Right forearm question

[Weightshift]

The Left Arm (and Club) is what is being 'picked-up' by the Right Forearm. And this lift is accomplished by the bending of the Right Elbow (7-3) and the use of the Right Deltoid to raise the Right Arm. The active muscle in the Arm action is the Biceps. It is the only time during the Stroke that this muscle is actively employed. In the Downstroke, the Biceps are "completely passive" (2-M-3).

To understand this action, simply extend your Left Arm directly in front of you about chest-high. Grasp your Left Wrist with the thumb and forefinger of your Right Hand. Then, using only your Right Arm (no Left Arm activity) proceed to lift and lower the Left Arm to your heart's content. Notice that the Left Arm is completely passive and the 'work' is being done with the bending Right Elbow (via the Biceps) as the Right Deltoid (Shoulder muscle) lifts the Right Arm.

For someone trying this exercise for the first time they will find that even with extensor action applied, the 'passive left arm' tends to bend at the left elbow.

The difference in the golf swing is that there is a pulling action between extensor action and the left shoulder as the body pivot lags the hands, so the left arm is being pulled at both ends, preventing any bending of the left elbow.

The exercise could be modified to include a left elbow locked in place to prevent itself from bending but this would send the wrong message to the brain.

The only differences between this action and your actual Backstroke are (1) you are lifting and lowering in a vertical plane in this drill versus an Inclined Plane in your Golf Stroke and (2) there is no Pivot in the drill and there is in the actual Stroke.

Regarding the Right Hand, Extensor Acton pulls the Clubshaft in-line with the Left Arm, usually during the Start Up. This Flattens the Left Wrist and Bends the Right. This action occurs in tandem with the Right Forearm Takeaway in a true, Three-Dimensional Backstroke (Up, Back and In, simultaneously and On Plane) as the Pivot performs its work (producing the circular motion of the Stroke while maintaing Balance and the stability necessary for a Centered Clubhead Arc).

[spike]

For someone trying this exercise for the first time they will find that even with extensor action applied, the 'passive left arm' tends to bend at the left elbow.

The difference in the golf swing is that there is a pulling action between extensor action and the left shoulder as the body pivot lags the hands, so the left arm is being pulled at both ends, preventing any bending of the left elbow.

The exercise could be modified to include a left elbow locked in place to prevent itself from bending but this would send the wrong message to the brain.

Thank you both. RFT is clear for me now, yea!!

This discription is clearly a "pulling" action.

What would happen to the left arm in the above drill (hands more belt height) if you "pushed" the left wrist away from the center of the body with the right thumb and forefinger? I find that the left arm raises and extends eliminating any left elbow bend.

[Yoda]

For someone trying this exercise for the first time they will find that even with extensor action applied, the 'passive left arm' tends to bend at the left elbow.

The difference in the golf swing is that there is a pulling action between extensor action and the left shoulder as the body pivot lags the hands, so the left arm is being pulled at both ends, preventing any bending of the left elbow.

The exercise could be modified to include a left elbow locked in place to prevent itself from bending but this would send the wrong message to the brain.

Good point, Weightshift. I could have been a bit more precise with regards to the Left Arm, but the question I was answering with the drill focused on Right Arm and Elbow Action and the muscular activity used to motivate them. And that action will be unaffected by a Left Arm that bends a bit.

There is a misconception, however, that Right Arm Extensor Action alone is responsible for the Straight Left Arm. That is not true. There is always a Left Arm Triceps Extensor Action at work as well (12-5-1-#10 and 2-M-3).

So, let's add these two items to the drill's instruction:

1. Straighten -- but do not 'lock' -- the Left Arm with a Left Arm Triceps Extensor Action.

2. Further stretch that Left Arm with a gentle tug of the Right Arm's Triceps Extensor Action. The Right Arm will straighten somewhat, but will remain Bent due to the Checkrein Action (the "leash") of the Left Arm.

My only concern here is that by introducing this new terminology -- Left Triceps Extensor Action -- I am potentially confusing the definition of Right Triceps Extensor Action as the TGM Power Package structural process outlined in 6-B-1-D. However, in my opinion, there is a need to address the Left Triceps role in straightening the Left Elbow, and that is what this term does.

[spike]

Good point, Weightshift. I could have been a bit more precise with regards to the Left Arm, but the question I was answering with the drill focused on Right Arm and Elbow Action and the muscular activity used to motivate them. And that action will be unaffected by a Left Arm that bends a bit.

There is a misconception, however, that Right Arm Extensor Action alone is responsible for the Straight Left Arm. That is not true. There is always a Left Arm Triceps Extensor Action at work as well (12-5-1-#10 and 2-M-3).

So, let's add these two items to the drill's instruction:

1. Straighten -- but do not 'lock' -- the Left Arm with a Left Arm Triceps Extensor Action.

2. Further stretch that Left Arm with a gentle tug of the Right Arm's Triceps Extensor Action. The Right Arm will straighten somewhat, but will remain Bent due to the Checkrein Action (the "leash") of the Left Arm.

My only concern here is that by introducing this new terminology -- Left Triceps Extensor Action -- I am potentially confusing the definition of Right Triceps Extensor Action as the TGM Power Package structural process outlined in 6-B-1-D. However, in my opinion, there is a need to address the Left Triceps role in straightening the Left Elbow, and that is what this term does.

Hi Lynn,

Wouldn't a pushing action of the #2PP against the club grip cause this left arm extensor condition?

spike

[Yoda]

Wouldn't a pushing action of the #2PP against the club grip cause this left arm extensor condition?

No, Spike, the #1 Pressure Point (the Heel of the Right Hand against the Left Hand thumb) applies the Extensor Action of the Right Triceps to stretch the Left Arm. Otherwise, the Left Triceps (no pressure point) is responsible for straightening the Left Elbow.

Other than normal Grip Pressure, the #2 Pressure Point (the last three fingers of the Left Hand) actuates the Secondary Lever Assembly (the Golf Club) only by Centrifugal Force (as passive Clubhead Lag per 10-11-0-2).

[spike]

No, Spike, the #1 Pressure Point (the Heel of the Right Hand against the Left Hand thumb) applies the Extensor Action of the Right Triceps to stretch the Left Arm. Otherwise, the Left Triceps (no pressure point) is responsible for straightening the Left Elbow.

Other than normal Grip Pressure, the #2 Pressure Point (the last three fingers of the Left Hand) actuates the Secondary Lever Assembly (the Golf Club) only by Centrifugal Force (as passive Clubhead Lag per 10-11-0-2).

Thank you, Lynn!

[Weightshift]

Good point, Weightshift. I could have been a bit more precise with regards to the Left Arm, but the question I was answering with the drill focused on Right Arm and Elbow Action and the muscular activity used to motivate them. And that action will be unaffected by a Left Arm that bends a bit.

It doesn't just bend a bit, it bends a lot.

You wrote..

To understand this action, simply extend your Left Arm directly in front of you about chest-high. Grasp your Left Wrist with the thumb and forefinger of your Right Hand. Then, using only your Right Arm (no Left Arm activity) proceed to lift and lower the Left Arm to your heart's content. Notice that the Left Arm is completely passive and the 'work' is being done with the bending Right Elbow (via the Biceps) as the Right Deltoid (Shoulder muscle) lifts the Right Arm. The only differences between this action and your actual Backstroke are (1) you are lifting and lowering in a vertical plane in this drill versus an Inclined Plane in your Golf Stroke and (2) there is no Pivot in the drill and there is in the actual Stroke.

I held my Left Arm out in front of me, chest high, with the Left thumb pointing upwards, grasped the Left Wrist with the thumb and forefinger of my Right Hand, right thumb on top, right forefinger below.

Bending the Right Elbow to raise the Left Arm, causes the Left Arm to bend at the Left Elbow in unison with the bending of the Right Elbow. Try it.

Even with Extensor Action i.e. pulling the Left Arm straight out in front of you, with the thumb and forefinger of the Right Hand, it is difficult to prevent some bending of the Left Arm at the elbow.

Another problem is that the Right Forearm is moving in a circular motion, up and down, from level, and the passive Left Arm automatically responds to this shortening radius by bending the Left Elbow, as it has nowhere else to go.

Personally I believe that this exercise is better done with the Left Arm positioned across the chest to the Right, pointing to about 2 o'clock (body facing 12 o'clock). Now exert Extensor Action, the pulling of the Left Wrist towards 2 o'clock by the thumb and forefinger of the Right Hand, at the same time bracing the Left Shoulder against this pull (the Left Tricep action you describe) -- a two-way stretch.

Now the circular motion of the Right Arm as it bends at the Right Elbow, and lifts and lower the Left Arm, allows the Left Arm to also describe a circular motion and resultant bending at the Left Elbow is minimal.

[Yoda]

It doesn't just bend a bit, it bends a lot.

Okay, we're making this thing a lot harder than it is. The exercise is simplicity itself -- at least it is when demonstrated -- and I'm afraid that people now will miss the whole point.

The point of the exercise was not to be "golf-like." The point was ...

How does the right arm and elbow act -- and what muscles are involved -- when you pick something up?

So let's just forget the left arm altogether and do a new drill.

Sitting or standing or lying down, just raise your right hand above your shoulder (as if to get a teacher's attention in class). That's the way the right arm works in the golf Stroke. Without of course, the constraints imposed on it by the left arm and the Inclined Plane of motion.

The triceps straighten the arm and the deltoids lift it.

In the Golf Stroke, the Checkrein Action of the Left Arm causes the Right Elbow to bend, and this also brings the Right Biceps into play (on the Backstroke only). So, we have the triceps, biceps and deltoids all involved in an integrated way to transport the Hands -- and the Club they hold -- to the Top of the Stroke.

[Golfie McG]

Yoda,

I think it is basic anatomy that both triceps and biceps cannot be active at the same time. Is it possible that Right Arm Extensor Action on the backswing is entirely due to right arm fanning?

Scott

[Yoda]

Yoda,

I think it is basic anatomy that both triceps and biceps cannot be active at the same time. Is it possible that Right Arm Extensor Action on the backswing is entirely due to right arm fanning?

Scott

Hi Scott,

I am in no way an expert in in human physiology. However, I can tell you that I apply Extensor Action with my Right Triceps and at the same time experience Right Elbow bend (due to the Checkrein Action of the Left Arm).

Since the Biceps bend the Elbow, I can only conclude that it is possible for both Triceps and Biceps to be simultaneously actuated. Maybe someone more qualified can add insight here.