Hands and impact timing (releasing)

[Sai-Jin]

So apparently I haven't been releasing quick enough and pushes the ball a little.

And when I'm conscious about my hands, I ended up hooking the ball.

Oh, I also crack my wrist a little at the top of the back swing to get more snap on impact.

Any tips how you consistent / great driver swingers have for me to have a better timing with my hands?

[Kieran123]

Don't think about releasing the club at all. It is not a motion to be forced AT ALL when swinging a golf club. It may feel like it whe hitting big draws.hooks, but it's after you've hit the ball.

Do you really think anyone can time the 'release' of the club every time? AT the speed you're swinging the club, it would be almost impossible. The 'release' comes after you've hit the golf ball.

If you're pushing the ball it could be a number of things. I would strengthen the grip for a start

[Sai-Jin]

Interesting ok, I"ll keep that in mind.

Strong grip will make me hook very badly or pull some times.

A neutral grip has worked the best for me.

[Zeph]

I agree with Kieran, don't try to "release" the club by rolling the hands over. You shouldn't try to release it by flipping either it should be driven into the ball by the hands. Ideally the sweetspot is square to the plane as long as possible before and after impact. The more the clubhead close in the timeframe around impact, the more your timing has to be perfect. Keeping the clubface square before and after give you a bigger margin of error.

[delav]

The push and hook shots come from overactive wrists coming into impact.  This will be most noticeable with the driver too.  As others have said, there shouldn't be a 'release' of the hands coming into the ball.

Work on impact drills and keep your upper body turning through the ball.  The hands follow the turn of your body and the wrist fall into place.

[Zeph]

It's face on, but you still see how well Tommy keeps the clubface square to the plane. Doing this will make your clubface at impact accuracy a lot better.

[Sai-Jin]

wow, that's a very nice slo mo. Thanks for the tips.

GOing to focus on this a little more.

Oh, Zeph, what do you mean b "It's face on" ?

Btw, I think that my push is a late release and too fast body movement, which opens the club face and causes me to do a block shot.

[Missouri Swede]

  Sai-Jin said:

Originally Posted by Sai-Jin

Oh, Zeph, what do you mean b "It's face on" ?

The video of Gainey is "face on"-- looking at him from in front of him (at his face, if he were standing straight up).

Contrasted with "down the line" view, which is looks down the target line (or toe line or ballflight line) -- looking at the right side of the player if he's right-handed.

[Sai-Jin]

ah, that's face on, got it. Thanks.

Zeph, what should I focus in looking at that video?

[Zeph]

Read this thread. It discusses the face angle of the club through the swing and why you can improve your consistency and minimize the misses by keeping it square as long as possible.

Imagine you are hitting a nail with a hammer. You wouldn't twist the hammer sideways on the way back or down and try to time it perfectly so you hit the nail square on the head. You would keep the head of the hammer aligned with the nail all the time. You are not able to in a golf swing because of wrists hinging and right arm bending, but if you roll the arms and wrists, you are making things more difficult than necessary.

Rolling the wrists give next to no speed. Lay a ball on the ground and try hitting it with only rotating the shaft, opening and closing the clubface. You are not able to hit the ball very far. The speed comes from other parts of your swing, like maintaining the flying wedges, swinging the arms fast and using the hips. The arms and wrists rotation is what determine your accuracy. Our swingpath is pretty consistent on each swing, but a small difference in clubface angle can make things tough. The faster you roll the wrists, the harder it will be and the more likely you will be to miss it both ways. The wrists can hinge and unhinge through the swing without having to roll the arms.

The thread I linked to got lots of text and can be difficult to understand. If something is still unclear, let us know so we can elaborate.

[Sai-Jin]

Thanks, Zeph, I'll do some reading!