[mrose]

I had the same troubles and for a similar length time so I feel your pain. I have tried many many ways to get into that nice deep position with the left arm comfortably straight and near the right shoulder. It was improving but it always seemed more difficult than it should be.

Only recently I noticed that my left shoulder moved fractionally away from me and towards the target line on the backswing (looking from a down the line position). With a hopeless understanding of anatomy/biomechanics etc all I can say is that the feeling once I realised this was happening was that the shoulder and upper arm move out of the socket ever so slightly. The thought came to me (obvious as they sometimes appear) that my left hand and arm can only get as far away from me on the backswing as the left shoulder will allow it. This small move in the opposite direction was enough to take away the freedom of the left arm and forced it to bend at the top to complete the backswing. I am also extremely right-eye dominant so making a full turn is difficult for me.

Anyway, what I now try to feel (and it worked with my first attempt - both in shot quality and the position of the left arm) is to feel like my left shoulder and upper left arm remain very close to my upper left chest without the slightest hint of coming out of the socket and moving towards the ball. The immediate sensation was an ample amount of room and ease with which I could turn and feel the left arm in the position I wanted. It was nice and straight for perhaps the first time ever at the top of the backswing. To me it felt like I was as deep and straight as Baddeley or Hogan or swings like that. As for the other 99% of the swing that needs to improve before it resembles those guys I will have to keep working. Perhaps the most pleasing aspect was that I could experiment with taking it back outside for a fade without my usual concern of the left arm getting into a ridiculously upright position. As long as the left shoulder and upper arm behaved I could make this outside move with confidence knowing that my pivot would take care of getting on a good plane at the top. Hope this helps.