The fastest way to improve your game is to land more drives and iron shots on the short stuff. Yes, landing them on the fairways and greens. And you don’t need brute strength to do it. Consistently hitting your ball at 80% of my maximum swing speed and up-clubbing is only half of the solution. You really need to let the club do the work!
You need to learn to lag your club in the backswing with a light grip. When your grip is loose you can feel the weight of your club as it changes directions. The mass of the head of your club and velocity change create a heavier feeling which is caused by the club head MOMENTUM change. At that very moment, when you feel the head of the club changing direction, your hands are moving down but the club should feel too heavy to catch up to your hands. UNFORTUNATELY, MANY RECREATIONAL GOLFERS CAST THEIR CLUB WITH BRUTE FORCE BY SQUEEZING THEIR GRIP HARDER. BIG MISTAKE!
This is a great view of Rory McIlroy creating lag at the top of his backswing. NOTE the Flat Leading Wrist and his trailing hand is pulling his LOOSY GOOSY Wrist to create Lag.
If you use “loosy goosy hands” with a flat wrist, you can simply pull down with your hands to fling the trailing club at your golf ball. Yes, you are actually throwing or releasing your club head the way you would throw a side arm pitch or fling a Frisbee. It’s that whipping action that creates the power as your club head accelerated to impact with your ball. That delay in releasing the club head is called LAG.
Try These Practice Tips:
1/ Make sure you setup by gripping with your left hand so that you can see 3 knuckles. Reduce your grip pressure. If your grip with your left hand is 50%, the grip with my trailing hand is 20%. Learn to use your trailing hand as a guide to pull your flat leading wrist to create a 90 degree angle from your leading arm to the shaft of your club at the top of my backswing. [If you panic and rush the backswing you will not create the 90 degree lag. Keep your mental focus on a light grip even when a gust of wind hits you or when you are hitting out of the rough. The momentum of your accelerating club head will take care of the speed and power of your hit.]
2/ Start the down swing with a forward press of your hip as you shift your foot pressure from your trailing to your leading foot. [If you are not able to make this shift of pressure, put more pressure on your leading foot during your setup and hold that forward press throughout your backswing. Over time you will learn to make the pressure shift as you reach the transition at the top of your backswing.]
3/ Practice your wrist release by reversing a club and swinging to create a whooshing sound at the point of impact. Lag and acceleration are the only way to create the speed to create the whooshing sound at the bottom of your swing [and to generate more distance].
4/ Practice the start of your downswing using a “pumping action” by pulling your hands down as you point the butt of your grip down at the ground to hold your 90 degree lag.
Focus on your loose grip and whoosh at the bottom to feel the power of your swing.
Practice with GOLFSTR+ to learn to lag with a loose grip, a flat leading wrist and a straight leading arm. These 3 steps will help you hit longer, controlled drives and fairway shots. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com
