Learning swing lag thru slow motion (frustrated)

[drocpdp]

I have tried everything, including an instructor, to conquer my swing lag problem (or lack thereof).

Whenever I take a full swing, i revert to my releasing-the-wrists-before-impact old habits.

How did you learn it? Slow motion swings and then gradually speeding up? I am VERY frustrated. I will not give up. But still, every time after practice, I always am sad b/c my camera always shows me not-lagging...

[grantc79]

I have tried everything, including an instructor, to conquer my swing lag problem (or lack thereof).

Put a bucket, lying down golf bag, or any of a number of other things in your swing path behind you.

If you release too soon you will hit them every time. At that point you either develop lag or start hitting things.

[drocpdp]

Yup I tried that. At first, does it feel and sound like you're slamming your club into the mat/ball? It did for me, so I wasn't real encouraged by that. Is that the "beginning stages" of developing swing lag?

[chspeed]

As many on this forum have said before, you can't make lag happen. It happens as a result of letting the club fall and building momentum slowly, as opposed to over-accelerating from the top.

To feel it, try to pivot and let the arms fall, without adding with your hands.

[c4m]

from the top of the backswing i let my arms just fall on their own for a little ways then accelerate through impact

[$2 Nassau]

I have tried everything, including an instructor, to conquer my swing lag problem (or lack thereof).

I think if you concentrate too much on what your arms are doing and try to force lag it will never happen.

Swing with your body with your arms fairly passive and just along for the ride. Accelerate through the shot with a full body rotation towards the target, and that whipping/lag effect will just happen naturally.

[Elvisliveson]

I have tried everything, including an instructor, to conquer my swing lag problem (or lack thereof).

Practice swinging with your feet together.

This will teach you proper body rotation back and through the ball. You will learn to "let the belly lead the hands", and that's what lag is all about

[Thaddy]

I think if you concentrate too much on what your arms are doing and try to force lag it will never happen.

This is what I'm thinking in my mind while I practice at the range. Use the big muscles in your back, not the small muscles in your arms, wrists, and hands. The lag should just occur naturally!

[inthecup]

I think if you concentrate too much on what your arms are doing and try to force lag it will never happen.

I agree with this, lets your arms and wrists be passive the rotation of your hips and shoulders pull the arms through.

You will be amazed by the distance this adds to your drives. It adds quite a bit of distance to both my irons (1-1/2 clubs) and more to my driver. Think of the big hitters you have seen, did they swing hard? Their arms just appear to flow through. Like all things in the golf swing it is counter intuitive.

[billm408]

The best drill that I know of is to swing with an obstacle in the way (already mentioned). Another that might help is this;

Grip the club at the head/hosel. When you swing, listen for the whistling sound the club makes on your downswing-that's the release point. You want to hear it out near your left foot.

Also, there's a Greg Norman swing aid that's pretty good. It's a wrist brace that holds your right wrist in a cocked position. Good luck.

[drocpdp]

Thanks guys. I feel encouraged now. I'm going to try these mental images out...

Thanks so much!!

[MPS67]

As many on this forum have said before, you can't make lag happen. It happens as a result of letting the club

from the top of the backswing

Like the posters above have stated, you must at first, allow the club to travel down vertically from the top before you turn/rotate.

The important thing to realize is that once you impart a rotational action in your downswing, the club will immediately start to release due to COAM (conservation of angular momentum) and you will loose your lag. This rotational force is fine once you get your hands down to the side of your trailing hip where the lag angle between the club shaft and arm continue to measure approximately 90°. So, you must figure out how to get your right arm and elbow (almost) straight down (vertically) to your side from the top. Some golfers simply allow gravity to pull the right elbow straight down into the slot position before they rotate their torso & hips. Others get the club, hands, elbow straight down from the pull of a forward hip bump, while maintaining passive arms.

[Bauer]

Is that what they are trying to accomplish when they say "try and put your right elbow in your right pocket"?

[TN94z]

The best drill that I know of is to swing with an obstacle in the way (already mentioned). Another that might help is this;

This is what I was about to say. This will tell you when you are releasing the club. Also, there is a power swing fan that gives you the feel of lag. You can't swing it hardly without using your body and this is what lag is all about. I used one in my lesson and I am going to buy one.

[MPS67]

This instructor essentially explains why the club releases, and how to prevent it from releasing too early.

[enduro]

The golf swing is such a weird thing because we over analyze it and nit-pick every little step, as if we have control over them. We really don't to a degree. We can control how grip, address, waggle and backswing and then our hips and shoulders to a degree. But really, you just get them going and everything magically happens. Yet we spend a lot of time trying to make this intricate downswing. We can't. Your downswing is a function of all these other things. All you can control is how hard you get your body and shoulders turning.

If you did the other things right, then your on plane so just let the thing go. I had an instructor actually have me throw clubs. He said (taking old clubs btw) swing this and let it go and make it go as far as possible. That is the kind of thing you want to be doing.

The golf swing isn't too big a thing. Not to trivialize the game as the game is hard. Shaping shots, strategy, chipping and going up and down, reading greens, notr resorting to old habits, etc are what separate good golfers from ok golfers.

My only advice is to project your body into your shoulders and shoulders into the extension; the arms/hands/club. Let the club face do the work. The thing will align itself naturally when you project all that power into it. Just swing it and slap that ball. Do not try and manipulate the club in any way. If you are then you're doing it wrong. Think about it logically for a second: Can anyone really consistently manipulate a club face and produce good contact? Of course not. All you can do is load yourself up and swing away. Pretend the club face is perfectly flat.

[TN94z]

The golf swing isn't too big a thing. Not to trivialize the game as the game is hard. Shaping shots, strategy, chipping and going up and down, reading greens, notr resorting to old habits, etc are what separate good golfers from ok golfers.

How do you shape shots (draw, fade, high, low, spin, no spin) without manipulating the club?

[MPS67]

Think about it logically for a second: Can anyone really consistently manipulate a club face and produce good contact? Of course not.

I can't speak for low handicappers, but I agree with you in allowing the release to occur passively.

But if you want your hands forward of the ball at impact, I do believe that after loading the club up at the top, one should make the necessary movements (forward hip bump, drop the hands/elbow) before swinging in a rotational manner. Otherwise, you'll prematurely lose club head lag.