Struggling to keep your left arm straight in the golf swing? You’re not alone. But here’s the truth most golfers don’t know: elite players don’t actually keep their lead arm perfectly straight. And trying to force it can do more harm than good.
In this video, Mike Granato and Shaun Webb of Athletic Motion Golf reveal what the pros actually do and how to create the appearance of a straight left arm by focusing on something completely different — your trail shoulder. With a few simple changes, you’ll build structure, increase rotation, and eliminate arm collapse once and for all.
✅ Learn the Frankenstein Drill
✅ Understand how shoulder retraction improves width
✅ Get the secret move that creates a pro-level backswing
Tired of losing width and collapsing at the top? This is your fix.
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Video Chapters:
00:00 – Why golfers obsess over a straight left arm
00:35 – The truth about elite players and arm bend
01:08 – How locking the lead arm restricts your swing
01:49 – Create width through the trail shoulder
02:28 – Avoid shoulder protraction and improve rotation
03:04 – Frankenstein drill for backswing training
04:04 – Trail arm retraction for full turn and structure
05:06 – What causes lead arm collapse in backswing
06:00 – The go-to lesson technique: shoulder push
07:20 – Common mistake: pushing hands instead of shoulder
08:01 – Key takeaways and drills to try
#golf #pga #athleticmotiongolf #amg #golftips #improvegolfswing
35 Comments
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I though I had heard most golf tips by now, but no. Never heard this, fascinating stuff.
Love this! For the down swing, using the Frankenstein analogy should you have neutral shoulders by club parallel and reverse the Frankenstein drill for impact to follow through or is this primarily for helping get width in the back swing? I have very flexible wide shoulders and always have trouble with shrugging in downswing and into impact.
I'm quite new and always had difficulty in rotating due to thinking of my left arm. Your solutions were just so great thanks
always the best info
It's time to name names. Exactly who are the most egregious frauds and/or copiers among the most prominent golf channels on Youtube? Golfers must be saved from the harm they are doing.
7:53 i had that aha moment right before you said it.. it's like a wider narrow.. not a wider wider. I couldn't figure out before why i still couldn't get my right shoulder behind my head without REALLY pulling it and there was just way too much tension.. Nice. Great job.
Many years ago there was a lady named Alison Teije (or something close to that) who had worked with a lot of players on Tour (I believe on mobility and range of motion things) who advocated making a backswing by moving the shoulder back like you are advocating.
I use the DeWiz and the Hackmotion devices, sometimes simultaneously. Using them has led me to put a certain post-it note in my practice station with the following words capitalized, underlined, and circled: WIDTH SOLVES ALL. This is an exaggeration, of course, but for me not too much of an exaggeration. You've helped me to understand why. Thanks.
Great video guys. You're both a wall against bad technique 🙂This is SO much the feel that I had when I was hitting it the longest and compressing it the most. I also notice that the longest tour pros and long drivers really tend to have the appearance (from FO) of the shoulders just rotating fast while that structure of the wide trail arm and the shoulder arm structure in general remains intact throughout the downswing, of course not perfectly, but so much more than even other tour pros and a ridiculous amount more than poor amateur swingers. It begins to look like the arms and club are just fired off of the rapidly rotating shoulder tips with very little intervening motion (an illusion of course, but very instructive). Cheers.
One of the best tips ever!
Since I watched and implemented your video regarding the right arm/elbow to connect with my body on the downswing I'm so happy with my ball striking I don't need to do anything else because this move kind of sorts out my whole swing especially the weight shift to the lead side
I will forever be indebted to you two gentlemen for your tuition
Best wishes from South Africa
Wow, this s eye opening. I do it naturally, but never thought about it. Fantastic drill. Cheers.
I like how angry Shaun looks.
this makes so much sense. When I add good wrist hinge, the mirror says my left arm is much straighter without tension. Thank you!
You just fixed my driver…holy hell…thank you!
Great video!! Thank you!!When do you stop pushing (or feel) your shoulder ‘back joint’ going back until top or backswing? Initial transition? Arm parallel? Recentering? And when do you start?
Nother 💎
Finally found a site that uses actual physical data to explain the swing instead of "local" theory.
AMG shoulder retractation drill ?
You guys posted a video a few yrs ago using a blue avatar that looked kind of like a superhero toy. It talked about moving the shoulders, protracting and retracting. Is this the same concept?
Also, when is this happening? Is it at address, in the backswing, at the top?
My wife will be mad now because I’ll spend the whole afternoon doing this in front of a mirror.
As always, great stuff guys!
Too funny…been working on this for the last few days…feels so weird, but when you get it, it really makes the swing feel so easy…
Never heard or thought of this before but it makes so much sense, thank you.
Brilliant video! One of the best.
Finally. I've been told for years to push with the right arm. Never worked. This explains it ❤🎉😮😊
The only way the instruction could be any better is if it was in person
🐐🐐
This just added about 4-5 mph to my irons swing speed. I had no idea I wasn’t letting my right scapula move like that to give me more width! I was just trying to push out my right arm only. You guys again are so valuable, thank you so much.
Stop over swinging would be my first fix. Another would be a weird fix if your body and brain want to put your hands in a certain place then record it and see if you can get it to that plain. Collapsing usually is the arms trying to get somewhere they couldn't get to helped me find out I need to swing to my trail shoulder was flatter in the back swing and my hands would collapse and hands ended up around right shoulder so I started trying to get them there instead of splitting my bicep
Another banger
Is left arm supposed to be straightened or slightly bent and relaxed?
This is wonderful. Never heard this before. At what point do you pull the shoulder back?
To complete the picture, should we reverse this motion of the shoulders on the follow through ? Why not use a left hand below right grip to make it easier to keep the left arm straight in the follow through ?
if straight lead arm may cause cupping in the backswing , bent means you got relax arm
The No.1 hack to stop you hacking.!😂
Watched a video coach was saying "Rory gets in trouble" by retracting his shoulder…does he though? I mean he did just complete the grand slam. Thanks for your input on this.