WOW I Finally Get Lag and Release

[VegasRenegade]

We must be in a parallel universe I retweak my back yesterday.  I have not put a new post up on the blog in a while.  Another couple drill I have been using are from Shawn Williams. One thing he shows is pre-turning your head to get behind the ball.

[amac]

Lag is what separates Pro's from weekend amateurs.  Proper lag will/should result in solid ball striking.  Solid ball striking is necessary to compress the golf ball to make it explode off the golf club.  Too many high handicappers don't understand compression.  I am like you in that I have been relentlessly chasing proper lag technique.  I have an early release, also known as casting the club.  This moves kills my power/distance and promotes poor ball striking.  I've spent lots of time working with an instructor to correct the problem.  His favorite drill was working the small swing.  The point from 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock is where the lag appears, then releases to the follow through.  He wore me out on these drills.

1. Set up to address - take the club back so your arm is parallel - look to check proper club rotation and wrist hinge - head back down - fire at the ball with proper release and hip turn.  Over and over.  I did this with an abbreviated follow through.  Distance wasn't important.  Ball striking and proper release were the focus.  We did the same drill, but stopped the backswing when the club reached parallel.  This drill really showed which hand fired at the ball.  Point here was to pull with the left, not be overly aggressive with the right.

2. The other drill we did was starting from a proper contact position - hips mostly cleared - right leg/hip pushing down - right foot flat, wanting to roll down target line - left shoulder high, right shoulder low - hands in square contact position, with right hand slightly lagging (think Greg Norman "secret").  From this position, take the club back so shaft reaches parallel and then make contact.  Over and over.  To execute this drill, I found I needed to move the ball further in my stance and get closer to the ball.

Both drills were to ingrain muscle memory and to exaggerate the feeling you want at contact.  I've got copies on DVD, but they aren't HD.  Hope that gives you something else to try.  I still haven't mastered the lag!

[inthecup]

Originally Posted by amac

Lag is what separates Pro's from weekend amateurs.  Proper lag will/should result in solid ball striking.  Solid ball striking is necessary to compress the golf ball to make it explode off the golf club.  Too many high handicappers don't understand compression.  I am like you in that I have been relentlessly chasing proper lag technique.  I have an early release, also known as casting the club.  This moves kills my power/distance and promotes poor ball striking.  I've spent lots of time working with an instructor to correct the problem.  His favorite drill was working the small swing.  The point from 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock is where the lag appears, then releases to the follow through.  He wore me out on these drills.

1. Set up to address - take the club back so your arm is parallel - look to check proper club rotation and wrist hinge - head back down - fire at the ball with proper release and hip turn.  Over and over.  I did this with an abbreviated follow through.  Distance wasn't important.  Ball striking and proper release were the focus.  We did the same drill, but stopped the backswing when the club reached parallel.  This drill really showed which hand fired at the ball.  Point here was to pull with the left, not be overly aggressive with the right.

2. The other drill we did was starting from a proper contact position - hips mostly cleared - right leg/hip pushing down - right foot flat, wanting to roll down target line - left shoulder high, right shoulder low - hands in square contact position, with right hand slightly lagging (think Greg Norman "secret").  From this position, take the club back so shaft reaches parallel and then make contact.  Over and over.  To execute this drill, I found I needed to move the ball further in my stance and get closer to the ball.

Both drills were to ingrain muscle memory and to exaggerate the feeling you want at contact.  I've got copies on DVD, but they aren't HD.  Hope that gives you something else to try.  I still haven't mastered the lag!

Thanks for the drills

The first one I have done and will continue to do the second I will try.  It is amazing that this is so complicated.

I like this old Hogan video, watch his right elbow.

[cipher]

[URL]http://www.golf.com/video/compress-pro[/URL] I just saw this, has anyone tried the extended club drill?

[VegasRenegade]

This is my model I will never get this much lag

but it gives , me something to shoot for

[VegasRenegade]

Originally Posted by cipher

http://www.golf.com/video/compress-pro

I just saw this, has anyone tried the extended club drill?

This is what i know as a punisher. Since if you do it wrong it will hit you in the rib. Most people stick and old shaft or plain stick in the put in of a club. It really is helping me get the proper fell.  One problem is that  you have to start with the lab pre-set before your back swing

[Mr. Desmond]

So let me get this right ... some of y'all are trying to time the release of lag?

If you can do it successfully over a period of time, let me know. I've tried holding it ... shanked it, topped it, etc.

For me, it's just got to happen. When I can hold it by squeezing the elbows together and keeping the hands ahead of the club head, I'm a happy camper.

Good luck with timing it...

[inthecup]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

So let me get this right ... some of y'all are trying to time the release of lag?

If you can do it successfully over a period of time, let me know. I've tried holding it ... shanked it, topped it, etc.

For me, it's just got to happen. When I can hold it by squeezing the elbows together and keeping the hands ahead of the club head, I'm a happy camper.

Good luck with timing it...

So your advice is to hold your elbows together and you have successfully gotten consistent  forward shaft lean and lag?

[inthecup]

Originally Posted by cipher

http://www.golf.com/video/compress-pro

I just saw this, has anyone tried the extended club drill?

I have not tried that but it looks interesting;.

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by inthecup

So your advice is to hold your elbows together and you have successfully gotten consistent  forward shaft lean and lag?

Well, you really can't hold them together - you keep them close without tension while on the way down, as you keep the handle in front of the clubhead.  Try a downswing in slo mo while squeezing the elbows towards one another...

[inthecup]

What a frustrating game.  I have fixed my swing so well that I took 3 steps backwards.

[Ernest Jones]

Sounds like you're making real progress! But never, EVER say out loud that you "get" anything in this silly game or the golf gods will surely punish you!  ;-)

QFT. I think the OP just got a healthy dose of this.

[inthecup]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

QFT. I think the OP just got a healthy dose of this.

Not the first time, not the last either I am sure.

This is what I am talking about!

[Taylor Johnson]

I strongly agree with Mr Desmond.

Lag is something that happens because you are doing other things correctly, specifically sequencing.

Have you ever video taped a practice swing face on? I'll bet if you take a look, you'll see that you create plenty of lag very naturally without thinking about it at all in your practice swing.  But when we go to hit a ball, the hands and arms take over, we get out of sequence, and we release early.

[inthecup]

I have made my way in the world by being relentless. I am making progress towards my goal of lag and a powerful release. I was not correct in thinking you can hold off the club and found that timing and positions will generate the elusive lag as was pointed out by others. . As I progress and verify my progress I will share the results.

[colin007]

Originally Posted by jclark

Wouldn't a divot in front of your golf ball be a great indicator of your hands being in good position at impact? I think that is good feedback on the practice tee

not necessarily.  you can still flip a bit and have a nice divot on the target side of the ball.  if you dont believe me just come golf with me once.  im pretty good at timing my flip.  i am not very good at getting my hands in front with the elusive forward leaning shaft...because i suck giant donkey balls when it comes to golf.

[jclark]

not necessarily.  you can still flip a bit and have a nice divot on the target side of the ball.  if you dont believe me just come golf with me once.  im pretty good at timing my flip.  i am not very good at getting my hands in front with the elusive forward leaning shaft...because i suck giant donkey balls when it comes to golf.

Hahaha! Nice!

[colin007]

Originally Posted by jclark

Hahaha! Nice!

lol - not really...its kind of disappointing knowing that my progress is limited by this swing flaw (among others).

anyways, someone else here said it when they mentioned that lag is something that just happens when other key fundamentals are exhibited.  its not really something that you can consciously make happen on its own without doing other things correctly first.  when it does happen (few and far between for me) its awesomesauce!