What it Means to Stay Connected

I’ve had many lessons where my golf instructor told me that I wasn’t “staying connected” throughout my downswing. I honestly had no idea what this meant. How can I not be connected if my arms are physically connected to my body? What a strange golf term. And when I asked what it meant, I never felt like I got a good explanation. Now, only after 10+ years of playing, I finally know what it means and why it is so important.

First of all, watch this old YouTube video that explains the golf swing illusion.

After not believing this the first few times I saw it, I realized this guy was actually speaking the truth. During your entire backswing and downswing, at no point do your arms extend sideways beyond the width of your body. If you had those fixed cameras that clipped to your hat or something and viewed a good golfer’s swing, your hands would look like they started down and center, up and over your shoulder, and then down and on the left side (if you’re right handed) of your torso. And your 2 arms would hold that V shape throughout your entire swing. And it makes sense. You take away movements and other variables and it will lead to better and more consistent ball striking.

So then the question is how do good players generate so much speed? And the answer is loose wrists. Imagine your wrists are just loose joints, which you can only do with a loose grip. And it allows the club to hinge, un-hinge, and hinge with ease. If your arms are connected and controlled, you get proper turn, and your wrists are loose, and you have a large/wide arc, you can generate tons of club head speed.

Anyway just some food for thought. Try it out at the range. Grab one of those balls that you hold in between your arms to get used to the feeling. You’ll probably get better contact.