Post impact extension

[Sweep]

I am not sure extension is the correct term here. I am seeking advice on how to get straight arms after impact.
My driving has been suffering just recently, swing speed down and the shot going left. After a lot of practice I noticed that my through swing seemed to be a lot steeper than my backswing. My backswing is relatively flat, whilst my finish position has the club around my ears. If I was wearing a Greg Norman hat, I would have knocked it off. Whilst I am not "chicken winging" I do think I may be decelerating into impact ( a very common problem, I believe) and that may be causing my swing to "collapse" after impact, robbing me of distance and direction. Once I had worked this out, when I managed to maintain my swing plane through the ball my drives went long and straight so it's obviously something I need to work on to make sure it happens every time. My question is, are there any drills I can work on to achieve what I am looking for - I have had a look through you tube - and are there any training aids that may be worth looking at? For example, would an "Orange Whip" help in this regard, or is it just a tempo trainer? Any help would be most appreciated.

 

[the_coach]

the real tedious part of all this for folks is what happens into and just after impact is always determined by set-up, how the club goes to the top and a big part of how the transition sequence unfurls

given can't really know any of that in this individual swing motion

speaking generally the issues are most times around how the weight works through the motion how the rotation of the hips and chest work in sequence with the arm swing

- issues with a lack of 'extension' through impact into the follow through (that 2' to 3' after impact the only time in the swing where both arms should be 'straight' the clubhead as far away from the lead armpit/shoulder it can be) is a breakdown of one part or all of this stuff

so transition not starting from the ground up but from the top down which in turn affects how the weight works which combines to encourage an 'early release' the trail arm straightening too soon along with a 'flip' of the trail hand (palm working up to the sky before, through impact) upper body doesn't rotate sufficiently, whole trail side hip, thigh, trail chest/shoulder not working, rotating and through if the trail side 'hangs' back the arms cannot extend

getting to a better functional place into and through impact a lot is about reassessing set-up position, alignment and posture to make sure it's as good as it can be
then working with some small drills that target the portion of the swing motion of what really happens at impact and the immediate follow through
so not from immediately working with a full swing as this complicates the issues as the 'norm' of the 'usual' motion takes over so folks cannot find that extension 'cure' so get real exasperated real quick

as tedious and unimportant as these small drills may seem would say it's real important to stick with them and keep doing them and gradually working to a full swing motion but at a much slower speed that allows the 'feeling' still of what has been/and still is worked over in the small swing drills

 

[the_coach]

[video=youtube;CoerfVLZF1U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoerfVLZF1U[/video]

 

[the_coach]

[video=youtube;ZcEzdwlEXWo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcEzdwlEXWo[/video]

 

[the_coach]

[video=youtube;ZhSmZnVDCGA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhSmZnVDCGA[/video]

 

[the_coach]

although this vid is essentially an infomercial about a 'particular golf method' just ignore all of that but what is said during just the first 2+ minutes is essentially what is real important- so hip rotation and chest rotation but "still in posture" - any 'early extension' (straightening up out of posture into and through impact by hips moving to the ball/target line losing spine angle) will may good 'arm/club extension pretty much impossible

[video=youtube;6e5mUwNUZsw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e5mUwNUZsw[/video]

 

[Sweep]

Thank you very much indeed for such a comprehensive reply!
I saw the "infomercial" video last night and it made a lot of sense. These are all really good drills and I am not worried about them being tedious and I will put them all into practice.
I have been working hard on finding the best transition for me from back swing to downswing, in particular trying out pushing off of my right instep or turning my hips to start the downswing and drag my arms through impact. I have been concerened for a while that I haven't been turning enough and my swing has been all arms. however, in my efforts to improve my transition, I think I have may have neglected the first 3' or so post impact when both arms should be straight (what Butch Harmon calls "shaking hands with the target") so I just need to get that feel. I also think maybe that in concentrating on turning my hips to initiate the downswing I have forgotten the little weight shift forward prior to hip turn, so as you say, the downswing is not starting from the ground up
Thanks again for your help. It is much appreciated.

 

[ScienceBoy]

[video=youtube_share;AASecTnB6lQ]http://youtu.be/AASecTnB6lQ[/video] helped me no end