There is a noticeable difference between the impact positions and the setup positions. At setup (address,) the rear arm is extended very straight with the rear elbow away from the body. At impact, the upper rear arm, and the rear elbow are glued to the body with the rear arm well bent. In addition, the leading elbow is further outwards, and higher than at setup, which increases the difference in heights, and in the outwardness of the two elbows at impact. The triangles formed by the leading and rear forearms are tilted much differently between the setup and at impact. At setup, the “face” of the triangle formed by the two forearms is parallel with the target line. At impact, the “face” of the triangle formed by the two forearms is tilted well opened away from the target.

In the frame just after impact with the clubhead swung a few feet past the tee (ball impact) position, the rear arm is still fairly bent. Hogan’s five fundamentals book would have both arms fairly straightened out for a brief moment by this point after impact. Woods photo sequences would have the rear arm fairly straightening out even before that. For Woods, the rear elbow has rise up and off the side of the body by impact, so that the rear elbow is just slightly below the level of the leading elbow at impact, so that the triangle formed by the two forearms is only slightly tilted backwards away from the target, so that the face of the triangle is almost parallel with the target line, as Woods has the clubhead swinging a little inside-to-out at impact.

Without a frontal camera photo sequence, it is difficult to say what the effects are of the very bent rear arm going through the impact zone. The severe tilt of the forearm triangle away from the target at impact implies the clubface remains opened at impact. Without a frontal photo sequence, it is difficult to say whether the rear shoulder has shifted to close to the ball to prevent the rear arm to start straightening out during the release to let the rear hand to rotate to close to face the target by impact.

If the rear arm is bent like at impact during setup, the stance will need to be a little closer to the ball. It may be that the hands and forearms are not rotating toward the target enough during the final release just before impact, so that the back of the leading hand, and the palm of the rear hand are not facing the target enough by impact.

I think you might benefit by just enjoying golf for a month or two. Thats my two cents.

Are you aware of this? Do you or your coaches have an idea whether this is the cause or effect of your doing something unusual through the impact zone?

The factors controlling and influencing clubface angle at impact are back of leading hand, and leading forearm orientation, effective loft of clubhead, grip pressure change, hand position over ball, rear hand palm orientation, and clubhead toe position relative to clubhead heel.

The standard is to have the back of the leading hand facing the target at impact (approximately depending whether a “strong” or “weak” grip is used) to square the clubface at impact. This is the standard guideline. There are other additional leading hand guidelines for squaring the clubface at impact like some top pros have mentioned having the leading hand thumb pointing at the ball at impact (although the leading thumb should not be used as the force to turn the club as this can cause stress and injury to the leading thumb. For these pros, the leading thumb is used only as a guideline, and it is not used to provide force to turn the club. The last three fingers of the leading hand (together with the leading hand heel pad) are used to turn the club. The leading forearm like the back of the leading hand also face toward the target at impact to square the clubface at impact.

The effective loft of the clubface is decreasing rather than increasing during the release to square the clubface. Because the clubhead and the club shaft are not in a straight line, the clubface angle and the clubface loft are linked as the club shaft turns. For example, closing the clubface will require the clubface loft to decrease at the same time, while increasing the clubface loft will result in the clubface to open at the same time. They are linked. To close the clubface during the final release will require to clubface loft to decrease somewhat also.

If the grip pressure changes between setup and impact, the change in grip pressure can unintentionally rotate the club handle to cause the clubface to change between setup and impact. If the grip pressure of the leading hand changes from light to tight from setup to impact, the clubface will tend to be a little more closed than intended at impact. If the grip pressure of the leading hand changes from tight to light, the clubface will tend to be a little more opened at impact than at setup. The reverse happens if there is grip pressure change of the read hand between setup and impact. Changing grip pressure tends to cause the fingers to rotate the club handle somewhat, which results in clubface angle change between setup and impact.

The rear hand palm face toward the target at impact as the clubface turn to square at impact.

At the start of the release, the toe of the clubhead is behind the heel of the clubhead by a large amount. During the release, the toe of the clubhead starts to catch up with the heel of the clubhead, so that at impact the toe is even with the heel of the clubhead. Some top pros visualize this toe catching up with the heel of the clubhead during the release to help square the clubhead. After impact, the toe can be visualized to pass the heel to encourage draws and hooks, or the toe can be visualized to not pass the heel to encourage fades or slices. A further visualization step can be visualizing the clubhead to “fly” down the target line after impact like an airplane.