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Increasing lag

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BogbeastUK

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I've been struggling a bit for distance this year, losing about 20 yds per club on my longer irons, about 30 on my driver, and about 10-15 on my shorter irons. I noticed I wasn't getting the ball in the air as much as last year, so I've had a few lessons which have improved connection between my arms and body, and have flattened out my swing.

I'm now hitting pretty consistently, but am still struggling with distance. For example, I'm now hitting my 7 iron about 135 yds instead of 155 which I was getting last year. I had a swing analysis video taken as part of my lessons and I can see that I appear to be uncocking my wrists early on the downswing (compared to the pros), so by the time I'm making contact with the ball I've lost all lag and all my clubhead speed is solely due to arm speed.

Should I be trying to flick the wrists through at impact, and if so, is there a drill that can be recommended to help me get the feel of that?

And just so no-one has to jump in and mention it guys, please keep the thread clean until the GolfTEC guys have a chance to post.

Thanks.
 
Thanks for the question. I would never want someone to feel like they have to "flick" their wrists through at impact for two reasons: 1) I would be concerned with what a "flick" is to them and is it the correct hand motion and 2) If you try and rely on a small movement at impact your consistency will suffer. So what you need to work on is the first move from the top and holding the angle longer on the downswing. A great to do this is called "avoid the wall". Take any club and set it at a 90 degree angle on a wall. Then put your back foot so the inside of your foot is even with the end of the club. From there take your stance and manufacturer a backswing (you won't be able to take a regular backswing because you will hit the wall). From there take a slow downswing, if you lose the angle you will hit the wall and if you hold the angle it will miss the wall. This drill really focuses on that first move down and helps you feel what holding the angle feels like. Now your hands should be slightly in front of the ball at impact and your distance should increase from more clubhead speed and hitting the ball first.

Hope this helps, good luck.


Josh Miller
PGA Certified Professional
GolfTEC - Golden, CO
 
Great tip :)

Just tappin away
 
Good stuff Josh, thanks!!
 
Is the release defined as the rolling of the forearms to break that angle you describe? Is that what creates increased clubhead speed at impact?
 
GolfTEC said:
Thanks for the question. I would never want someone to feel like they have to "flick" their wrists through at impact for two reasons: 1) I would be concerned with what a "flick" is to them and is it the correct hand motion and 2) If you try and rely on a small movement at impact your consistency will suffer. So what you need to work on is the first move from the top and holding the angle longer on the downswing. A great to do this is called "avoid the wall". Take any club and set it at a 90 degree angle on a wall. Then put your back foot so the inside of your foot is even with the end of the club. From there take your stance and manufacturer a backswing (you won't be able to take a regular backswing because you will hit the wall). From there take a slow downswing, if you lose the angle you will hit the wall and if you hold the angle it will miss the wall. This drill really focuses on that first move down and helps you feel what holding the angle feels like. Now your hands should be slightly in front of the ball at impact and your distance should increase from more clubhead speed and hitting the ball first.

Hope this helps, good luck.


Josh Miller
PGA Certified Professional
GolfTEC - Golden, CO
Click to expand...


I am not clear as to how to do this drill, This certainly makes some sense to me, but I am totally unsure as to how tho set up and execute this drill.
 
GolfTEC said:
Thanks for the question. I would never want someone to feel like they have to "flick" their wrists through at impact for two reasons: 1) I would be concerned with what a "flick" is to them and is it the correct hand motion and 2) If you try and rely on a small movement at impact your consistency will suffer. So what you need to work on is the first move from the top and holding the angle longer on the downswing. A great to do this is called "avoid the wall". Take any club and set it at a 90 degree angle on a wall. Then put your back foot so the inside of your foot is even with the end of the club. From there take your stance and manufacturer a backswing (you won't be able to take a regular backswing because you will hit the wall). From there take a slow downswing, if you lose the angle you will hit the wall and if you hold the angle it will miss the wall. This drill really focuses on that first move down and helps you feel what holding the angle feels like. Now your hands should be slightly in front of the ball at impact and your distance should increase from more clubhead speed and hitting the ball first.

Hope this helps, good luck.


Josh Miller
PGA Certified Professional
GolfTEC - Golden, CO
Click to expand...

Josh, thanks for the information and I'll give that drill a try tonight. I've looked at my video again and I believe the technical term for what I'm doing is casting early in the downswing. As a result my hands are directly above the ball at impact and I appear to lose a lot of clubhead speed as a result - I notice that a lot of people roll their wrists over prior to impact (what I meant by a flick - just worded badly) which I'm not doing as my wrists are already uncocked.

I'll try that drill out tonight and see how I get on with it. Playing a few times after Sunday, so I'll see what effect it has.
 
I would love to see a video of this drill if possible.
 
Great find, thank you!
 
Another way to improve lag is to think 'drive the butt end of the handle of the club down into the back of the ball' as you swing down into the hitting area.
 
Thank you for the video link!!
 
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