Is Good Lag A Priority?

[GlasgowsGreen]

I've looked various drills to improve my poor lag however haven't had much success.

e.g. I tried pre-setting with a wall to the right of me, however I would either hit the wall or completely misshit the ball!

To be honest I've not given any drill much of a chance to work, as I have always had others things to work on.

How important is it to have good lag? I can hit pretty far so gaining extra distance isn't a priority for me. Is it worth disrupting my swing for months to try and incorporate more lag?

[Mr3Wiggle]

I think lag is important.  It's not something I focus on though.  If I'm doing other things correctly I have plenty of lag.

[Moonnerd]

Its good to think about if you hit the ball fat, which means that angle isn't staying there long enough.

It might be more helpful to think about other things that make for a good lag, like proper grip pressure, good rhythm during your swing, hands in front of ball at impact, and not trying to kill the ball.

[Moonnerd]

Tell us about your swing... how cleanly are you hitting the ball, and when your full shots go wrong, what usually causes it?

[GlasgowsGreen]

My swing is a lot better than my scorecard would suggest! I've been playing for only 2 years and have continually worked at my swing. This has meant that it has progressed but the continual adjustments have meant that it has never been stable.

I play off mats a lot which disguises many fat shots, however I do hit behind the ball quite often. I suffer from a consistent slight push shot.

[Precis1on]

Good ballstriking first, the good lag will come.

[Motley01]

Just this year, I have made some swing changes, to get more lag. It's amazing the little effort it takes, when you have lag, how damn solid the ball flies off the club with that nice "compression".

But like others said, don't totally just focus on that. Make sure you can hit the ball solid and straight. Lag will come with experience.

[nevets88]

I used to be obsessed with lag, now I just do what my instructor tells me and I hit the ball pretty good. I think focussing on getting the low point forward, lag comes with that.

[Jefferey13]

My answer was it is very important while reading your thread, but then I realized you weren't talking about putting by the end haha! For me when I try to incorporate lots of lag I can pull the ball because my timing is off and I'm clearing through too early. But great contact and good distance comes from good lag.

[Adam Young]

lag is not as important as getting the shaft leaning forward at impact. Lag does contribute to this however. More importantly, I think you are referring to the release point of the lag.

releasing early can cause the bottom of the swing to go further back, resulting in fats and thins. Although it is still possible to strike consistently with a relatively early release. I do...

release point of lag is not the magic bullet to distance than people think it is though - it is not going to add 20 MPH to your swing speed by holding the angle for as long as possible. The majority of distance increases from this come from the fact the clubhead comes into the ball with less loft, projecting it forwards more, rather than upwards. The amount of total wrist set has more to do with speed than where you release it.

So my advice is - if you suffer with fats and thins, focus more on getting the club leaning forwards at impact rather than lag itself. Although lag contributes, you can have very little lag and have the clubhead leaning forwards at impact.

if your problem is speed (which by the sounds of your post it is not) then focus on maximising the amount of wrist cock in downswing, but don't worry so much about the release point of the lag.

[GlasgowsGreen]

Thanks for the comments