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Releasing the club

Tadashi70

Tadashi70

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I read a lot of post about the releasing of the club. I hear of folks changing grips to get a more powerful release. I have a question, how powerful are you tuning down the club at impact? Are yoy mentally trying to release or turn down the club face at impact?

The release isn't meant to be hard or powerful. But a natural turning over of the forearms witch will turn those hands down. Manipulating the club is not a good idea. I understand that some feel it's needed but there are other ways to accomplish the release

Driving the swing with the lower body helps. A solid shoulder turn helps and a positive extention down the line. Just wanted to throw this out there.
 
I suffer from not letting the club head release so I will mentally tell myself to rotate my forearms, which in turn causes me to try to hard. Just like you mentioned it shouldn't feel hard or powerful, but it does when I start to think about it and try it.

Do you have any tips for drills on working on releasing the club? I would love to hear, in detail if you can, what releasing the club should feel like.
 
A guy told me one time to let my body (hips) turn my forearms over, because if my loser body (hips) were not turning through the ball, I would never realize the potential my body had to offer my swing. I heard that guy has a new hip or something.

BTW, I still get flippy though :alien:

JM
 
I used to try to consciously flip my hands through impact, but that made me very inconsistent. I still have a conscious release, but now I feel like my hands go slack or unhinge to release the club. The release of that hinge varies. For driver it's pretty early in the downswing. For irons it happens closer to the ball. I still feel like I have a timing swing though.
 
I just unwind and let the club do what it wants to do. The more you help it, the more timing you need to do it consistently.
 
The release isn't something I focus on. I figure if I do everything else correctly it will just happen.
 
Mward said:
I just unwind and let the club do what it wants to do. The more you help it, the more timing you need to do it consistently.
Click to expand...

Exactly, and thus the more we flip and hold and otherwise try to manipulate.

jM
 
I don't think I release the club nearly enough, or don't realize I do.
My thought and goal right now is to have a nice relaxed swing on a good tempo, and let the release happen.

My instructor always says get those thumbs pointed to your target!
 
Tadashi70 said:
I read a lot of post about the releasing of the club. I hear of folks changing grips to get a more powerful release. I have a question, how powerful are you tuning down the club at impact? Are yoy mentally trying to release or turn down the club face at impact?

The release isn't meant to be hard or powerful. But a natural turning over of the forearms witch will turn those hands down. Manipulating the club is not a good idea. I understand that some feel it's needed but there are other ways to accomplish the release

Driving the swing with the lower body helps. A solid shoulder turn helps and a positive extention down the line. Just wanted to throw this out there.
Click to expand...

Excellent post Panda! This is something I believe I struggle with, whether it be tense hands/arms or something else. I leave the clubface open more times than I would like. I don't try to do anything with the hands/arms other than follow the lower body. Would love to hear more on your thoughts on the release.
 
Great thoughts Panda


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I like how you put that. I worry more about what happens with my hips and body getting to the ball than most other things at the moment. If you turn right and release to the ball right and you have decent swing path release should happen.
The only thing I worry about with release is if I am holding on to my release which tends to happen with the driver.
 
I never think about releasing the club, I guess it just happens naturally if I make a full turn and wrist cock.
 
I have a hard time getting my hands to turn over. It will cause a push for me on my irons and my driver will turn into a big mondo slice
 
I just get it out of the way at the beginning of my downswing. #flipper
 
I find that when I have to think about actively releasing the club, it's because I'm not transferring my weight to my left side and swinging through. I find that I get in trouble sometimes when I think "easy swing" - that causes me to decelerate on the downswing, leaving the face wide open. Of course, if I then actively try to release, I'm in the left woods. I find things work better when I make a bit more aggressive move and make sure I finish the swing.
 
emart2173 said:
The release isn't something I focus on. I figure if I do everything else correctly it will just happen.
Click to expand...

It must be all that "everything else" stuff that I've got the problem with then :)
 
To me, release and lag are two things that just happen and are not done. The only thought I might have is to try to make sure that I don't have a lot of tension in my forearms, wrists and hands at the start of the downswing. Then it just becomes a matter of shifting my weight and rotating my body in such a way that the wrist set (lag) is retained and the release just happens where I want it to. If it doesn't, I don't try to change the release point with my hands, I generally try to change my weight shift. Which in my case often gets lazy (tired).

Sounds easy... says the guy who's only broken 90 twice in 7 rounds this year.
 
That's something I'm working on in my game, personally. I'm trying to make a minor (major to me) swing change and it's all about, from the Top down to the ball. For me, it's never been an issue with the release, for me it's been my hand/angle of attack at the ball.
 
I play my best, most accurate, and powerful golf when I am not thinking about the club face and I am in sync enough not to try and manipulate the club to be sqaure.
 
The release is something I fight with as well. I have a tendency to yank on the handle all the way through the downswing
 
kc720 said:
The release is something I fight with as well. I have a tendency to yank on the handle all the way through the downswing
Click to expand...

Same. Used to try to feel like I was going to drive a nail into a wall with the butt of my club. Made for a very steep and narrow approach to the ball for me and some very fat, short, ugly shots. I still fight it. A teaching pro once told me it was okay to feel as though I release the club from the top as long as I keep my body moving through impact. This is in line with Jack Nicklaus's way of thinking as well. This is what timing is all about. Syncing the body's weight transfer with where the club wants to naturally release and having it all happen at the proper point.

"I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to delay the hit or the release of the golf club. To me, it is impossible to release the club too early coming down, as long as you move to your left side. In other words, make sure you start the downswing from the ground up." ~Jack Nicklaus
 
My instructor and I have been working on this repeatedly. My focus is on swinging the head through impact and the body will naturally follow through for me. My tendency is to pull the handle down and then my body tries to over correct at Impact causing a 2 way miss. When I am doing it right, my swing feels effortless and powerful.
 
I guess I don't ever really think about it. If I need a big slice, I'll hold the face open and cut across the ball. If I am trying to hit a punch hook, I stall my hips and release fully through the ball. Other than that, I guess I just swing and live with it.
 
Michigan Slice said:
I don't think I release the club nearly enough, or don't realize I do.
My thought and goal right now is to have a nice relaxed swing on a good tempo, and let the release happen.

My instructor always says get those thumbs pointed to your target!
Click to expand...

Explain more about this, please. Does this mean at the top of the back swing?
 
Hamfist said:
Explain more about this, please. Does this mean at the top of the back swing?
Click to expand...
I swing with a lot of tension in my wrists/forearms. This tension inhibits releasing the club.
Eliminating that tension and allowing my thumbs to point at my target at impact will mean the club head released.
 
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