Help with 'Feeling' Lag

[chuckanderson]

I was hoping everyone could share how they 'feel' appropriate club lag to help those who were in my position 2 or 3 months ago. Before then I didn't really record and I thought I had good lag the whole time. Boy, was I wrong.

Since it is still a pretty new feeling and I remember the old I thought it might help some of you who are having trouble with casting/flipping....

no lag- Heavy on the way down, was a very wide, sweeping feeling. My left shoulder would sometimes get sore after 100-150 balls at the range. I'm telling you, I swung HARD and I did hit it far, 250 carry (for real) at the range.

lag - first thoughts are that it seems so steep there is no way you will hit the ball consistently. I'm guessing this steep feeling is what we try to get rid of when we are first learning how to play and chunking ball after ball. Anyways, to me it feels like the club barely moves and then whips downward at a very steep angle. My first session at the range where I finally saw it on the video were not amazing... it took my hands about 2-3 days to really get the feel for where they should be.

However, I now hit it about 10-20 yards farther with every club but it is a MUCH crisper, exploding, effortless swing. My trajectory is also much more consistent. I go to a range in a pretty small town ~4000 and when people hear the contact there are usually some stares.

Anybody else feel free to comment on your feelings, hopefully it will help someone else out there :)

[chuckanderson]

oh also if it helps: swing speed was 109-111 before, and 118-120 after based on a golfsmith camera

[Leftygolfer]

To me: Lag is a result of doing things well. I can't consciously think of it or anything. If you have a good grip, good sequence, then the lag is created when the lower body is shifting and the arms having came into the ball yet.

[Danattherock]

Great thread!

Lag is huge. Elusive, yet simple. I just discovered it last year when I bought the Pure Ball Striker made by Jeff Evans. It is a $15 training aid that allows you to monitor pressure point #3 (right index finger) which monitors lag. This is based on TGM principles. I spent a day with Jeff down in Augusta, Ga this Jan. He is an absolute genius with the golf swing. Check out the Pure Ball Striker website and also search Youtube for Jeff Evans and Pure Ball Striker as he has some videos there.

Be sure what ever you do, you buy Bobby Clampett's book, "The Impact Zone". I learned a ton with this book and the bottom line of page 104 and the following few pages should have came with the Pure Ball Striker. It explains things so well. This book is amazing. I just bought the newly released Impact Zone dvds and I am reading the book again as I continue learning from the excellent dvds. Lag is one of the big parts of Bobby's five dynamics. The book covers them in great detail and the dvds helped make it "click" for me. The result is the effortless power that all good golfers know, and few high handicappers ever experience. I have been hitting at the same 150 yard flag on the range for a long time. An easy smooth 7 iron drops right on the flag. With adding some lag to my swing and hitting the ball with a forward leaning shaft (2 dynamics of the book/dvds), I am now sailing my 7 iron to 165 with the same effortless swing. Lag is the reason. Nothing else has changed that much.

Also, check out the Tour Striker club. Not for lag so much, but the forward leaning shaft at impact. However, Chuck Martin, inventor and instructor, has an excellent 40 minute dvd he sends out with the Tour Striker and it covers lag very well. I was quite impressed. Lag and a forward leaning shaft at impact. Hands leading the clubhead. So vital to good golf, but eludes many beginners. Hell, took me a long time to figure this out. A very important thing if you are not doing it. Wish I had learned this a long time ago.

http://pbstriker.com/



http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/...-training-aid/

http://www.amazon.com/Impact-Zone-Ma.../dp/0312354819

http://www.bobbyclampett.com/start.html

http://www.tourstriker.com/



-Dan

[Zeph]

Good video here.

[B-Con]

I heard the feeling of lag described somewhere on this forum as (paraphrased), "the attempt to get the butt end of the club as close to the ball as possible".

[chuckanderson]

I think if you're having trouble with it, try to make the first move from the top of your backswing feel like you're going straight to the ground, instead of feeling like you're swinging in an arc. This should give you the 'weightless' feel followed by a whippy, heavy feeling once your hands are at the bottom. Just remember to keep the left arm straight while you come down

[CalBoomer]

I think if you're having trouble with it, try to make the first move from the top of your backswing feel like you're going straight to the ground, instead of feeling like you're swinging in an arc. This should give you the 'weightless' feel followed by a whippy, heavy feeling once your hands are at the bottom. Just remember to keep the left arm straight while you come down

I really agree with this. For me, it's a sensation of starting the swing by dropping my hands--with the left arm straight of course.