Elbows at Address in Golf: Why Position Matters

Elbows at address in golf influence how your arms and shoulders move once the swing begins. Learn what to notice about your elbows at address in the golf swing and how an elbows-together drill can sharpen your awareness.

This at-home drill teaches you how your elbows should move during the swing so your arms stay organized and your body can swing the arms instead of the hands taking over. Your elbows are a useful checkpoint because they reflect what your shoulders are doing, and the shoulders are the key link between your torso rotation and the club’s release. If your elbows move well, your arms tend to stay connected, your downswing sequence improves, and the release happens at the right time rather than too early.

How the Drill Works

You’ll train each arm separately first, using your opposite hand to monitor the elbow. This gives you immediate feedback on whether the arm is staying in front of your body, rotating appropriately, and straightening only when it should.

For a right-handed golfer, begin with the trail arm. Set up in your golf posture and place your left hand underneath your right elbow. From there, make a backswing motion and notice how the right elbow should remain generally in front of your chest while rotating slightly. It does not need to be frozen in place, but it also should not fly so far behind you that it gets trapped behind your shirt seam.

On the way down, the right elbow should work more in front of your body rather than immediately straightening. Then, as you move into the release, the elbow can finally extend. That sequence matters: the elbow moves into position first, then it straightens during release.

Next, switch to the lead arm. Place your right hand under your left elbow and make the same motion. In the backswing, the left arm stays connected to the rib cage with a modest amount of rotation. In transition and early downswing, it works slightly across your chest and continues to rotate. As you approach release, the left elbow should not spin open too early. It stays oriented more toward the target side for a bit longer, then allows rotation as the club releases through.

Once you understand each arm on its own, you can blend them together, then add a club and lightly brush the ground while preserving the same elbow motion.

Step-by-Step

Set up in your normal golf posture. Stand as if addressing a ball, with your spine tilted forward and your arms hanging naturally.
Monitor the trail elbow first. If you are right-handed, place your left hand under your right elbow.
Make a backswing motion. Feel the right elbow stay generally in front of your chest while rotating slightly. Allow some natural movement, but do not let it drift far behind your torso.
Start down without straightening the trail arm too soon. Feel the right elbow move more in front of your body as your torso unwinds.
Let the trail elbow straighten during the release. The extension happens later, not from the top.
Switch sides to monitor the lead elbow. Place your right hand under your left elbow.
Make the backswing again. Feel the left arm stay connected to your rib cage with a small amount of rotation rather than lifting independently.
Start down and feel the lead arm work slightly across your chest. The arm rotates, but it does not immediately roll open.
Delay the lead arm’s full rotation until release. Let it stay more target-oriented until the hands get farther down, then allow it to rotate through.
Repeat both sides several times. Do enough reps that you can clearly sense what each elbow is doing.
Put both hands together without a club. Recreate the same movements with both arms working as a unit.
Add a club and make slow swings. Let the club brush the ground while keeping your focus on the elbow motion you just trained.

What You Should Feel

The main sensation is that your arms are being organized by your rib cage and shoulders, not thrown around by your hands. This is not an independent arm action drill. It is a way to feel how the arms respond to the body’s motion.

Trail elbow: It stays in front of your chest in the backswing, works forward in transition, and straightens later in the release.
Lead elbow: It stays connected in the backswing, moves slightly across your chest in the downswing, and does not rotate open too early.
Shoulders: You should sense that the elbow motion is really a reflection of shoulder movement.
Release: The club is released as a result of the motion sequence, not because you force it with your hands from the top.
Connection: Your arms should feel more “with” your torso rather than disconnected from it.

A good checkpoint is whether the motion feels compact and repeatable. If the elbows stay organized, the swing usually feels simpler and more synchronized.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Letting the trail elbow get trapped behind you. A little movement away from the chest is fine, but too much makes the downswing harder to sequence.
Straightening the trail arm too early. If it extends from the top, you’ll tend to cast the club and lose the proper release pattern.
Over-rolling the lead arm in transition. If the lead elbow and forearm rotate open too soon, the clubface and path can become difficult to control.
Using only the hands. The point of the drill is to monitor elbow motion as a window into shoulder motion, not to manipulate the club with your wrists.
Standing too upright. Stay in your golf posture so the movement pattern matches your actual swing.
Going too fast. This drill works best slowly, where you can clearly feel each phase.

How This Fits Your Swing

This drill gives you a practical way to improve the relationship between your arms, shoulders, and torso. In a good swing, the body swings the arms, and the arms deliver the club in a coordinated release. When the elbows are moving correctly, the shoulders are usually doing their job well, and that helps the club approach the ball with better structure and timing.

It also helps you understand the swing by phase. In the backswing, the elbows stay organized and connected. In transition, they move into position rather than firing independently. In the release, they finally extend and rotate as the club is delivered. That sequence is what many golfers lose when they try to create speed too early with their hands.

Use this as a slow-motion home drill to build awareness first. Then blend both arms together, add the club, and let the clubhead brush the ground. Over time, you’ll develop a clearer feel for how the shoulders guide the arms and how the release should happen naturally instead of being forced.