Let Release Happen or Force it: A question of balance

If a student does not have a casting problem, and is not releasing properly, would you tell them to rotate more (let release happen) or focusing on releasing through the ball (forcing release to happen)?  Just assume everything else in the swing is normal/acceptable.

What do you mean by release?

Your wrists?

The clubhead?

Your bladder?

I seriously have never understood what release even means. From what I understand, if you aren't releasing the clubhead naturally through the swing, you aren't swinging fast enough.

When you are rotating on the downswing there should be a small delay which if you are a right hand ball striker at contact your left back pocket should be visible. Once the contact is made your lower body continues to turn unit you reach your follow though finish.I you download the V1 app onto your smartphone you shall see the pro's and the body rotations.

Keep in mind that a well struck ball comes from the a angle of attack. So, if you use the wrist you are slapping at the ball; which could cause fat shots.

So are you advocating "letting release happen" in the context of this post?

Can anyone see why would one think that you actually "do something" with your wrists?

Just from personal experience, I've fought the block/push forever.  I've had stretches of good golf trying to fix it by consciously "releasing" more, really consciously pushing the hands a bit more to close the face.  But the more permanent and effective steps in the direction of more consistently getting the face closed to where I want it (and not way beyond) have come from fixing issues elsewhere than the hands: maintaining spine angle, not dipping the right shoulder the wrong way, hip/knee bump to start the swing, rotating the hips more pre-impact while keeping the butt back and not holding my weight back.

In fact, as I've slowly fixed non-hands/arms issues, I find that retaining stiffer wrists to allow for a conscious push to close the face tends to overdo it and I start fighting pull-hooks.  If I get my body and rotation closer to right, I need only to let my wrists be loose and they'll close the right amount on their own.

@mvmac , what's the reason behind what you posted?  Is it true for straight draw versus straight fade, or just push draw versus pull fade?  For the straight draws/fades, intuitively it does seem like you need to close the face relative to the path by impact more for the draw, so you'd think that rate would continue to A8.  I know at least feel-wise, to hit a purposeful straight fade I need to feel like I'm holding my hands back or I'll tend to just hit a straight pull.

Another interesting point.  Listen to what Tiger says @2:14.  Dare I say that he said the words "so they can flip it, hit the ball a long ways" (and yes he did acknowledge that you can hit it further that way but you lose consistency).  My points are never "definitive" in nature.  I'm just curious as to what the thoughts are behind having active or passive wrists or whether wrists should be part of the "release" equation at all.

Also,

would anyone say that when you are holding decent lag, and your hands are over the ball, and, do you slow down your torso to allow the club to whip through the ball?  Or do you continue to accelerate your torso/shoulders through striking the ball?  It looks to me as if the pros have a split second stop-n-go in their swing as they strike the ball.

I have never really thought about it...I've just been trying to ingrain the fundamentals, but now that you've asked the question I can't stop thinking about it lol. Thanks a LOT!!

I'm a little distracted by your avatar.  :-/

mvmac, thanks for your reponses.

so now that we have the "release happens" philosophy on the table, and you posted a picture of lining up your arm with the club (with a slight shaft lean I might add), this suggests to me that when you turn your torso and shoulders on the down swing, the closer you get to impact, the higher you have to get your left shoulder (for a right golfer).  In this case, for someone who is not used to this position, it will most likely feel like you are literally swinging under the ball?

So the combination of twisting the hips and torso, and causing that last minute elevation of the left shoulder (for right handed golfers) will automatically cause proper lag to release?  I need to video tape my front view swings.