Instruction blog: Forearm wedges in the golf swing

text size

Cohen/Getty Images

Brian Gay has very few moving parts in his swing.

What Happened
Brian Gay took a difficult route into this year's U.S. Open by winning his second tournament of the year at the St. Jude Classic Presented by FedEx at the last possible moment to secure the last spot available in the field this week at Bethpage.

With all the talk of which young guns will emerge and challenge Tiger Woods, it seems that Gay, 37, is really beginning to show some signs of dominance with the margins of victory in his two wins by 10 and five shots, respectively. Although Gay is not very long off the tee, it does seem he has the right demeanor and extraordinary accuracy to compete with the world's elite players.

Gay is simply amazing when it comes to accuracy and putting. On the PGA TOUR, Gay is ranked third in Driving Accuracy, 45th in Greens in Regulation and ninth in Putting Average. With these types of stats, it's not a surprise that Gay is ranked third in Scoring.

TOUR Academy

The Student Manual will walk you through the "Building Block Approach" as taught at all TOUR Academies. Learn the proper steps on building an efficient full swing and short game. Buy the manual

What Can We Learn
This week, there was a lot of reference to Gay's game being very machine-like. From his dark shades to his ball-striking display, Gay looked like a machine.

Ironically, Gay's coaching over the years has been largely influenced by a book and a study called The Golfing Machine. This book is certainly not a read in the park for the average amateur, but for golf instructors, it is an absolute must to read. Gay's swing coach, Lynn Blake, is one of The Golfing Machine's greatest pupils and over the years has really helped Gay as well as numerous golf instructors all across the world understand the Golfing Machine tenets.

After Gay's win in Hilton Head, I talked about the concept of the right forearm that Blake and Gay have worked on over the years. The right forearm and its role at address and during the swing is a real mainstay in The Golfing Machine, and is often referred to in the book as "the magic of the right forearm."

You may have noticed with Gay's swing and putting, his right forearm is on the same plane as the club shaft at address. This dynamic at address is a component you see with some TOUR players, but not all. With the right forearm on the same plane as the shaft at address, this sets a player in what is called an "impact fix," which allows the player to use their right forearm and club shaft very efficiently on both the backswing and downswing. When trying to simplify the swing to make it repeatable, moving a player's set-up closer to an impact fix, which can only help.

From this set-up, Gay is in a great position to maintain his correct swing plane with very little deviation. One of the things I really like about Gay's swing is how he uses his hands relative to the shaft during the swing. This relationship is often referred to as hinging, but in "The Golfing Machine" is what's described as the "Flying Wedges."

Now, these "Wedges" are not the clubs you have your golf bag, but rather the wedges that you form between your forearms and shaft during the swing. A good swing will see the wrists hinge to create an angle between the club's butt end and the forearms. These angles should be assembled during the backswing and then reassembled during the follow-through. When done correctly such as in Gay's swing, you will acquire tremendous feel and control of your swing. Let's break down each forearm wedge:

Cohen/Getty Images

Gay's forearms are perfectly in line with the club during the swing.

Left Forearm Wedge: If you were to swing the club back with your left arm only stopping at 9 o'clock and cocking the left wrist, you will notice a small wedge to the outside of the left forearm between the club's butt end and the forearm. This roughly right angle between the butt-end and the left forearm is known as the "Left Forearm Wedge".

The shaft at this point should be pointing towards the target line, which allows the club shaft to be on the preferred plane. In this position you may notice how your left arm, left wrist and club shaft are all on this same angled plane as established by the club's butt end pointing towards the target line.

Right Forearm Wedge: If you swing the club back to the same position with your right arm only and bend the right wrist, you will notice a small wedge to the inside of the right forearm between the club's butt end and the forearm. This roughly right angle between the butt-end and right forearm is known as the "Right Forearm Wedge". Once again, the shaft should be pointing towards the target line, which allows the shaft to be on the preferred plane.

The forearm wedges during the backswing are a critical key to Gay's swing. However, what Gay and so many other PGA TOUR players do very well is not only assemble these wedges on plane during the backswing but also re-assemble them on-plane during the finish.

If you were to swing the club through to the finish with the right arm stopping at the 3 o'clock position with the club's butt end pointing at the target line, you will notice how the same wedges -- as defined above -- reassemble between both forearms and the club's butt end. The feeling you created at the 9 o'clock position during the backswing is now repeated in this mirror position at 3 o'clock during the follow-through.

These wedges are absolutely priceless when it comes to swing precision. Perhaps there is no one better in the game today when it comes to understanding and executing these concepts then the well-oiled machine known as Brian Gay.