If you have ever seen Ben Hogan set up to hit a ball, you'll notice that his elbows were pointing directly at the corresponding hip.
From the straight on position, it looks like the inside of his elbows are rolled open and staring straight at the sky.
This was his key set-up position, as it allowed his right arm to fold correctly and keep it nice and compact to his body.
His elbows seemed as though they were touching his right hip on the takeaway.
Many times we see the right elbow flare out and away from the body causing a "chicken wing".
This generally comes from a poor set-up relationship where the arms are bowed, and elbows are pointing more parallel to the target line.
When our elbows get in the proper position of pointing at the hips, we'll see a nice straight V created with our arms.
In the end, this will help to keep our takeaway wide and compact with a nice straight left arm.
It's no secret that many golfers struggle with alignment.
To even bring up the notion that elbows need to be aligned just like your feet, shoulders and club can be a confusing concept.
Remember that your arms and hands create the last link to the club and ball.
It becomes even more important that the hands and arms work in unison.
We all know about the importance of the grip, however, if our arms are out of sync it can result in many errors later in the golf swing.
Proper arm alignment starts with the elbows and if your arms are in perfect alignment, you should be able to drill an imaginary hole through your elbow joints and see directly into the horizon.
Many players have one arm higher than the other which is a result of the shoulders being open or closed which will create a variety of poor shots and inconsistency.
Out of Bounds: Looking back at the Ryder Cup whatever happened to the old caddie golden rule of "Show up, keep up, and shut up."