Left Arm Bend: The Difference Between PGA Tour Players and Amateurs
We get questions about the left arm (or right arm for you lefties) during the swing… should it stay straight or should it bend? Many times our amateur clients have been told they “collapse” at the top, so they try the opposite of collapsing, which is keeping that left arm ram-rod straight. Well… neither is going to help your swing.
Let’s take a look at how the pros do it.
The LPGA Tour is kicking off its 2026 season this week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, and the pros are dealing with something most Florida golfers rarely face: freezing temperatures.
“It’s colder here than in the UK at the minute, which is a first,” said England’s Charley Hull during Wednesday’s media day at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Even Lydia Ko, who lives at Lake Nona, seemed surprised by the cold snap. “We’re pretty much getting to below zero in celsius here, which maybe in other parts of the country they would be thankful, but when you’re in Florida it is a little bit of a surprise,” she said.
If the world’s best players are adjusting their games for cold weather, recreational golfers should, too. Here’s how to play smart when the mercury drops.
Understand What Cold Does to Your Game
Before you change anything, you need to know what you’re fighting against. Cold air is denser than warm air, which means your ball won’t fly as far. Period.
Hull noticed this immediately during practice rounds at Lake Nona. She mentioned hitting a gap wedge into the 18th hole during a previous win but needing a 4-iron during Tuesday’s practice round. That’s a difference of four or five clubs for the same shot.
Action item: Expect to lose 5-10 yards on every club in your bag when temperatures dip below 50 degrees. Plan accordingly and don’t be stubborn about club selection.
Layer Up Without Restricting Your Swing
Hull admitted she wore three pairs of pants during practice. While that might be extreme for most of us, staying warm is critical to playing well in cold conditions.
Your muscles need warmth to function properly. When you’re cold, your body tightens up and your swing gets shorter and faster. Neither of those things help you hit good golf shots.
Action item: Wear multiple thin layers instead of one bulky jacket. Look for golf-specific cold weather gear that stretches with your swing. Keep hand warmers in your pockets between shots. And don’t forget a good hat because you lose significant body heat through your head.
Take More Club Than You Think You Need
This is where ego gets in the way of good scores. When it’s cold, the ball doesn’t compress as well off the clubface. Combined with denser air, you’re looking at serious distance loss.
The pros at Lake Nona are dealing with a course that measures 6,642 yards but plays much longer this week. If they’re adjusting, you should too.
Action item: Take at least one extra club on every approach shot. In temperatures below 40 degrees, consider taking two extra clubs. It’s better to fly the ball to the back of the green than to come up short in a bunker.
Adjust Your Expectations on the Greens
Cold weather affects putting in ways most golfers don’t consider. The ball is harder and doesn’t roll as smoothly. Your hands are cold, making it harder to feel the putter. And if there’s any moisture on the greens, they’ll be slower than normal.
Ko mentioned that she still sometimes reads the greens wrong at Lake Nona despite being a member for years. Cold weather makes that challenge even tougher.
Action item: Hit putts more firmly than usual. The ball needs extra speed to hold its line on cold greens. Take a few extra practice strokes to get a feel for the speed before you putt.
Embrace the Mental Challenge
Hull said something interesting about cold weather golf: “I like the mental toughness of it.”
That’s the right attitude. Everyone on the course is dealing with the same conditions. The player who stays patient and doesn’t get frustrated by the extra difficulty will come out ahead.
Action item: Lower your expectations by a few strokes. If you normally shoot 85, accept that 90 might be a good score in 40-degree weather. Focus on solid contact and smart decisions rather than perfect shots.
Warm Up Longer and Smarter
This might be the most important tip of all. Cold muscles are tight muscles, and tight muscles get injured easily.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul revealed she’s been protecting a wrist injury that bothered her late last season. Cold weather makes those kinds of injuries more likely if you don’t prepare properly.
Action item: Spend at least 20 minutes warming up before your round. Start with stretching, then hit easy wedge shots before working up to your driver. Keep moving between shots on the course to maintain body heat and flexibility.
The pros at Lake Nona this week will adapt and compete at the highest level despite the cold. You can do the same at your local course by following these tips and keeping a positive attitude.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, and whether you love him or hate him, the guy knows how to win when it matters. After his LIV Golf stint, the five-time major champion returns this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
What makes Koepka fascinating? He doesn’t fit the mold. His swing isn’t textbook. He doesn’t obsess over mechanics. Yet he’s won three PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens, regularly making it look easier than guys with prettier swings.
So, what can average golfers learn from someone who treats the game so differently? Quite a bit.
Stop Overthinking Every Shot
Koepka describes his approach as “reactionary” rather than mechanical. While most tour pros grind over swing thoughts, Brooks sees the target and hits it. No mental checklist.
This might be the most valuable lesson for weekend golfers who’ve watched too many YouTube swing videos.
How to actually do this:
On the range, hit five balls where you stare at the target for three seconds prior to addressing the ball. Don’t think about grip or stance. Just burn that target into your brain. You’ll be shocked at how pure you hit it when your brain focuses on where the ball is going instead of how you’re swinging.
Next time you play, give yourself a rule: Once you pull the club, you’ve got 15 seconds to hit. Koepka is one of the fastest players on tour because he doesn’t give his brain time to sabotage him.
If you feel tension in your hands at address, you’re trying to control too much. Koepka’s grip pressure is famously light. Loosen up until the club almost feels like it might slip, then add just enough pressure to hold on. That’s your swing thought: soft hands, see the target.
This approach works better under pressure. When you’re standing over that shot with water left and OB right, the last thing you need is a mental checklist. See it, feel it, hit it.
Play to Your Strengths (Even If They’re Not Pretty)
Koepka uses a strong grip that wouldn’t pass muster in some teaching circles. But he’s built his game around what works for him, elite driving distance and recovery skills. He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not.
Here’s how to build your game like Brooks:
Look at your last five rounds and figure out where you’re actually gaining strokes. Bombing it off the tee, but can’t hit greens? Lean into it. Play courses where distance matters more than precision. On tight holes, grip down on your 3-wood instead of trying to thread a driver through a keyhole you’ll miss seven times out of ten.
Koepka knows he can scramble, so he’s not afraid to miss greens. If you’re deadly from 50 to 75 yards, start leaving yourself those distances on the par 5’s instead of going for them in two every time.
Know when to take your medicine. Koepka in the trees at the PGA? He’s punching out to 100 yards, not trying to bend a 6-iron around three oaks. You’re in the rough with a flyer lie and water short? Hit your 8-iron to the middle and move on. That’s not playing scared, that’s playing smart.
Save Your Best for When It Counts
Here’s a wild stat: Koepka’s putting average in majors is often more than a full stroke better per round than in regular events. He elevates when pressure is highest.
How does an amateur tap into that gear? It’s not about trying harder, it’s about caring differently.
Here’s what actually works:
Decide which rounds matter to you. Club championship? Member-guest? That annual trip with college buddies? Circle those dates and treat them differently. Koepka doesn’t care much about regular tour events, but majors? That’s when he locks in.
Two weeks before your big round, change your practice. Stop beating balls mindlessly. Play nine holes in which every shot has consequences. Miss the fairway? Hit from the rough on the next hole too. Three-putt? Twenty push-ups. Koepka’s practice intensity ramps up before majors because he’s rehearsing pressure, not just swings.
Develop a between-shot routine that resets your brain. Koepka is famous for his blank expression after bad shots. Try this: After any shot, take three deep breaths while walking, then find something specific to notice, a tree, a cloud, someone’s shirt. That’s your reset button. By the time you reach your ball, the last shot is gone.
The Bottom Line
Brooks Koepka’s return reminds us there’s no single path to success in golf. His “substance over style” approach proves that results matter more than looking good.
You don’t need a perfect swing; you need a reliable one that holds up under pressure. You don’t need to hit every shot in the book; you need the shots you can count on. And you don’t need to play great every time; you need to play great when it matters.
Welcome back, Brooks. Thanks for the reminder that golf is ultimately about getting the ball in the hole, not winning style points.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Blades Brown made a big impression last week in the California desert, and not just because he’s only 18. He put up numbers that would catch any weekend golfer’s attention. Most of us won’t hit 317-yard drives or find 86% of our greens in regulation, but there’s a lot to learn from how Brown managed his game at The American Express.
Here are three practical lessons from his performance that you can use on your own course this weekend.
Step 1: Give Priority to Accuracy Over Distance Off The Tee
Brown’s driving stats are impressive. He averaged almost 318 yards off the tee, ranking 12th in the field. More importantly, he hit 76.79% of his fairways, tying for fourth place in the tournament.
Think about that ratio for a second. Brown could have swung harder, chased more distance and tried to overpower the course. Instead, he played smart golf and kept his ball in play.
Your Action Item: Next time you’re on the tee box, ask yourself a simple question before pulling the driver. Do you need maximum distance here, or do you need to be in the fairway? If there’s trouble lurking or the hole doesn’t demand every yard you can muster, take something off your swing. Grip down an inch. Make a three-quarter swing. Do whatever it takes to find the short grass. Brown’s approach illustrates that fairways lead to greens, and greens lead to birdies. He made 22 of them last week, along with an eagle.
The math is simple. When you’re hitting three out of every four fairways like Brown did, you’re giving yourself legitimate looks at the green with your approach shots. That’s when scoring happens.
Step 2: Commit To Hitting More Greens
This is where Brown really separated himself. He hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation, an 86.11% clip that tied for first in the entire field. Read that again. An 18-year-old kid tied for the lead in one of the most important ball-striking statistics in professional golf.
How did he do it? By keeping his ball in the fairway (see Step 1) and giving himself clean looks with mid-irons and wedges.
Your Action Item: Start tracking your greens in regulation. You don’t need a fancy app or a statistics degree. Just mark down whether you hit the green in the regulation number of strokes. Par 3s in one shot. Par 4s in two shots. Par 5s in three shots.
Once you know your baseline, set a goal to improve it by 10%. If you’re currently hitting five greens per round, aim for six. The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to think strategically about club selection and shot shape. Brown’s strokes gained approach number was positive (0.179), meaning he was better than the field average. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be on the dance floor more often.
When you hit more greens, you eliminate the need for heroic short game shots. Brown only had to scramble 10 times all week, and he got up and down 70% of the time. That’s solid, but the real story is that he rarely put himself in scrambling situations to begin with.
Step 3: Minimize Mistakes And Stay Patient
Here’s the stat that jumps off the page: Brown made only three bogeys all week. Three. In four rounds of professional golf against the best players in the world.
He also made just one double bogey. That kind of clean card doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you play within yourself, avoid the big miss and trust that pars are never bad scores.
Your Action Item: Before your next round, decide that you’re going to play boring golf. No hero shots over water. No driver on tight holes just because you can. No aggressive pins when there’s a safe side of the green.
Brown’s performance shows us that consistency beats flash every single time. He didn’t lead the field in any single strokes gained category, but he was solid across the board. That’s how you post numbers and cash checks.
Give these three steps a try. Your scorecard will thank you.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
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Stephen Finley
Jan 16, 2018 at 7:41 pm
This can simply be the difference between less tension or rigidity (in the pro) versus more tension and rigidity, not to mention a misconception from the get-go. I used to teach, and I never told anybody to keep a ramrod-straight left arm. I used to talk about “comfortably extended” at most, but really I didn’t even want people thinking about it. Better to think about the curvature of the arc, path and plane, and being reasonably wide, with the body supporting the motion of the arms and club. You’ll notice in the sequence in the video, the takeaway shot of pro versus amateur (2:29) already shows the pro’s shoulders and upper body supporting the swinging away of the arms and club better than the amateur’s.
Jim
Jan 10, 2018 at 11:34 am
The analysis is interesting but has no instructional value. The reason is that the best ball strikers and longest hitters on tour all straighten their left arm at impact and also extend the left arm down the line after impact. Examples include Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson, Tiger, and Jason Day. There is simply no other way to achieve maximum power and consistency. Some players with superior timing do well with bent left arms at impact (eg, Lee Westwood and Jordan Speith) but in doing so sacrifice distance and accuracy. The importance of a straight left arm at impact is nothing new: Bobby Jones, Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus all talked about it.
Deez
Dec 21, 2017 at 3:44 pm
This stuff is awesome. Whether the commenters would like to admit it or not, even in a sport almost completely based on skill, there are still genetic/physical limitations that hold back your potential. The more you can learn about the how the best players in the world move bio-mechanically, the easier it should be to realize what physical limitations might be causing your swing flaws.
AMG
Dec 21, 2017 at 5:37 pm
Thanks, Deez. The intent with this series was to finish with a large collection of comparison swing elements as a broad reference to the difference between how the best do it and what we can apply to our own swings when applicable. Thanks for watching!
JimN
Dec 20, 2017 at 6:59 pm
I think you may be focusing on the wrong arm. I see a greater difference in the right elbow than the left. For me, that flying right elbow puts me in a great position to ‘arm wrestle’ my shot into submission, typically ending in a nasty hook.
AMG
Dec 21, 2017 at 5:35 pm
The right arm is definitely important, Jim. The guys GolfWRX already have our right arm video which should be released in the next week or two. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment!
DaveyD
Dec 20, 2017 at 9:58 am
Regardless of what 3D models show, if my swing works for me, it’s largely based on what my body lets me do. I’m not interested in getting injured just because I decided to move my arm angle a few degrees because of videos like this.
MarkH
Dec 15, 2017 at 10:41 am
The Difference?
Amateurs have homemade swings… most pros had and still have swing coaches.
James
Dec 14, 2017 at 9:41 am
AMG?? That logo???? How have you not gotten a cease and desist order from MB? Blatant ripoff.
Anthony
Dec 9, 2017 at 5:58 am
This is BS. It completely depends on the golfer and how it affects delivery etc!
Mark
Dec 20, 2017 at 2:50 am
Anthony this guy is the definition of simple minded. Many many different functional matchups to play golf at a high level.
Nutz
Dec 21, 2017 at 3:52 pm
Simple minded? The vast majority of players on the PGA tour are in very similar positions throughout the swing. There’s a reason Furyk is known for having a weird backswing; cause its not common among the best players in the world. But even in Furyk’s case I would be willing to bet that halfway through the downswing he looks like almost every other player on the PGA tour.
Fact is there are certain positions you need to be in during the swing to be a VERY good golfer. You can either accept it and try to change, or just accept mediocrity
Someone
Dec 8, 2017 at 5:10 pm
I think there is a very huge difference at 2:30 at the top of the swing. part of the reason the am has more elbow bend is because you can clearly see how much wrist hinge is in the left hand. The pro is only holding and maintaining the angle on the way up where as the am is taking it inside and tight; you can also tell that the am is taking it basin them based on how much the right arm is bending and folding BEHIND him, whereas the pro still has it rather outside his body.
If i had to guess, with the lack of hinge at the top that maybe the pro was jason day…It is similar to jb holmes at the top where he is just holding the angle rather than making it smaller, but i wouldn’t say it’s holmes simply because holmes doesn’t take the club back as far. But just my guess…
Anyhow, i think the wrist hinge plays a huge role in whether or not the left arm can remain “straight” throughout the swing. it seems obvious that keeping it straight is not true since there is obviously some bending going on here. perhaps the “keep the left arm straight” was a lesson from old teaching days where they knew they couldn’t keep their arm straight but by consciously trying to do so, it would get their left arm in a better position through the entire swing. They didn’t have the same equipment we have these days, so it makes sense how t could be a possible explanation for the “left arm straight” guidance.
AMG
Dec 14, 2017 at 1:56 am
Well said.
Bob Jones
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:29 pm
Let your left arm hang straight down. That is its natural shape. Now keep that shape when you address the ball and throughout your swing. No need to make it ramrod straight like Ben Hogan made his. It’s YOUR left arm, do what’s natural with it for you.
Tom54
Dec 8, 2017 at 2:07 pm
Funny how your amateur you chose to depict says he is making it a point to keep his left arm straight throughout his swing. Maybe that’s why it’s hyper extended before impact. Trying to keep it straight tightens the shoulder. Maybe that’s why his impact looks so different. I didn’t see as much of a chicken wing as described. I think some bending is natural as long as it’s not too severe. Nice to see the subtle differences though in your video
Mr. Divot
Dec 8, 2017 at 1:06 pm
Good video. Shows me what I need to adjust. Appreciated. I noticed a big difference in their wrist positions at the top of the swing too. Bottom of the pro’s wrist seemed much more inline with the bottom of his forearm, where as the Amateur cocked his wrist perhaps in an effort to get his club further back. Would you agree with this?
JTG
Dec 8, 2017 at 11:27 am
So now that we know we need to keep the left arm straighter…. how do we make that happen? IS there a follow up that shows exercises or drills to help? Or is that just a point of information?
AMG
Dec 8, 2017 at 5:02 pm
We have an entire series of drills planned to release throughout the winter.
Chris
Dec 7, 2017 at 4:28 pm
Lee Westwood?
AMG
Dec 7, 2017 at 4:43 pm
No sir, not Lee Westwood.
Patricknorm
Dec 7, 2017 at 12:48 pm
I’m a left handed golfer with a permanently bent right arm from a football injury.. When I was a teenager I was tackled hard on Astro turf ( football) on my right elbow. This elbow is bent about 20 degrees. Clearly this affects my distance because my lever is a shorter. My compensation as per my instructor is that I’m about 75% accurate for fairways and greens. I play to a 7.9 factor ( index).
My bent elbow isn’t as severe as Calvin Peete’s was but, it’s close. I’ve looked into surgery but each surgeon I’ve talked with said it’s not that bad. However, there are times when the bent elbow hurts a lot.
If you saw my swing on video it doesn’t look that bad but I know I’m compensating , regardless. I would guess, based on tournament play, I’m giving up 15-25 yards off the tee . I think if I were 20 years old I’d be a mirror of the amateur in the video ( without bent elbow).
Excellent video by the way. I know there has always been discussion about Jordan Spieth’s slightly bent left elbow.
AMG
Dec 7, 2017 at 4:55 pm
It sounds like the other parts of your game are pretty solid to post those scores which is great!
Two pros come to mind that we’ve measured that have a pretty good bit of flex/bend in that lead arm in the downswing. Would not consider that element by itself in any way a swing flaw. Jordan would be a great example.
Andrew Cooper
Dec 7, 2017 at 12:40 pm
Thanks for sharing this info. Could you elaborate on the 3.6 hyper-extension in the pro’s set up?
AMG
Dec 7, 2017 at 4:50 pm
It’s not uncommon to see their left arms fairly straight but with more bend in the right arm, and almost the opposite trend with ams. We’re working on a right arm video that will go into more detail about that. Did that address what you were asking about?
Andrew Cooper
Dec 7, 2017 at 6:36 pm
Thanks, I appreciate the reply. Yes I would’ve thought fairly straight, but just surprised that it would be hyper-extended, which I take as meaning bent beyond normal range of motion. Anyhow, enjoying your videos, some great info.
jim
Dec 6, 2017 at 11:48 pm
Shall we assume that the pro and good amateur are anatomically identical? If not then the comparison is flawed.
As for the ‘chicken wing’ followthru …. Jamie Sadlowski anybody?!!
Branson Reynolds
Dec 6, 2017 at 10:24 pm
The video has an okay idea, but a 1:1 sample size is crazy. It’d be a lot more useful to have at least 10 of each.
AMG
Dec 6, 2017 at 11:55 pm
The data sample size was actually much larger than 10 of each. We chose the pro and the am in the video because they represented each sample size. The video would have to be much longer to show each and every golfer’s collected data. This is not a comparison of 1 pro to 1 am, but a representation of each group using these two golfers.
AMG
Dec 7, 2017 at 11:22 am
Is Jamie Sadlowski anatomically identical to the am or any other golfer? Can you see why we don’t just apply that criteria to looking at golf swings. None of our pros are anatomically identical, but all the ones we have data on do not hyper extended their left arm… neither does Jamie Sadlowski 😉
jim
Dec 7, 2017 at 4:54 pm
Thanks for your response to my query above. Before you can launch a comparative study between pro and amateur golfers on their lead arm biomechanics, you should first anatomically study their lead arm structure.
You can’t just take a group of pros and amateurs, examine their swing mechanics and then conclude their lead arm mechanics are different. You must determine why it’s happening.
PineStreetGolf
Dec 6, 2017 at 3:33 pm
This is actually a pretty good video that WRX kinda ruined by giving it a clickbait title.
The most important difference between pros and ams is the ability to throw weight and center of gravity down the target line without losing balance or spine angle. This video is a good one, though, especially for the short game.
If they had titled it “A helpful tip, especially close to the hole, to get cleaner contact” it would have been great. Its not the difference between pros and ams.
Bob Jacobs
Dec 6, 2017 at 2:53 pm
Might just be me, but at least from the pics, I couldn’t see a discernible difference between pros and ams. Was also very confusing for me to hear about X degrees of bend in an elbow because my elbows dont bend!!
JEC
Dec 6, 2017 at 1:52 pm
Why do instructors keep trying to compare what Pros and Ams do in the golf swing? This is why most golf instruction doesn’t help make the weekend golfer any better.
stevek
Dec 14, 2017 at 3:27 pm
It’s because they only study static pictures and postures with no knowledge of Newtonian physics which provides a Dynamic analysis through Kinematics and Kinetics.
IOW, virtually all golf instructors depend on their subjective observations with no objective proof.
It’s changing slowly with the use of Trackman, 3D video, force plates, and a proper college education.