Extensor Action and putting

[okie]

I am looking for a little clarification on the role of extensor action with regards to putting. How does one go about using extensor action when you utilize a FLW equivalent? Typically most people do not putt with the primary lever visually straight from fulcrum to the sweetspot. Doesn't extensor action provide the force neccessary to keep the left arm extended without muscular tension? How do you use extensor action when the left arm is bent?

I've been searching the archives on this one but have not found specific reference.

[O.B.Left]

Great question.

I have been wondering the same thing for a while now. Right now I employ an EA pressure that is soft enough to allow for a slightly bent dead left arm. I suspect Tiger uses EA with a bent soft left arm. No proof but it looks that way to me anyway.

Ive had good results with it. More structure, more mass, more simple. EA, a frozen right wrist and a bent right elbow. My left arm has evolved into a slightly longer position than before but not all the way to Crenshawian straight. Still a geometrically flat left wrist only as opposed to literally flat. The ball is being compressed now, the putts run straight and hold their line. The send seems longer.

It is a very right side feeling putting method for me. Not hitting though, no active right arm straightening. I may be wrong but it feels like a rft , tracing and a then a down plane right shoulder taking the club into the ball. I did experiment with a shoulder takeaway but liked the RFT better. A shoulder take away for some reason promoted an active right arm push and sent the ball left for me. To each, his own of course.

This is very much a mini version of my full swing, RFT then hit the ball with my right shoulder, the hands along for the ride only. Only possible for me when I employ EA. Otherwise the hands get involved.

I couldnt figure out why EA was so great for my chipping and so hard to adopt when putting. To make a long story short I had to go back to my old classic two thumbs down the shaft putting grip. The right hand low, the pressure points solid. All of a sudden the dead hands of EA worked their magic. It took some changes to my set up and arm positions which I was a little averse to. In retrospect all of the changes were moves towards my full swing method and alignments.

I may have some of the above wrong but its work'n so I aint fix'n it until its broke again.

Thanks Yoda, that was time well spent on the practice green in front of the Swamp's office last April.

PS I believe Yoda's personal preference is for flat left wrist. Cant remember if his left arm was straight or not.

[okie]

Based on the putting sequences of the Great Green One his left arm is extended and his left wrist is pancaked.

This is my dilemma. I have trouble using EA when the left arm is anything but straight. It seems that I have to resist the pulling action of # 1PP with muscular effort from the left arm. I know someone will just say putt with a fully extended lever, but most pros do not, so I am curious how EA works for bowed elbow folks.

Is it possible that the popular teaching trend of keeping the triangle intact is just a very poor description of the structure that EA supplies? Surely they cannot be that clueless.

[O.B.Left]

Although EA provides structure and mass there is something to be said for relaxation. A massive amount of EA or a left arm with its muscles actively resisting EA will get the left arm straight but is less than ideal from my experience anyways. I struggled for over a year doing just that. When I totally relaxed my left arm I found what I was looking for. The left arm doesnt need to be perfectly straight at address to my thinking when putting or in the full swing (on the occasions when employ EA at address that is). In the full swing the CF of the turning pivot extends the left arm to truly straight. In putting the left arm always stays slightly bent as the CF is dialed down.

One factor in all of this is the angle of the shoulder tilt at address. With a lower trailing shoulder the EA extends the left arm with relative ease. Level shoulders makes it harder to do. There is some middle ground of course which is where I tend to live for putting. With EA , my slightly tilted shoulders and the left arm TOTALLY relaxed there will be a slight bend at the left elbow. Left arm muscular resistance could snap it straight but it would have a disruptive effect on the orbit the putter travels. It is best thought of as a leash or check rein. Unfettered CF allows the club head to seek a straight plane line. The lighter CF of putting gives more weight to the disruptive and off plane meanderings of muscular tension. This, sadly, I know from extensive first hand experience.

[okie]

Thanks for your efforts O.B. I'm pretty dense. This is my train of thought (looking for a gourge) EA makes a constant radius possible, especially during startup and the backstroke with the minimal effect of CF. Now CF can provide the structure for the power package on the way down, but CF alone is for pure swingers, right?

Putting, or driving a constant radius is vital, as a constant low point is dependent on it, right? So, if I bend my left arm with FLW equivalent, what provides the structure to maintain the constant length of the radius. It seems to me that you can only do it in two ways: muscle tension in the left arm, or extensor action. As I mentioned before I think when teachers tell students to maintain the triangle, especially in putting it is a misguided reference to extensor action.

Is it possible to use EA and still have a bent left arm? It seems as though that would not be possible. That I guess is the crux of the matter to me. Integration is important, therefore if I use EA on a full drive I would like to use it on the greens as well.