Left Arm feeling weak

I am fortunate to be able to play quite a number of games for the past 3 weeks. The first few games was good as I was improving my game in many areas but the last few games was really bad.

My driver swing is typically a fade but the last few games, my driver swing is haywire and I often hit nearer to the heel of the club or hook my drive badly. My left arm is feeling weak especially the biceps, i think i have both tennis'elbow and golfers' elbow pain with the latter being more painful.

I can understand that playing too many games for a unseasoned golfer will naturally face fatigue... my query is whether is "left arm feeling weak" normal? I am getting different kinds of explanation from friends, most say that I am using too much of arms in my golf swing, some say my right arm is now overpowering the left arm now hence causing the hook.

Anybody has such bad experience?

Actually your lower torso is the part of your anatomy that drives the ball ... The arms only ride along due to centrifugal force ... My left arm is my control arm and my right arm remains passive thru out the swing ... Cheers!

Hi tksoh, firstly, when your body hurts, it is time to take a short rest, your soreness could be caused by so many things, and if your joints are hurting as well, it might be due to repeated impact with both the golf ball as well as the ground.

Now on to my own experience with soreness, of various types over the years as a result of golf ...

First time ... base of the neck ... sharp pains caused by taking divots the size of bricks on the golf course and thinking that golf is a game of brute strength ... lasted about 2.5months ... after which I decided to get proper lessons *warning* do not head out on the green 10 hours after touching golf clubs for the first time no matter how encouraging your friends are ... it can lead to serious injury

First couple of months ... upper back just behind/between left shoulder blade and spine ... went away after I started making better contact and stopped slamming the club into the ground .... having a 5 week business trip where the only swings i could make were with umbrellas in the hotel room helped make the pain go away permanently

Next 24 months ... sometimes forearms sore, sometimes upper and middle back, sometimes right ankle and calf muscle, sometimes left knee ... quite often left shoulder ... don't ever recall left bicep aching except for 1 range session where I was slicing (start left then curve right) horribly ... but that was more a frustration venting session than actual practice

From about 6-7 months ago, after realising a few things and making a few changes, for the first time, the middle part of my body started aching ... mainly my external oblique and gluteus medius (had to lookup the names, never took biology ... see link below) and to a lesser extent the left gluteus maximus ... this also coincided with a pretty significant increase in swing speed for me (unfortunately also with a corresponding loss of direction)

http://gofitandhealthy.com/muscle-map/

Now after a round, these are the muscles that feel slightly sore. As for my arms, especially the biceps, they don't feel much strain if any.

That being said, I have read that swinging with the arms is a viable method for golfers that are not as flexible. And I have personally shot some very good scores swinging predominantly with the upper part of my body (off the white tee where distance is less of a concern).

However, from my limited understanding of the golf swing, even when swinging with the arms (mainly), your really should not be feeling soreness in your left bicep. The main function of the bicep is to bend (via contracting) the left arm, and if you are pulling the left arm back, as the club is coming down (or at impact), that is one sure way to exercise the left bicep (and depending on your clubface angle at impact, start the ball left, hence the common golf term "pull" for these kind of shots). This kind of swing fault is also commonly described as the "chicken wing" syndrome.

Now, while dissecting all this has been fun on a quiet office day with no one else in the office, knowing the actual reason why you left bicep is aching (whether my reason posited above is accurate is immaterial) is not going to help you swing better. If there is one thing I have realised about golf, it is that we should always focus on what we want to do, not what we are trying not to do.

Find a golf professional, take a 90 min lesson, and have an honest and open discussion about what you want and what is practical for you to work on given you time commitments. It will cost less than a new model hybrid and you can decide if you want to proceed with more instruction.

My apologies if you are a consistent 70s player coming back after a long layoff or someone with a 125mph swing speed, in which case, I have no idea what you are going through so please disregard the above comments (made in ignorance) coming from a struggling 18 hcapper

Derek wrote:

However, from my limited understanding of the golf swing, even when swinging with the arms (mainly), your really should not be feeling soreness in your left bicep. The main function of the bicep is to bend (via contracting) the left arm, and if you are pulling the left arm back, as the club is coming down (or at impact), that is one sure way to exercise the left bicep (and depending on your clubface angle at impact, start the ball left, hence the common golf term "pull" for these kind of shots). This kind of swing fault is also commonly described as the "chicken wing" syndrome.

Thank you very much. I actually played 9 games in past 3 weeks! a bit crazy but it was fun though body ache a lot on the next day. I totally agree with you that body ache and soreness is the way that the body telling us enuf or something is not correct.

I know i am a mainly-arms swing as i am not that flexible...I think you are right that i am having this chicken wing at the top of swing and pulling down with this bent elbow (thereby using the bicep). I am literally trying out this posture as I type this reply and it does make sense what is going wrong. Thanks! Your analysis is most helpful.

btw i am struggling to break 100 as i often 3-putt and miss some chips... of course a poor drive is contributing as well! I guess it is a good time to focus on short game as i rest my arms a bit more.

Happy Holidays!... Looking forward to great 2013!