Lagging driver confusion

[Williamevanl]

Sorry I looked all over the net and I still don't understand the whole driver lag concept. Even in slow motion in my living room I don't understand how the driver head squares up and moves into the ball on the upswing with the hands so far ahead of the club head at impact.

Can someone explain this?

[Scottydoint]

With the driver, the hands aren't quite as far ahead of the club head as with an iron, but only because the ball is further up in your stance. Your hands should be in about the same exact spot (about even with your left thigh) when making contact with the ball with all clubs unless your are trying to hit one higher or lower than normal. You must rotate your forearms over in order to square the club head up. Do this... take your left hand and act like you are set up with a club in your hand. Take it to about half way in your swing. Now go back down as if you were going to hit a ball and try and get that flat or bowed left wrist at impact point towards the target. You will see the only way to get to that position is to rotate your forearms.

[Three Putt]

post a video of your swing.

[Williamevanl]

Okay, maybe thats the problem. I was under the impression that the hands got pretty far ahead of the ball, further then you mentioned, even with the driver.

[RC]

No... I can't explain it. I could give some obtuse physics about the club being swung about its unstable axis, but the club is asymetric and the analog is not perfect. Nevertheless, a golf club wants to square up to conserve all the momenta going on. But that is not really what you are asking.

Lag is created by the body moving and turning (shifting weight to the left) before the club starts down. When my swing is really cooking, the feeling is my arms and hands are totally passive during the first part of the downswing, so the body moving forward and turning precedes the club starting down. Additional angle is created, and as the body continues turning it reverses the club's backswing motion, loads the shaft, and starts the arms and club back down. It feels effortless until right at impact when the sensation is that your left hip has posted around and snaps the club down through impact -- then I feel like my right side hits as hard as it can.

The only problem with this kind of swing is if you get the club inside, or trapped behind you, or if you try to add a hit to the swing with your hands too early. The longest drives are truly almost effortless reactions to as powerful a body release as one can generate. You know if you do it correctly because you will remain in balance, you almost cannot come over the ball, and the ball flies very straight -- that is my attempt at explaining something more complicated than the quantum mechanics of the hydrogen atom. Believe me, it takes more effort to hold off the squaring of the clubhead than it does to just hang on and let the club lag and then release -- it really wants to square up, unless we do something wrong or try to put energy into the swing too early.

[Scottydoint]

Check out this video. Watch how they hold their wrist cock till the end and rotate the arms and also notice how their right hand gets more on top of the shaft than on the bottom.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...woods+swing=en