Driver swing question

[O.B. Right]

I've been working a lot on my driving lately and recently had a breakthrough that I'm having trouble replicating. I was concentrating heavily on my shoulder turn and taking the club back pretty much to the inside. For some reason I let the clubhead lag in front of my arms during the takeaway. When I got to the top of the backswing, the club seemed to "drop" into position and I ended up making really good contact for the first time ever with my driver. I could actually feel the ball compressing against the clubface at impact and the resulting drive was long and straight.

I did this a few more times but only by lagging the clubhead during takeaway. When I don't do this, I end up making a high fade. My high fade is often playable but I really like the feeling I was getting with these solid hits. For the first time ever, I felt like I was hitting the back of the ball.

My question is - what does lagging the clubhead at takeaway do that allows me to get into position and make the correct swingpath on the downswing and how can I do it without lagging the clubhead on takeaway. I have never seen anybody do this on swingvision so I assume it's bad. It is bad, right?

[royemunson]

This is exactly how I learned how to go from a Fade to a draw. Personally once I was able to consistently manage my lag and hands at the top of the swing, I was able to do the same - long and straight with a slight draw.

If it's working for you, then keep it up. If you watch especially some of the older pro golfers, you'll see a lot of bad takeaways for guys who would pull it together and hit the ball long and straight.

Joe

[Scott_K]

I learned this from watching Payne Stewart's swing and this is my take on what's going on.

When you do this, the muscles in your hands and forearms are loose and you're able to swing the club smoothly. Like you said, when you're at the top, the club kind of just drops into position. When you intiate the downswing, the hands, wrists and forearms are still loose and a great amount of lag is created which leads to more distance. Also, when you're loose, your release will be natural and the fade will start to go away. The "rolling" of the forearms is natural and not forced. With that said, the grip is the culprit in the big picture.

I don't have access to youtube right now, sorry, but I remember Payne doing this move. It looks like a reverse press where the hands move first and the clubhead seems to stay still with the takeaway.

This is a big breakthrough and can lead to an effortless swing. Keep working on it.

[O.B. Right]

I went back to the range this morning to keep working on this. I found that I can do it without actually lagging the club head on takeaway. Instead I just allow the club head to "load" up the left side of my grip. On the downswing the load is on the right side of the grip. The feeling I had was one of "tossing the club into the backswing" so the downswing starts while the club head is still going back. That's how it feels . .not sure how it looks.

Out of about 40 drives I managed to pull this off about 5 times. When I didn't pull it off, the result was a high, fading drive and I was left with the mental feeling of not having committed enough to the shoulder turn or follow though. A few missed shots were dead pulls - 50+ yards left. A few were banana ball slices, too.

When everything falls into place it's almost a little scary. The clubhead is moving so fast that, for a split second in the downswing, it seems totally out of my control. Then the clubhead smashes into the ball and seems to almost absorb it for a second . .and then, when I eventually look up, I see the ball flying towards the back of the range. The sound of impact is quite startling . .gets the attention of the folks within a few stalls right or left.

I spent a few minutes trying to get the same feeling in my 4 iron and was pleased as well. The feeling of the takeaway is the same but less extreme and the resulting (non-missed) shots were crispy and longer than average for me.

It's hard to judge distance at the range using range balls but there is a little target green that is supposedly 218 out. I managed to hit it or get close to it a few times (with the driver). That is a huge improvement for me versus just last week. I feel like I've stumbled into something here.

[KimboSlice]

Any chance of somebody posting a video of this? I'm having a hard time visualizing this in my simple little head...

[flatom]

The clubhead moves the fastest when the handle moves the slowest in the swing thus creating a whipping action. What is happening is the handle is slowing down prior to impact which allows the clubhead to speed up past center and into the ball.
My longest drives have been when I was able to almost stop the handle prior to impact which creates immense speed.
Try it, I thought it was my secret but willing to share.

[O.B. Right]

Any chance of somebody posting a video of this? I'm having a hard time visualizing this in my simple little head...

I wish I had a video camera but I'm sure what I'm doing doesn't really look like what I think I'm doing. I've been watching a lot of swingvision swings and I think what I've done is found a way to trick myself into not starting the downswing with my arms and coming outside-in.

I might not even be generating lag in the downswing. Although the "swingvision in my mind" shows me creating lag, it might just be from making square contact that it feels so powerfull. I have never made good contact with the driver before this. Always outside-in "glancing blows". In a lot of the driver swing visions I watched the first thing to move forward in the downswing is the golfers right knee. I think that having an exagerated thought of starting the downswing with the clubhead still going back allowed me to start with my lower body instead of my upper body. That's my theory for now, anyway. Hope to get a camera soon.