Lag!!!

[flybub]

My brother started playing golf with me last year and is working his tail off to get better. One thing I noticed that he really needs work on is creating more lag with his hands. He has a very nice swing with great tempo but his hands are releasing too early and 1 out of every 3 shots he'll hit sky high or skull it and lose distance. Any drills I can use to give him the sensation of "this is how it should feel" when you hold off the release. The swing has always come pretty natural to me so I don't know how to explain what I do, I just do it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[tm22721]

The Swingyde works great for me.

[shortstop20]

What worked for me was just telling myself, "Hold the lag for as long as you possibly can on this shot". In actuality it will just be as long as your brain thinks you can, there's always more to be had. After he gets into the mental state of "Hey, I can hold the lag longer and still square the face at impact", he can work on holding his lag even longer after that, working on this for a while has really improved my ball striking, distance and accuracy, although I still have work to do.

[Norm3333]

Have him read "The Impact Zone" by Bobby Clampett. The theme of the book is holding the lag.

Great book. I credit it with my largest ball striking improvement.

[TMO]

Lag stick. It is by far the best way to create lag. No doubt. It'll cost you about $5 to make but you won't regret it. If you want more information on how to make it just let me know but trust me on this, you will instantly know if you have enough lag or not.

[TMO]

Just to make what I was talking about a little more clear, here is a video of the lag stick in action using an overhead camera angle.



There are other drills that you can do also to help create lag. Lag is one of my favorite subjects so let me know if you need more information.

[bsettle]

The Hogan drill is an quick easy drill to give him the feel of holding that wrist angle. Just start at the top of the backswing and start the downswing (holding the same angle from the top) all the way until the hands reach a good spot to release (about right inside the back leg). And do this three times with no hesitation. So he will go up.down(down being that spot where he would release).up.down.up.down.up and then on the last time swing through. This will give him the feeling of holding that angle three straight times RIGHT before he makes a full swing. I usually hit about 5 balls like this the first time i get to the range.

[Shindig]

Lag stick. It is by far the best way to create lag. No doubt. It'll cost you about $5 to make but you won't regret it. If you want more information on how to make it just let me know but trust me on this, you will

I don't know about the OP, but I'm interested.

[Shindig]

I am seeing lag or lag related topics pop up all over today. I'm just going to create a thread devoted just to lag. If you are currently working on creating more lag, what swing thoughts, drills, aids, etc. are you using and has it been successful. Hope this helps someone.

I have two answers to the poll, so I'm not filling it in (yet). I'm pretty sure it's important, but I have no idea what it is. As a short hitter, especially with my irons, I'm eager to learn about this.

[kafka01]

I´m considering it very important - i´m not working on any special drills to create more lag, since imo, the faster i get my legs/core turn through the ball the better my lag will be automatically. So i´m working on that to get more strength and flex in this regions.

If i look at the pros swing videos in slomo it always hurts me just looking at them, and it shows you how flexible you gotta be to deliver the club properly to the ball to get a solid strike out of it.

I sometimes see people on the range practicing lag by taking 1/2 swings very slow and holding the release off - but lets face it, as soon as he takes a full whack at it, his impact position is back to little core rotation, dominant arms and there goes his lag.

[D_Jetson]

Lag stick: I would like to know more.

For example, what is the correct length it should be. Thanks!

[Norm3333]

Whoever voted that lag is not important in a golf swing, please check any future swing tips or advice you might have for other golfers, at the door.

You are clueless.

[Eeryck]

This is a question that is difficult to answer. Lag is obviously important within the framework of what creates power in the swing. Lag is essentially the stored energy in your swing waiting to be released at the ball.

On the other hand when working on someones swing, if you tell them they need more lag, I think this is completely useless advice. The swing needs to be presented as a series of setup positions and proper sequencing that will naturally generate lag.

You can work with a lag stick all day but if you have the wrong grip on the club and your wrists are restricted then you will never see a proper result.

You can swing slowly trying to get the feeling of "holding lag" but when you put it to the full speed measure and take things out of sequence you will have lost lag.

If you bring the club inside with a tendancy to get trapped or have a normally over the top move or overswing in the backswing these are all lag sapping moves, but by correcting all of the basic fundementals then you will naturaly see some lag.

Then as a players sequencing improves in general additional lag creation will be generated with less effort. "Swing easy" to "hit hard" will start to make more sense.

FWIW,

-E

[Norm3333]

This is a question that is difficult to answer. Lag is obviously important within the framework of what creates power in the swing. Lag is essentially the stored energy in your swing waiting to be released at the ball.

Give me a break. If I understand your point, lag is useless if you screw up everything else in your swing. Please, don't dispense swing theory unless you know what you are talking about. Maybe you could recommend a book that might illustrate a point you are trying to make. It's not a hard question to answer.

Read "The Impact Zone" and you will understand.

[Eeryck]

If I understand your point, lag is useless if you screw up everything else in your swing.

Perhaps a reread of my post is in order. I think you have missed the point.

-E

[MiniMoe]

It's very important, but it's something that just happens in the swing because of correct mechanics. Not having enough lag is not a swing fault in of itself. There are other causes which have to be addressed.

[TMO]

It's very important, but it's something that just happens in the swing because of correct mechanics. Not having enough lag is not a swing fault in of itself. There are other causes which have to be addressed.

I have mixed opinions on this. I agree that lag

can happen naturally when your swing has proper mechanics but a lot of people don't reach that point where it happens naturally. My argument would be that there are many, many people who may address lag and substantially improve other areas mechanics. I guess basically it's a chicken and egg disagreement but we both believe it's important.

[flybub]

Thank you all very much for your input so far. It was somewhat descent in Ohio today so we headed to the range with some heated tees and worked on a couple things. Right off the bat he was right where he left off...releasing way to early and sculling the ball. It is very strange because in his practice swings everything looks great. He is right on plane, tempo is beautiful, and holds his release until he gets somewhere around his right leg. Put a ball down and address and he loses everything he had in his practice swing except for his tempo.

So I tried starting him at the top of his swing first. Set him where he needed to be and he did 5 practice swings down to where he would release it. Put a ball down, same drill, no dice he released to early. Did the drill again...again he released to early with a ball down. Now it was time to bring out the secret weapon. I made a lag stick without him knowing about it. I put it in the end of his grip, placed it where it needed to be on his body and told him to take about 5 practice swings with a 1/2 swing. He did and looked pretty good. Put a ball down and he jammed the stick into his gut. Trying to hold back tears from laughing he again addressed another ball. 1/2 swing back and all I heard was a click. He picked the ball clean with an 8 iron holding off his release. He and I were both stoked. He hit 10 balls with the stick in and 5 with the stick out and all looked pretty descent. The Lag Stick made a believer out of me. Granted there his a mark on my brothers gut where he jammed it but none the less look at the result. Thanks to all who chimed in to help out.