1) How important is extensor action?

2) At what stage should you turn your attention to it?

3) If you are able to maintain a straight left arm to follow through without using extensor action is there any point working on it?

1) Maintains radius of the downstroke so very.
2) At impact fix earliest to at the top if you are lazy
3) Extensor pressure feel is very very light. Light straightening your sleeve. It does allow better feel for an on plane right forearm into impact. But if you are already getting that then life is good.

I can also make sure that your left wrist is Level rather than partly cocked at set up.

1) How important is extensor action?

2) At what stage should you turn your attention to it?

3) If you are able to maintain a straight left arm to follow through without using extensor action is there any point working on it?

Royshh,

1. 10/10

2. Always.

3. You need all the help you can get.

What if, you had a swing that NEVER broke down?

Royshh
Take a sheet of paper, a little piece of string and a pen. Tie the pen to the string and sticking the rope on the sheet with your left index start tracing hemi circles holding the pen with your right fingers. Do you feel this light tension on the string to trace perfect hemi circles from right to left and back from left to right? This is extensor action!!! Keep you mind in your right hand and feel how easy it is to TRACE while keeping this slight tension. You can even close you eyes and you know that you are still perfectly tracing . You FEEL it in your right fingers.
Now leave everything on the table and rush in your living room , take your favorite wedge (who among us is not keeping some clubs in the living room?...) grip the club and slightly stretch your left arm with your right hand (as if you want to straighten your left sleeve along your arm). KEEP YOUR MIND IN YOUR HANDS. Do you feel the heel of the right hand gently pushing yur left thumb . This is pressure point N° 1 (hitters friend) . Now keeping this slight stretching start to pratice some chips shots back and forth and back and forth … Do you feel how it seem easy to keep the radius and how everything seems to be under contrôle like tracing on the paper with closed yes. Magic of the extensor action. To finish to convince yourself practice the same chips shots with loose arms (teaching elswhere) or keeping the left arm straight by itself. Do you have the same feelings? Of course not.
Homer Keley says that extension action is in opération from adress to the end of the swing . It is easy to lose EA during the back swing and specially at the end of the back swing. This is the main cause of rushing down in the dowswing (because we have lost the connection feelings and need to quickly reconnect) with OTT, throwaway etc.. In the follow through it promotes the full extension of both arms (bye bye chicken wings…)
Hope not to be too long but understanding the extensor action (maybe the 4th imperative) helped me so much that I want to share.

1) Where does extensor action rank in the list of things to learn?

2) The way I implement extensor action is trying to pull my arms out of their shoulder sockets.

Is this advisable?

1) I find students list it very high on their own lists as major light bulb moments of it being easy to perform with a huge impact on ball striking results,

2) Reread the lines I wrote above about the shirt sleeve pulling. Extensor action is a light pulling pressure (NOT pushing) by the right hand to take the slack out of the left arm. Read the artilce on Keeping the Left Arm straight for the photos of the rope.

When we swing, we swing to get the feeling of the arms swinging out of their shoulder sockets. There is a subtle difference in the two. One is CF pulling the arms out. EA is a muscular pulling.

Homer Keley says that extension action is in opération from adress to the end of the swing.

No he doesn’t. He says it starts at impact fix. See 12-3-0 section 2. It ends at the both arms straight position or follow-through.

Hope not to be too long but understanding the extensor action (maybe the 4th imperative)

There is no 4th imperative but if there was it would probably be right forearm tracing.

1) How important is extensor action?

It maintains left shoulder to ball radius and gives structure to the triangle assembly.

2) At what stage should you turn your attention to it?

At impact fix.

3) If you are able to maintain a straight left arm to follow through without using extensor action is there any point working on it?

It’s up to you and how precise you want to make your golf swing.

There is no 4th imperative but if there was it would probably be right forearm tracing.

David,

Thanks for clearing up where and when extensor action lives.

Practical uses for it are are not easy to appreciate especially because it feels so uncomfortable at first. Pulling the arm out of the socket and a sort of “dorky” clumsy action. Like changing anything, a grip for instance

Hogans “arms bound by rope” could be used to soften the EA idea. If Ben said so it must be worth a try. He described it as arms welded to the side of the ribs.

The payoff is in rhythm because everything feels locked up together and moving in one piece driven by the body because that is all you feel you can move.

Once the rhythm is found the tension can be dropped down to almost comfort and pleasure. When things go wrong, put the tension back. You will soon toughen up.

I think right forearm tracing could be called Straight Plane Line. No. #3 imperative.

)

There is no 4th imperative but if there was it would probably be right forearm tracing.

Alex Sloan says that the 4th (unofficial) imperative is making sure ALL STROKES pass through (or end) at the both arms straight position (follow-through). He says Homer even considered including it as an official 4th imperative.

Alex Sloan says that the 4th (unofficial) imperative is making sure ALL STROKES pass through (or end) at the both arms straight position (follow-through). He says Homer even considered including it as an official 4th imperative.

This is the first time I ever heard of this. Homer considered right forearm tracing to be more important than lag so I don’t know how taking all strokes to the follow-through could be important enough to be an unofficial 4th imperative. In fact we didn’t see a list of imperatives until the second edition and there were 5 of them, the follow-through was not one or them.

From memory “to both arms straight must be completed on-plane”.

That would tie in all of the above nicely.

Why is it whenever I try and incorporate Extensor Action into my swing everything goes to hell? Are there pitfalls to be wary of? Other ways to do it?

Basically, whenever I concentrate on EA 3 or 4 other more important things fall apart.

It will change every part of your life but you have to let the improved structure effect the rest of the crap in your head.

If you have to change your grip stance ball placement or sexual orientation to accommodate a sound structure in you golf swing, start now.

Sound structure ( brick wall rather than a picket fence ) is a Pre imperative and is placed right after #1.

1 being the action of the right elbow on the palm of the hand as in punching or throwing or pushing. EA being an outward thrust to hold the motion to a stead orbit.

If we produce a good orbit ( EA ) and a good acceleration #1, you have it cooked.

If you want to be a chef, read the other receipts. But that is how you boil water.

DGLaville,

What are the five imperatives listed in the second edition of The Golfing Machine.

Alex Sloan says that the 4th (unofficial) imperative is making sure ALL STROKES pass through (or end) at the both arms straight position (follow-through). He says Homer even considered including it as an official 4th imperative.

This is the first time I ever heard of this. Homer considered right forearm tracing to be more important than lag so I don’t know how taking all strokes to the follow-through could be important enough to be an unofficial 4th imperative. In fact we didn’t see a list of imperatives until the second edition and there were 5 of them, the follow-through was not one or them.

David Laville G.S.E.M.
The Golfing Machine Authorized Instructor

Alex (along with Ben Doyle and one other) were Homer’s first 3 students and instructors of the Golfing Machine. If Alex says it, it is good enough for me. In any event, I am sure we will all agree that getting to the both arms straight position, on plane, in all strokes is a good thing, so we should all watch to make sure we are doing it regardless of whether it is a “secret imperative” or not :o)

Despite many efforts, every time I try and apply this facet of TGM everything goes to bung. I think for me applying extensor action as outlined in the articles pulls my spine offline. I am not terribly flexible and when trying to do it as suggested in the articles, I just sway back off the ball. When I try and not sway, too much weight stays on the front foot in the backswing. Or I get so focused on the EA I swing with no pivot. In the end, I just can not do it as outlined in the articles. Basically, applying EA ruins my pivot in one way or another.

So is there another way to do EA? The whole pulling strings around and pretending my arm was a string did not work for me.

How about Peter Croker’s idea of pushing the left arm straight as a substitute for EA?

Despite many efforts, every time I try and apply this facet of TGM everything goes to bung. I think for me applying extensor action as outlined in the articles pulls my spine offline. I am not terribly flexible and when trying to do it as suggested in the articles, I just sway back off the ball. When I try and not sway, too much weight stays on the front foot in the backswing. Or I get so focused on the EA I swing with no pivot. In the end, I just can not do it as outlined in the articles. Basically, applying EA ruins my pivot in one way or another.

So is there another way to do EA? The whole pulling strings around and pretending my arm was a string did not work for me.

Guys,

Here is the thing. If it doesn’t work for you now it is because of misunderstanding or mis application or it is a stupid idea in the first place. I found it ruined my swing so dumped it on the back burner ( incubator ). Five years later some one gave me an idea that worked and I realised it was the same result as extensor action.

Don’t waste 5 years.

. Or I get so focused on the EA I swing with no pivot. In the end, I just can not do it as outlined in the articles. Basically, applying EA ruins my pivot in one way or another.

Solar
I had the same problem when I started to work on extension action.
I was forgetting Homer’s words : EA “stretches but do not MOVE the Left Arm”. It is tempting when starting with EA tu use it to move the left arm = loosing the pivot.
Don’t change your swing components, just ADD this slight stretching, first on chip shots, then on pitch shots.
Hopping this will help

Guys, don’t forget that extensor action is NOT pulling on the left arm to keep it straight. It is the action of the right arm in its attempt to prematurely straighten.

The purpose of the left arm in this is to act as a “check rein” and prevent this from happening.

. Or I get so focused on the EA I swing with no pivot. In the end, I just can not do it as outlined in the articles. Basically, applying EA ruins my pivot in one way or another.

Solar
I had the same problem when I started to work on extension action.
I was forgetting Homer’s words : EA “stretches but do not MOVE the Left Arm”. It is tempting when starting with EA tu use it to move the left arm = loosing the pivot.
Don’t change your swing components, just ADD this slight stretching, first on chip shots, then on pitch shots.
Hopping this will help

I’m french, but I treat myself…

I had the opposite reaction to extensor action.

I found it stiffened the triangle of the arms and shoulders and forced the pivot into action with great benefit to on plane start down as described in “The Modern Fundamentals”. He says “The golfer gets on the downswing plane when he turns his hips to initiate the downswing.

Guys, don’t forget that extensor action is NOT pulling on the left arm to keep it straight. It is the action of the right arm in its attempt to prematurely straighten.

The purpose of the left arm in this is to act as a “check rein” and prevent this from happening.

Holy cow. I totally misunderstood it, then. And I’ve read about it in “the book.” So the extended left arm pushes back against the right arm?

. Or I get so focused on the EA I swing with no pivot. In the end, I just can not do it as outlined in the articles. Basically, applying EA ruins my pivot in one way or another.

Solar
I had the same problem when I started to work on extension action.
I was forgetting Homer’s words : EA “stretches but do not MOVE the Left Arm”. It is tempting when starting with EA tu use it to move the left arm = loosing the pivot.
Don’t change your swing components, just ADD this slight stretching, first on chip shots, then on pitch shots.
Hopping this will help

I’m french, but I treat myself…

I had the opposite reaction to extensor action.

I found it stiffened the triangle of the arms and shoulders and forced the pivot into action with great benefit to on plane start down as described in “The Modern Fundamentals”. He says “The golfer gets on the downswing plane when he turns his hips to initiate the downswing.

Aah but where were Hogan’s hips positioned when the initiation of the downswing was made?

Guys, don’t forget that extensor action is NOT pulling on the left arm to keep it straight. It is the action of the right arm in its attempt to prematurely straighten.

The purpose of the left arm in this is to act as a “check rein” and prevent this from happening.

Holy cow. I totally misunderstood it, then. And I’ve read about it in “the book.” So the extended left arm pushes back against the right arm?

Not quite. It stops the right arm from straightening. Acts as a check-rein, in fact.

Its all in there somewhere but start at 6-B-1-D.