One of the absolutes in golf - and what is taught - is a straight left arm. First lets define WHAT a straight left arm is AND isnt.

For the majority of people a left arm that hangs downward has an elbow joint. This joint has between 3 & 5 degrees of BEND in it. This is WHAT a straight left arm is.

Stretching - hyper extending - and LOCKING the elbow is NOT a straight left arm! All the golfer has done successfully is to INCREASE the radius from the left shoulder to the ground. This is a MAJOR cause of fat shots!

Harry Vardon WON the British Open six times playing with a bent left arm.

Calvin Peete won the Players Championship AND is the most accurate driver of the golf ball EVER! In 26 plus years of playing professional golf he hit ONE ball out of bounds! Calvins left arm was severly bent as a result of an accident as a young child which shattered his left elbow. Surgeons repaired the elbow, but it remained permanently fused so that Calvin could never fully straighten his arm.

Calvin won 11 times on Tour in a five year span - 12 events total -plus his Players Championship victory. He led the Tour in driving accuracy for 10 STRAIGHT years AND led the Tour in greens in regulation three times.

Another player that had huge success on the PGA Tour is Curtis Strange. Curtis won 17 times on Tour including winning the US Open back to back in 1988 and 1989.

Swing Gurus referred to Curtis left arm as soft.

Think of it this way, if you were to swing a piece of rope is it locked and taunt in the backstroke? Of course not! But what happens when you swing it to the ballit BECOMES a straight line!

Now Im not advocating that you intentionally bend your left arm BUT I am saying NOT to lock it thinking that is what straight is. The arms MUST feel like dangling ropes - loose. This will give you MORE power with LESS effort.

Remember, whatever angle your left arm hangs - loosely - just maintain it during the backstroke and let it come out by itself in the downstroke.