Lag

[banshee]

How to get it without felling like I'm going to break my wrist?

It has become painfully clear that I have an early release.

Are there any drills that you guys can recommend to help fix this flaw?
I tried to hold my wrist angle as long as possible, but it feels like I'm going to break my wrist.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

[juansky]

Try the "shut face" drill.

 

Set up to the ball with a closed club face...close it about 3-5 degrees and try to hit the ball straight. At first you'll probably hit some draws....but in order to hit it straight you must have your hands ahead of the ball at impact. It's a great drill and I highly recommend it. :)

[banshee]

So closed face, but nuetral grip right?

[joesgonegolfing]

From my perspective when I was teaching you cannot create or manufacture "lag", unless your left hip comes open through impact.

 

For many players the early release is IMPOSED on them by their body position as they come to impact, if your body is in the way you will lose the "lag".

 

Without some video it would be hard to say what you are doing to cause early release.

 

However I get tired of watching guys rehearse the holding of lag in their preshot routines instead of rehearsing the hip turn that is really required to help you hold that lag.

 

Joe

[juansky]

Yep, normal grip wether its neutral or strong.

 

So closed face, but nuetral grip right?

[finalist]

Regarding only my driver...

I hit it pretty well but when I try to create more lag I hit big bad slices. Also the more I open my hips at impact I tend to hit slices. SO with that said I feel if I release naturally and hold off my hip rotation (stay centered) I have a very consistant driver. But I'm always wondering if there's more distance out there with utilizing my hips more. I can really throw my hips around pretty fast but it just messes up my timing.

[Pdougherty]

One thing that I try to do, keyword "try," when working on lag, is have my knuckles facing directly behind me(looking at it from DTL) as long as possible coming down. sometimes try to get it the point that the knuckles on my right hand are parallel to the ground then release.

[banshee]

From my perspective when I was teaching you cannot create or manufacture "lag", unless your left hip comes open through impact.

 

For many players the early release is IMPOSED on them by their body position as they come to impact, if your body is in the way you will lose the "lag".

 

Without some video it would be hard to say what you are doing to cause early release.

 

However I get tired of watching guys rehearse the holding of lag in their preshot routines instead of rehearsing the hip turn that is really required to help you hold that lag.

 

Joe

 

Thanks for the insight. The coach I've been working with has suggested that I rotate my hip my hips first on the downswing. When I do this, I do make good contact, but I feel so disconnected. When I rotated the hips first, it feels like I'm twinding my body even more before the unwinding. Very weird sensation.

 

But I'll keep at it with the hip move.

 

I would post a video of my swing, but even at 1/2000 shutter speed, I still get a blurred picture when I pause the video.

[Rod]

Watch this:

 

Pay close attention to what his right elbow is doing on the way down...nothing! This is probably your key issue. IMO you have already created the lag at the top of your backswing, so your maintaining it rather than creating on the way down(kinda sorta).

 

 

BTW, it kills me when he throws that right hand up there...Jazz hands :)

[ej002]

I have a suggestion to get the feeling, I learned it in baseball. It was intended to create a short compact swing from the inside, but also creats lag.

 

Take a bat (a crappy one, or a wiffle bat) and stand about 18 inches away from a fence. Then swing the bat level (like you are hitting a fast ball right down the middle), BUT DO NOT HIT THE FENCE. It should not take very long to figure out the feeling of holding you wrists until the head is way out in front of your imaginary home plate. The feeling yoiu get is that you will swinging the bat, but trying to hold you wrist angles for the whole swing and the centripital force just pulls the head of the bat out.

 

** on second thought, stand a little farther away and move in. You should get to a point where you just miss hitting you hands on the fence and still be able to NOT hit the bat either**

 

Then just apply it to golf. Swing trying to keep the same feeling holding the club.

 

Maybe this will work.

[bignose]

I have a suggestion to get the feeling, I learned it in baseball. It was intended to create a short compact swing from the inside, but also creats lag.

 

Take a bat (a crappy one, or a wiffle bat) and stand about 18 inches away from a fence. Then swing the bat level (like you are hitting a fast ball right down the middle), BUT DO NOT HIT THE FENCE. It should not take very long to figure out the feeling of holding you wrists until the head is way out in front of your imaginary home plate. The feeling yoiu get is that you will swinging the bat, but trying to hold you wrist angles for the whole swing and the centripital force just pulls the head of the bat out.

 

** on second thought, stand a little farther away and move in. You should get to a point where you just miss hitting you hands on the fence and still be able to NOT hit the bat either**

 

Then just apply it to golf. Swing trying to keep the same feeling holding the club.

 

Maybe this will work.

 

This method definitely works. This is what I used to learn how to to hit balls to right field.

 

Here's the same concept, only in terms of golf: http://thegolfdrillguru.netfirms.com/nfblog/?p=421

 

They use a golf club and a golf cart as the bat and fence, respectively, but the concept is exactly the same.

[banshee]

Watch this:

 

Pay close attention to what his right elbow is doing on the way down...nothing! This is probably your key issue. IMO you have already created the lag at the top of your backswing, so your maintaining it rather than creating on the way down(kinda sorta).

 

 

BTW, it kills me when he throws that right hand up there...Jazz hands :)

 

Thank you so much for that video. It made so much sense. I was doing exactly what he said I shouldn't be doing with rotating the shoulders first. Will try hard to rotate the hips first.

[avrag]

Watch this:

 

it's beautiful, and i've watched it hundreds of times, and tried to copy it thousands of times,

 

BUT:

 

Regarding only my driver...

I hit it pretty well but when I try to create more lag I hit big bad slices. Also the more I open my hips at impact I tend to hit slices. SO with that said I feel if I release naturally and hold off my hip rotation (stay centered) I have a very consistant driver. But I'm always wondering if there's more distance out there with utilizing my hips more. I can really throw my hips around pretty fast but it just messes up my timing.

 

this is exactly what happens to me as well, when i try to deliberately turn my hips earlier, and when i try to keep the arms, elbows and hands passive. i've also tried slicefixer's "closed face drill" a lot and hit nothing but push slices with it. it's frustrating.

[Rod]

If you pull up on the left side too much versus pulling for rotation you will open the face of the club.

[avrag]

i know exactly what i do from swing videos i have seen. i just do not find a way to get rid of it.

the angle between my right upper arm and my right forearm straightens way too early in the downswing (right handed swing). so does the angle between my right forearm and the club shaft.

the result is inconsistency, fat and thin shots and also distance loss. when i use my normal swing i usually get the ball going exactly in the direction i want to, but the shots are weak and i cannot really rely on them.

as i said, i know that i do it and i try not to, but it just doesn't work. i can do a drill like a baseball swing, standing upright and swinging the club horizontally, that i way i can keep the angles and keep the right upper arm close to my torso. but the moment i bend over and try to make a golf swing, it is gone.

what other drills are there that can work?

slicefixer, should you read this: as i stated above, i've tried your "closed face" drill, which i find very useful in theory, but i only hit push slices with that sort of setup. very strange.