A common description of good golf posture is to keep your left arm straight.

I see it all the time with my right-handed students. When I say, "Keep your left arm straight," they get tense trying to straighten their left arm when they address the ball.

They take this advice to literally. They actually straighten their left arm by tightening their arm and creating a straight line from the shoulder to the hand.

It is straight, but now there's so much tension that it's hard to be athletic.

A straightened left arm shouldn't be tense, it should be loose -- just hanging at your side.

You can make it literally straighter by tightening up, but it doesn't work well that way. Keep it relaxed.

If you relax your left arm, you'll notice the greatest improvement of your swing at the top. When you're arm is relaxed, it gives your wrists flexibility at the top of the swing to hinge.

This hinge allows you to create more club head speed and accuracy at impact.

Spring is here and it's time to get back on the golf course.

Full-speed Golf has been outside for the past few weeks with a series of videos for improving your game, including last week's video for developing the feel of hitting a hook.

But I'm always looking for suggestions. If there's a part of your golf game that you would like to improve, send me an email. I'd love to help you with ways to improve your technique, drills you can practice, or even rules of the game you'd like to know more about.

Send any questions or comments to me jgpgapro@aol.com.

A couple weeks ago Bubba Watson hit what was probably the greatest hook ever.

The shot helped him seal his victory at the Masters. Obviously, Watson has a tremendous feel for hitting a hook.

For those who don't know, a hook is when the ball flies from right to left, if you're a right-handed player.

A lot of amateurs, however, don't know how it feels, and they don't know how to train themselves to hit a hook.

One way to develop the feel of a hook is to hit shots on one foot. If you're a right-handed player, put all your weight on your right foot.

Watch J. demonstrate this drill.

To set-up for this drill start with your heels touching each other and the ball positioned in between your feet in your stance.

When you're in this position, ready to hit the ball, lift your left foot and lightly place your toe on the ground behind you.

This position doesn't allow you to push the club using your right hand and shoulder.

You have to swing the club more freely, which allows the toe of the club to swing pass the heal. This causes the ball to hook.

When you start practicing this drill, start with an iron and don't worry about hitting the ball far. Start with short swings and with good practice you can move up to a driver.

In recent weeks, I've talked a lot about developing a feel for certain golf shots. Bunker shots are no different.

A lot of players step into the bunker and they have the wrong idea. They're concerned with how far behind the ball they want to hit. Really, they should be worried about how much force they want in their swing.

The best way to practice this and develop this feel is just to get rid of the ball.

You can practice good bunker shots by simply moving sand. Without a ball, imagine how much force you need in your swing to hit the sand where -- if there were a ball in the bunker -- you'd want the ball to land.

When you hit a bunker shot, the ball and the sand land in the same spot.

After hitting a couple of shots without the ball, and when you feel comfortable controlling how far the sand flies, add the ball.

Now, repeat your swing and don't worry how far behind the ball you hit the sand. Just focus on the amount of force you use in your swing.

This drill is the best way to demonstrate one of the keys of good bunker play: don't worry about the ball.

If you develop a feel for hitting the sand the distance you want the ball to travel, you'll improve your greenside bunker play.

A variety of shots are often needed around the green depending on where the ball is and what obstacles are in the way.

Sometimes the situation calls for a low shot that rolls up to hole. Or there may be a bunker in the way, making a shot with a higher trajectory the better choice.

Regardless of which shot you're more comfortable with, it's important to know how to hit a variety of shots with different trajectories around the green.

I've created a simple device with conduit and hula hoops to practice these trajectories. The hula hoops are stacked on top of each other, then attached to two long poles and each other with conduit.

This device creates three targets at three different heights. By using the same club, adjusting your feet and redistributing your weight, you can practice chipping shots to the green at three different trajectories.

For a low shot, through the bottom hoop, play the ball close to your back heel, leaning heavily on your front leg. When swinging, let the grip fall out way in front of the golf ball. With a sand wedge, this allows the club face to hit the ball square keeping it low.

For the medium hoop, lessen the weight on your front foot and move the ball to the center of your stance. This will give the shot slightly more arc.

To hit a shot through the top hoop, move the ball slightly in front of center in your stance. Also, evenly redistribute your weight, maybe even leaning slightly on your back foot.

This device is something I do to make practice more fun and interesting, especially for my junior students. But even without the hoops, move the ball around in your stance, redistribute your weight, and practice hitting shots around the green with different trajectories.

You never know when one of them will come in handy on the course.