How to Release Each Arm for Better Control in Your Swing

This drill teaches you how each arm should “release” in the putting stroke without letting your hands take over. The goal is simple: your chest and shoulders move the putter, while your arms stay organized and connected to your body. When that happens, you control face rotation better, strike the ball more consistently, and remove the little hand manipulations that make distance and direction unreliable. By training the trail arm and lead arm separately, you can feel exactly how each side contributes to a stable, repeatable stroke.

How the Drill Works

The drill is built around two common putting problems. First, many golfers use the trail hand too actively, letting the wrist bend or “flip” through the ball. Second, many golfers let the lead arm drift away from the body, which disconnects the stroke and makes the putter move independently of the torso.

To fix the trail side, you place a golf ball or small object between your trail forearm and the grip area near your wrist. This gives you immediate feedback. If your trail wrist starts changing shape during the stroke, the space changes and the object will want to fall or shift. That tells you your hand is taking over instead of your body controlling the motion.

To fix the lead side, you focus on keeping the lead arm connected to your chest through the stroke. Rather than letting the lead arm slide out toward the target on its own, you keep it moving with your torso. This creates a more unified motion where the putter is being transported by the rotation and rocking of your upper body.

Together, these two pieces help you feel a stroke that is driven by the larger muscles—the chest, shoulders, and ribcage—rather than the smaller muscles of the hands and forearms. That is the bigger point of the drill. You are not trying to hold the putter rigidly or force the face into one position. You are training your arms to behave properly while the body swings the club.

Step-by-Step

1. Set up in your normal putting posture. Take your usual grip and posture so the drill matches your real stroke. Your lower body should stay quiet and stable, with your balance centered and your head relatively steady.

2. Train the trail arm first. If you are right-handed, your trail arm is your right arm. Place a golf ball between your trail forearm and the grip, near the base of the hand/wrist area. The object should create awareness of the angle between your forearm and the putter without requiring you to squeeze excessively.

3. Make short strokes while keeping that relationship intact. Hit a few putts and pay attention to whether the golf ball stays in place. If your trail hand starts to throw the putterhead, the wrist shape will change and the object will shift. Your job is to move the putter with your torso so that the trail wrist remains stable.

4. Notice how the trail side works across your body. As the stroke moves through, your trail arm should not simply push straight down the target line with the hand. Instead, it works more around with your chest. You may feel the trail-side chest or pec become more involved as the putter moves through.

5. Remove the ball and check the motion. After a few repetitions, take the training ball away and make the same stroke. You should notice that the putter moves more from your shoulders and chest, with less hand action. The face may appear more stable and less manipulated.

6. Now switch your attention to the lead arm. For a right-handed golfer, that is the left arm. Set up normally and focus on keeping the lead arm gently connected to the side of your chest through the stroke.

7. Make one-handed lead-arm strokes if needed. This is often the easier side to train. You can even hit a few putts lead-hand only to exaggerate the feeling. The key is that the lead arm should not drift away from your body toward the target. It should stay “ridden” by your torso.

8. Blend both sides together. Once you have felt the trail wrist stay quiet and the lead arm stay connected, return to your normal two-handed stroke. Try to recreate the same sensation: your body moves the putter, while both arms stay organized and responsive rather than dominant.

9. Keep the stroke small and simple. This drill works best with short putts at first. Start with putts of three to six feet so you can focus on movement quality instead of trying to generate speed with your hands.

What You Should Feel

If you are doing the drill correctly, the stroke should feel more connected and less “hitty.” You are not slapping at the ball with your hands. You are letting the putter move because your upper body is moving it.

Trail Arm Feel

On the trail side, the biggest checkpoint is that the wrist angle stays consistent. You should not feel the trail hand adding a burst of release through impact. Instead, you may feel:

• Light pressure between the trail forearm and the object
• The trail arm moving more with the torso than independently
• Some engagement in the trail-side chest or pec
• A through-stroke that continues because your shoulders keep moving, not because your hand flips

That pec involvement is important. When the trail arm is connected correctly, the stroke often feels like the right side of your chest helps carry the putter through. When the hand dominates, that chest involvement disappears and the stroke becomes more of a wrist action.

Lead Arm Feel

On the lead side, the main sensation is connection. The lead arm should feel attached to your torso rather than reaching out on its own. You may feel:

• The lead upper arm staying gently in contact with your chest
• The putter moving because your sternum and shoulders move
• Less independent travel of the lead arm toward the target
• A more unified follow-through, where the whole system moves together

Overall Stroke Feel

When both sides are functioning well, the stroke feels compact, centered, and controlled. The putterhead does not wobble or over-rotate from hand action. Your body provides the motion, and your arms transmit it.

A good checkpoint is this: if your lower body stays stable and your wrists stay quiet, the only real way to move the putter through is with your shoulders and chest. That is exactly what you want.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Flipping the trail hand through impact. If the trail wrist changes shape, you are defeating the purpose of the drill.
• Squeezing too hard to hold the training ball in place. The object is there for feedback, not tension. Too much grip pressure creates a stiff, artificial stroke.
• Letting the lead arm separate from the chest. When the lead arm drifts away, the stroke becomes disconnected and harder to control.
• Driving the putter with the hands instead of the torso. The drill is meant to quiet the smaller muscles, not train a more complicated hand action.
• Breaking down the lower body. If your hips and legs start moving excessively just to make the stroke longer, you lose the stable base that good putting requires.
• Making the stroke too long too soon. Start with short putts so you can own the movement before adding distance.
• Trying to freeze the putter face. The goal is not a rigid, forced motion. The goal is a natural stroke controlled by the body, with less manipulation.
• Ignoring what each arm is supposed to do. The trail arm and lead arm have different tendencies, so train them with different awareness.

How This Fits Your Swing

Even though this is a putting drill, it reinforces a much bigger concept in golf: the body swings the club, and the arms respond within that motion. In every part of the game, better players organize the arms so they work with the pivot instead of fighting it. Putting simply gives you a smaller, easier environment to feel that relationship.

The trail arm portion of the drill teaches you not to throw the clubhead with your dominant hand. That same idea matters in the full swing, where many golfers lose control by trying to “hit” with the trail hand too early. Learning to keep the trail wrist more stable while the body carries the motion is a valuable skill across the board.

The lead arm portion teaches connection. In the full swing, disconnected arms often lead to poor sequencing and inconsistent face control. In putting, that same disconnection shows up as a lead arm that outruns the body. Keeping the lead arm connected helps you understand how the torso should transport the club.

This is why the drill is so useful. It is not just about making more short putts. It gives you a clearer sense of how the larger engine of the body should move the club, while the arms maintain structure and support. In putting, that means better face control and cleaner roll. In the larger picture, it strengthens your understanding of efficient arm-body coordination.

If you practice this regularly, you should begin to notice a stroke that feels quieter in the hands, more connected in the chest, and more predictable under pressure. That is the kind of control you want on the greens: simple motion, stable structure, and a putter that moves because your body moved it there.