ourselves with what anything does during the actually backswing yet. That will come soon enough. During the setup, though, the arms will have live tension in them as well.
Don’t grab a club yet, though. It will help to internalize the setup of the arms in relation to the body before you ever grab a club to go swing and hit golf balls.
Hang the arms from the shoulders
One of the easiest, if not the easiest, way to get into the incorrect position at the setup is to stand to far away from the ball. It is very possible to stand too close, but it is more common to err on the side of standing too far away. The arms should hang down from the shoulders. Like the misconceptions about the back, don’t concern yourself now with trying to “pinch your shoulder blades back to open up your chest” during the setup or any similar drills. It will cause unnecessary tension during the setup that will never lead to a consistent swing.
If you are a trained athlete who has ingrained his setup since birth, maybe pinching the shoulder blades together does not cause tension, but for those building a swing from scratch, let the arms hang down. Of course I must caution against slouching, but if you have properly bent your upper torso from the waist, the arms will hang exactly where they should be.
Upper Arms
Although we are not talking about the backswing yet, two important things should be noted about the upper arms. The first is this: adhere the arms from the elbows up as tightly as you can to the upper part of your chest. Try to build up a considerable amount of tension so that someone “would have to exert a great amount of force to pry them off of your chest.”
Schooling yourself now to build this tension during the setup will make the entire swing run on automatic, but only once this habit has become second nature.
Pinching the Arms Together
The second thing that should be noted about the arms is the during the setup, the elbows of the arms should feel tied together and put as close to each other as is humanly possible, and this feeling should remain constant throughout the swing. As practice, imagine holding a club at address and practice pushing the elbows as close together as you can. They should not touch, but you will begin to school the correct feeling that should be present during the correct setup position.
When you form this habit, the arms will begin to feel and work as though they are one unit. Again, learning this will make the entire swing run on automatic, but only once this habit has become second nature. With enough practice, it will.
Checkpoints for the arms:
1. Let the arms hang down from your shoulders. Don’t attempt to “pinch the shoulder blades together”
2. Adhere the arms from the elbows up as close to the upper chest as is possible.
3. Pinch the elbows of the arms as close together as possible.
4. For now, keep working on these setup lessons and do not swing a club or hit balls at all.
