For years, the terminology of weight shift dominate golf teaching. It was a term used to describe the movement of force to your trail leg/foot and the transfer of that force to your lead leg/foot. I would suggest that the concept has not really changed, but describing how it occurs has. It is a topic that many amateurs need to understand in order to create power and consistency in their golf swing. Lets delve into this topic more.
Continue readinggenerating power in your golf swing
Creating Lag and Adding Distance in Golf
I am currently focusing on increasing lag in my swing to add extra distance to my golf shots. This particular skill is something that I really need to improve upon because as I get older, a controlled swing with more lag will keep me hitting the ball longer and straighter. However, as I delved into this topic, I found that the term ‘lag’ is deceiving and could easily confuse the new player. I determined that fact because I was a bit confused and so I thought it needed to be cleared up.
After looking around I found this definition of ‘lag’ that I understand and best describes what it means to me:
Effectively, lag is shorthand for the angle between the club, wrists and arms. It’s formed by having the correct order of the arms, wrists and club head as the club come around into impact. Often we can become obsessed with trying to generate all of our power from the turning, spinning and torqueing of the body, but if you don’t have your arms and club in the correct order to hit it’s all completely pointless.
https://golf.com/news/create-lag-golf-swing-tip/
So basically, I am trying to create a 90° angle or box according to Ernie Els in order to create the power generating lag in my golf swing. Interestingly, The Big Easy has a smooth controlled swing that produces tremendous power on contact. Here take a look:
Now that I fully understand what lag means, I need a few drills that I can do to create more lag in my golf swing. On a side note, being a 3 handicap does not mean that my swing is permanently grooved; what it means is that I am consistent, but still have many areas of improvement; Lag is one of mine.
I wanted to find a few drills that I could do at home and in my DIY driving net. Simple, repeatable, and effective are three things I look for in any golf drill and I found this video from the Golf Channel:
The interesting aspect of looking to create lag is that it shifts my focus of my golf swing from increasing shoulder turn (which is an important part of any golf swing) to improving my swing mechanics. This change, along with the others I want to make during the off season, will keep me busy until opening day. The trick moving forward is to develop a training plan that will help accomplish my lofty goals.
Do you ever work on lag in your golf swing?
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
Generate More Power – Part 2
The internet is an awesome resource. It has almost everything one could image. This tool has enabled me to make contact with many like-minded golfers who, just for fun, seek the holy grail of golf excellence. After my earlier post on how to generate more power in your golf swing, I asked a knowledgeable golfer and he provided me with an awesome video about when your hands should release during your golf swing.
Troy Vayanos, Hitting It Solid, is from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia who has played golf for over 20 years. Like the rest of us, enjoys teaching and helping golfers online and loves hearing about improvement in people’s golf game. Thanks for your help Troy!
I often questioned when to release my hands during my golf swing. I have tried many different approaches and have not really felt comfortable with the results. The video below explains and demonstrates exactly what I was looking for. Mostly, I like the fact that I have a visual aid to help me understand when to release my hands.
What do you think?
As the winter unfolds, I hope to find more experts like Troy to help fill in our knowledge gaps. Now I just need to try the advice on the range.
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Grateful Golfer 