The Old, Worn Topic - LAG

[mmoan2]

All,

I hate to bring this up again when there's been about a jillion lag posts before, but I'm fairly new here and I wasn't sure posting a response to some thread that hasn't been read since 2010 will be seen by anyone. Then again, who knows if anything I send today will get read by anyone, but that's besides the point :)

After reading several "lag" posts, it seems that one common thread I've seen is the difference between a "sweeper" lag like that long drive champ (Zubek - is that right?) and then a "snapper" lag like Sergio. I've noticed that I am more of a sweeper, but I wonder if it's hurting me. I feel like I might be swinging too hard to hit the ball a decent distance, and if I incorporated more wrist cock delay like a Sergio I wouldn;t need to use my big muscles so much. I'm overweight right now (really working on that. Dropped 50 pounds in 2012) so my flexibility is very limited , but I've always been a pretty big guy (about 6'2 and 215 as a HS football player in great shape) anyway. Does a larger body type lend itself to being a sweeper more than a snapper? Jamie Sadlowski is a small guy who uses a tremedous amount of lag, while Zubek is a beast who could be an NFL linebacker as a sweeper. Both crush the ball. Does it make sense that if I used more delayed "snapper"-type release, I could probably shorten my backswing a bit, have my full body under control, and still hit the ball a good distance? I think the majority of my problems come from trying to swing too hard.

Also, as a former college baseball player, I always employed a tremendous amount of BOTH wrist action and body action in my swing. It's why I always batted 4th and was a very deep ball hitter. I think it was the forum moderator who commented that Sergio's delayed lag action requires a lot of timing. I guess my question is - for an amateur who has plenty of other swing flaws and not 40 hours a week to hit balls like Sergio, is it better to forget about trying to time a late release action like that, or if I have a natural tendency to do so, go for it? My swing just looks far too "sweepy" to me, and I think lag might help me a lot. Question is, how much? One of these days I'll post my swing in Member Swings to allow for greater specificity and stop boring y'all with MY problems! Hope this stirs up some like questions among others, though.

Thanks!

[WUTiger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmoan2

... there's been about a jillion lag posts before...,

... Does a larger body type lend itself to being a sweeper more than a snapper? ...  Does it make sense that if I used more delayed "snapper"-type release, I could probably shorten my backswing a bit, have my full body under control, and still hit the ball a good distance? I think the majority of my problems come from trying to swing too hard. ...

As a 25 HDCP, I don't claim to have the answer, but you talk about something Hank Haney covered in a January GD article on Breaking 80 . He mentioned:

Tighten Your Turn

LEFT: When your body stops turning, your arms should stop swinging.
RIGHT: Turn your hips on the downswing, and let your upper body respond.

When you turn in the golf swing, it's critical that the hands and arms stay in front of the body. If your arms keep moving behind you after your upper body is finished turning back, you lose power and accuracy.

Make a centered turn around a stable axis--your spine--and keep a consistent bend at your hips. Even if your backswing feels shorter, you're making a tighter turn and building coil with resistance from your lower body. The lower body then leads the full unwinding of the upper body as you move through impact. You'll produce controlled power, and that's a great goal.

Read More http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2013-01/hank-haney-4-keys-to-shoot-in-the-80s#ixzz2IGWo23tW

This goes along with being able to feel your "set point" at the top so you don't overswing.