By "arms hang straight," I mean that the arms have no tension supporting them against gravity in a posture other than the one that results when the upright golfer stands with arms hanging relaxed by the sides. This always means that the elbows are vertically hanging beneath the shoulder sockets, but it does not necessarily mean the same for the forearm. Usually, due to muscular development from normal human activities, there is always some residual muscle tone on either side of the elbows that may make the forearm angle out a bit. But you really can relax enough so that both the elbows and forearms hang pretty straight beneath the shoulder sockets. But generally, for all golfers, I mean that the elbows hang straight beneath the sockets with the upper arms looking like logs dangling on a very short cord beneath a hook in the shoulder. The elbow is more important than the hands position for a good shoulder stroke.
The problem with looking at the crook in other golfers' setups is that this does not tell you whether it is advisable or not. That's the problem with the so-called "expert model" of sports techniques. In the final analysis, each of us personally must decide whether it is better to have relaxed arms in the setup, or arms held in a static crook with tension. Frankly, I've decided on the benefits of relaxation. Even if the person is a PGA Tour pro, if he has a tense putting posture with a crook in the elbows at address, I believe he could putt better with a better setup.
The reason most golfers unwittingly adopt such a crook in the elbows is
a) they don't really know what it means to relax the arms, and
b) they put there hands on the putter grip when the length of the putter has been determined by the manufacturer and then the golfer soles the putter -- this almost always would stick the golfer too far from the ball with too flat a lie angle, so the golfer cheats by taking length out of the system with an elbow crook when instead he should either buy a shorter putter or only take up his grip after soling the putter and "bringing his body to the putter" after the face is aimed and the sole settled.
Putter fitting is not well done these days, as can plainly be seen by the non-optimal postures golfers have. And practically none of the PGA Tour players sole the putter and then bring their bodies to the handle, as they should. Speaking broadly, there is a very great deal of room for improvement in putting technique throughout golf, including the pro ranks.
When the arms are truly relaxed, the eye position over the ball in a good setup determines the length and lie of the putter. With arms relaxed and hanging straight, the distance from the shoulder sockets out to the pupils is almost always 8-10 inches, or about one grip length. This would place the ball closer to the feet than usually seen in golf. But then the emphasis is only on the moving of the shoulderframe, not the arms or hands -- and that's as it should be. So a relaxed hanging of the arms sets you up for a good stroke. The HANDS are the bloomin' enemy of a straight roll. Bfeore even starting the stroke, it is a very good idea to commit to relaxing everything from the shoulders on down to the hands, and then moving only the shoulder frame.
Also, when the elbows are crooked in to the sides, any armsiness in the stroke will cause unwanted arcing of the putter path and face. Armsiness is independent movement of the arms separate from the shoulder sockets and torso, and implies changing of the arm pits. In a backstroke with armsiness, the elbow tucked to the side will "roll" across the chest as the arm moves independently. This action makes the stroke path gate and also twists the forearms open going back. It requires a very special sort of armsiness to slide the elbows across the chest without this sort of gating or face opening. And just keeping the armsiness out of the stroke, with the arm pits unchanging and the elbows not traversing the chest, is the much simpler way to avoid this trouble.
So, if you want to putt with handsiness or armsiness, you can choose either a relaxed setup or a static tense setup with elbows crooked. Either will work as well for that sort of stroke, but the vast majority of golfers are not deliberately choosing one or the other. On the other hand, if you want a shoulder stroke featuring relaxed arms and no armsiness or handsiness, then the arms need to hang relaxed and straight.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
PuttingZone
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