As the swing starts down the arms should not do anything except for the feeling of a light spin motion of the right forearm. This light spin feeling frees up the pendulum (the club) so it can swing freely through impact, it also begins the twirl and at the same time rotates the right elbow close to the right hip for the strike. The only reason that the entire arm shoulder assembly rotates down to the ball is due to the lateral shift of the hips and then the rotation of the hips as the lower body creates the pivot. There should be no attempt to hit at the ball with the arms early in the swing sequence. However during the early part of the downswing the right arm is active as the right elbow is rotated into the release position. Correctly done it will feel as if the right arm has twirled the club and then thrown the clubhead through the ball as the left arm did nothing and remained exactly where it was at the top of the backswing.
The ability of the player to return the left arm to the impact position, while it still feels to be in the exact position that it found at the top of the backswing by using the pivot rather than swinging the left arm down will be a major key in putting the swing to work. Remember the swing must cause the hit to occur of the side of the right hip, this can only be accomplished by keeping the left arm in the number 7 position. (see page 94 in ‘The 21st Century Golf Swing’ book).
