Golf Tips: Ball Towel In Armpit

At the PGA Championship I watched Tiger Woods practicing with a glove under his right armpit.  He was hitting ball after ball, and the glove stayed there.  I've seen other players and instructors discuss the glove in the right or left armpit to help keep the arms close to the body or "connected."  Vijay Singh practices this way quite a bit. Benefits As mentioned, trying to keep the glove (or in our case a Frogger Ball Towel) in the armpit during the swing keeps the arms close to the body.  This can help prevent the dreaded chicken wing, the breaking of the elbow in the takeaway as well as the finish.  Keeping the upper arms close to the body also helps promote a better turn and coil with the body and hips, and not just the arms.  Having the upper arms close to the body in the swing also promotes a "one piece" takeaway. As mentioned, Tiger would practice many shots with this technique and the glove would not leave his right armpit.  But what about the left?  The left is a bit different.  If you are working on "control" shots or punch shots, it is fine to use a glove/ball towel in the left armpit (right handed players of course) for a shorter finish of about 1/2 to 3/4.  The towel will stay in the armpit if the proper technique is used.  But if you are working on a full swing, the glove will fall out about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through the follow through as the left or front arm separates from the body.  It should fall out at the same point in the swing every time, consistently. Other methods say that the towel should stay in the left armpit at all times and I would disagree.  Look at photos of your favorite pro swing in the finish and try to imagine it staying there.  You'll see that there's quite a gap. Conclusion Experiment with this technique at the practice range or even while making practice swings without hitting a ball.  You should find that your turn will be more around your spine and core, depending less on the arms.  The arms will also stay on a better and more consistent plane, not moving outside the target line or too far inside.  Feel the upper body and arms connected as one piece as you make your turn, rather than the arms and body being two separate moving parts.