What to do with too much lag?

[bunkerputt]

Once you get a lot of lag, what's the best way (specifically with the driver) to make sure it gets released before you hit the ball?  I'm hitting between 3-5 degree launch on my drives and it's driving me nuts that I can suddenly hit a 6-iron further than my driver.  This is a new problem that started two weeks ago.  I tried "jumping" a lot today and really trying to hit up on it.  I managed 11.8 degrees at my highest launch with 0.5 degree upward attack angle.  I bought some longer tees and I'm just going to try teeing them forward  an inch or two to see if it gives me some time to get the lag released.  Irons are penetrating with a very slight fade and extremely long.  Driver is about 200 yards and blocked and it barely gets off the ground.  I feel like I've got something really good in my swing now, but it just needs to be harnessed.  I don't want to go back to the way I used to swing (spin a lot, slight cast) even though it worked out better off the tee.  Any help would be appreciated.

[poser]

Bobby clampett said you couldn't have to much lag.

[iacas]

  poser said:

Originally Posted by poser

Bobby clampett said you couldn't have to much lag.

Bobby's wrong.

[poser]

  iacas said:

Originally Posted by iacas

Bobby's wrong.

That he may be but, I also don't see someone hitting a driver only 200 yards having to much lag but, I guess I could be wrong also.

[bunkerputt]

  poser said:

Originally Posted by poser

That he may be but, I also don't see someone hitting a driver only 200 yards having to much lag but, I guess I could be wrong also.

OK.  Forget about the details of my post and just give me ideas here.

What's the best way to release lag?  Lift the handle up after impact?  Turn more and slide less?  I'm basically trying to jump backwards at impact now.  It sort of "works", but it doesn't feel like the right solution.  This is uncharted territory for me and I would appreciate reasonable suggestions here.

[Topper]

Give some to me...I need it.

[bunkerputt]

  Topper said:

Originally Posted by Topper

Give some to me...I need it.

I'm not sure you want it.  It's not as great as I thought it would be .

I think that basically what happened was I realized I was rotating my lower body too much instead of pushing my hips towards the target and I wasn't using my arms at all.  After a few months of practicing the hip move and working on getting my arms down to the ball, they are way too far ahead at impact.  My guess is that I just need less arms to the ball, kind of get back to the feeling I had a few months ago of my arms floating along in sync with my torso , and get back to having my right arm bent at impact.  I worked it into a place where it's almost ramrod straight and way forward.

[newtogolf]

That's what my instructor has me doing now (though it's my left arm that's bent) with my irons and I'm getting more accuracy and distance than I've ever had.  It also forces my left arm to stay close to my body and eliminates the chicken wing problem that sometimes crept into my swing.

  bunkerputt said:

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

I'm not sure you want it.  It's not as great as I thought it would be  .

I think that basically what happened was I realized I was rotating my lower body too much instead of pushing my hips towards the target and I wasn't using my arms at all.  After a few months of practicing the hip move and working on getting my arms down to the ball, they are way too far ahead at impact.  My guess is that I just need less arms to the ball, kind of get back to the feeling I had a few months ago of my arms floating along in sync with my torso, and get back to having my right arm bent at impact.  I worked it into a place where it's almost ramrod straight and way forward.

[iacas]

  bunkerputt said:

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

OK.  Forget about the details of my post and just give me ideas here.

What's the best way to release lag?  Lift the handle up after impact?  Turn more and slide less?  I'm basically trying to jump backwards at impact now.  It sort of "works", but it doesn't feel like the right solution.  This is uncharted territory for me and I would appreciate reasonable suggestions here.

Do you have a video? I'm not convinced it's a "too much lag" problem.

[bunkerputt]

  iacas said:

Originally Posted by iacas

Do you have a video? I'm not convinced it's a "too much lag" problem.

Good point.  I'll post some this week.

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

Well, the below sounds like you probably have the ball too far back in your stance.  Moving it forward will help if you need a little extra space in your swing to make sure your lag has been converted to speed at impact.

But without video, that's just a guess.

And in my experience, the best way to release correctly if you're holding onto your lag too long is to relax your grip a little and feel like your hands are being passive, and cultivate the feeling that all the speed and force of the swing comes from the legs, torso, and shoulders.

-Andrew

  bunkerputt said:

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

OK.  Forget about the details of my post and just give me ideas here.

What's the best way to release lag?  Lift the handle up after impact?  Turn more and slide less?  I'm basically trying to jump backwards at impact now.  It sort of "works", but it doesn't feel like the right solution.  This is uncharted territory for me and I would appreciate reasonable suggestions here.

[bunkerputt]

I don't know if it will help, but I posted a swing in the smartphone thread.  Here it is, until I can get something with better quality.  Some of the observed angle between my left arm and club shaft is a result of a camera position that is too low.  My arms seem awfully low here and my shoulder turn looks a little too flat.  It seems like I'm still suffering from getting stuck a little:

[iacas]

  bunkerputt said:

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

I don't know if it will help, but I posted a swing in the smartphone thread.  Here it is, until I can get something with better quality.  Some of the observed angle between my left arm and club shaft is a result of a camera position that is too low.  My arms seem awfully low here and my shoulder turn looks a little too flat.  It seems like I'm still suffering from getting stuck a little:

Incidentally I chose Charlie because he has one of the more "back" ball positions out there, hits down a bit more than most of the other guys with the driver, etc. He's "most" like you, but still not as exaggerated as you.

[bunkerputt]

Thanks Erik.  Apologies for the trouble I'm sure you had with the crappy video quality.  I suspect at least half of my launch problems the last couple of weeks have been from catching it a bit thin.  I think I'm about a groove or two low on my irons.  Ball speed is high, so I didn't think about face contact.  It hasn't felt quite as solid as in the past, so I'll check that today at the range.