Instruction
Find a release that squares the clubface at impact
The last time we discussed release, we defined it as the point of extension of the lead arm and the golf club. The other part of release we need to concern ourselves with is that of squaring the clubface, which is the impact condition that leads to straighter shots. This, too, is defined as part of the “release,” albeit somewhat ambiguously.
The extension of the lead arm and the golf club, which I discussed in my last story, is a result of what is known as ulnar and radial deviation. The squaring of the face, which I am going to discuss in this article, is a result of the pronation and supination of the hands and arms. Both are essential parts of the release. The first part achieves a consistent swing bottom, while the second part squares the club face.
At address, the face of the golf club is at a right angle to the target line and the plane on which the club is about to swing. To facilitate the up-and-around motion, there is a certain amount of rotation of the arms so that at the top of the swing the club face is no longer at right angles to the plane — it is actually lying on the plane.
This position is referred to as “square,” but it is in fact 90 degrees open to the target line. If it were “square” as it was at address it would not be lying on the plane; it would coming off it at a right angle. All you’d need to see this is to pull the club down with no rotation and it would be precisely 9o degrees open to the ball at impact. So because the club was rotated by the arms and turning of the torso on the way up, it must be “re-rotated” on the way down. I think of this as “releasing the face,” an essential movement in solid contact.
In Part 1 of the release, I suggested that golfers uncock their wrists at different points in the downswing depending on the path and plane on which they are swinging. This also holds true for rotation and roll of the arms and hands into the ball. The factors determining when and how the face is released are also allied to the path and plane on which the golf club is swinging into the ball.
If you are a steep swinger, you need a conscious rolling of the forearms into the ball. That’s because the more vertical the club transitions, the more the face tends to open.
The flatter the swing arc into the ball, the less you need to roll your forearms into the ball. Your hands can be more “quiet” into impact. You still will need to square the clubface, but you can be more passive in doing so.
Here’s a great checklist if you’re struggling with hooks or slices
- Low snap hooks are the result of too much hand action from a flat arc.
- High, weak slices are the result of not enough hands from a steep arc.
It’s that simple.
If you tend to uncock the wrists early, this part of your swing may be in your golfing DNA. Don’t sweat the small stuff — simply play around it by making the necessary adjustments in your plane and path to facilitate it. The same goes for your freedom to release the club. If you’re coming in low on the swing plane, you can turn your body through and use less hands. If you’re high and steep coming down, let it roll, baby, roll. Any Doors fans still around today?
The best release drill I know is still one of the very first ones I learned: The Split Grip Drill. Simply split your grip so your left hand (for righties) is on the golf club normally. The position your right hand all the way down on the shaft below the handle. Now take some baseball swings; you’ll feel the roll-over, or the rotation. Do it several times. It helps.
For those of you who are regular followers of my writing and teaching, you see one consistent theme — work with what you already have in your swing. This is not a cop-out on my part as a teacher; I’m merely suggesting that certain motions are very difficult to change, but the good news is that you don’t have to.
What’s the problem with a flying elbow, a weak grip, a flat plane, bent left arm, across the line, laid off, etc.
Answer: Nothing. Qualification: Nothing in and of itself.
There are any number of golfers in the Hall of Fame who have swung the club with one or more of the positions I just described. How did they get away with it? They balanced their swing to arrive at impact correctly. That’s been the case since the first Scot slapped the first brassie from a mud peg and it remains the case today.
I can help anyone play better and become their own teacher if they are willing to make changes that are more compatible with their core move.
As always, feel free to send a swing video to my Facebook page and I will do my best to give you my feedback.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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Josh
Dec 21, 2014 at 6:20 pm
Click Here!
Craig
Nov 11, 2014 at 12:54 pm
Dennis, would you be able to relate this to having heel and toe contact as well? I’m a 5-10 handicap and have been told I have an inside to out swing, but I find that my not so solid shots are on the heel or even the s-word.
Dennis Clark
Nov 14, 2014 at 2:32 pm
sorry Steve, just saw this…Inside out produces heels hits more often because the hand path is swinging away from the body-can even shank that way sometimes. In fact, in-to-out open face is a very common shank
steve
Oct 31, 2014 at 4:21 pm
Alittle late to party here. Dennis would you agree or disagree that in general a steep arc is better for a taller player (over 6′). And a flatter swing would suit a shorter player better, even though a shorter could still use a steep swing. Me being 6’3″ I tried to flatten my swing and it seemed not worth the effort. Wanted it flatter so I could use less hands, but lost alot of power. In the end I was happier with a pitching wedge in the rough then 8 iron in the fairway.
Dennis Clark
Oct 31, 2014 at 7:32 pm
Steve, yes in general I agree. Matt Kuchar is a rare exception but leverage is best achieved up for taller and around for shorter. The arm length and the torso to pelvis measurement area also factors. But at 6’3”i wouldn’t think flat is the way go. Of course everyone is different. need to see a video to be sure though
Matt Christian
Oct 30, 2014 at 9:34 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY3LGVreUuI
other paul
Oct 29, 2014 at 7:40 pm
I was swinging in my garage the other day and realized that when I consciously try to release the club I made worse contact then when I don’t try to control it at all. I just let it take its self to the ball. Club seems to go back to where it starts. Its kind of messing with my head.
Dennis Clark
Oct 29, 2014 at 5:21 pm
Mo made an interesting point about grip. it is THE single biggest factor in pronation and supination. so if your swing arc is flat and coming from well inside, do NOT go to stronger grip because it promotes maximum closing of the face. And vice versa.
other paul
Oct 29, 2014 at 7:33 pm
I just figured that out. Switched to a neutral grip.
Philip
Oct 30, 2014 at 11:48 am
So that’s why a stronger grip makes my swing more on plane. I have always used a neutral/weak grip and find I am so vertical on the back swing and have issues hitting fat shots and cuts.
Dennis Clark
Oct 30, 2014 at 8:02 pm
Phil I don’t know it makes it more “on plane”, but the fats and cuts may be a result of throwing the club at the ball due to the weaker grip. 80% of all golfers are better slightly stronger on the grip IMO…
jon
Oct 29, 2014 at 5:18 pm
nice article Dennis and yes, there are some doors fans left!
Dennis Clark
Oct 29, 2014 at 5:23 pm
I met JM once, talk about living in an alternate reality 🙂
Dennis Clark
Oct 29, 2014 at 3:21 pm
Great comments by all, thx for the feedback. As a teacher, the bottom line is this: At the top of the swing the back of the left hand is at right angles to the target. At impact it needs to be facing the target. No amount of body turn or proper sequencing, in and of itself, will rotate the arm WITHOUT conscious effort and deliberate torque by the player. A good body rotation CERTAINLY HELPS, but I have no end to “handle pullers” who do not properly square the club. But not all have to rotate the same amount, that’s why your path and plane are so key. thx again. DC
MO
Oct 29, 2014 at 10:33 am
So with a steep swing, in your teaching, do you favor an abrupt left hand supination for impact or can it be gradual? Many with steep swings cast anyway and have trouble with the timing at impact, leaving the clubface open as well due to lack of rotation. With those players are there two releases? the early cast (ulnar deviation) and then the rotation (left hand supination)? It seems women and men with lithe forearms may have the most problem with this.
Dennis Clark
Oct 29, 2014 at 11:56 am
Mo, Yes and no…I don’t “favor” anything other than what works. My experience has been that there more pulling down in a vertical attitude the club face simply opens more. So yes the more need to square it via the rolling of the forearms and hands. The early cast you refer is a different thing. Typically they cast because the steepness makes them late so they’re trying to be earlier; that was the first article i wrote and it is a bottom of the swing arc issue. On the supination and pronation, they need to square an open face. Do you follow?
MO
Oct 29, 2014 at 4:31 pm
yes and no from me also. I agree there are two separate problems for early ulnar deviation/casting -vs- supination. I guess I am asking for help with a ‘workable’ way not to leave the clubface open at impact in this scenario. Supination, I think, also is affected by other items than forearm strength such as how strong or weak is a grip position. It seems logical you just can’t rotate/supinate as much if you can’t see 2-3 knuckles on the grip at address… or would moving the left hand under actually promote more supination from the get go to square the club moving from the backswing to impact?
btw- love your approach to helping everyone with their own swing. I went to the vertical swing due to shoulder and back pain issues and have never looked back… but I find instructors constantly want to change me back to a rotary swing.
Dennis Clark
Oct 29, 2014 at 5:16 pm
Here’s the deal with grip, and not many people get this right. When you use a strong grip, you are in a position that allows for maximum closing and minimum opening. Try it it’s interesting to feel the position. you can’t roll open at all because you’re already maxed out there. but you can close it a bunch. But the grip MUST match the swing arc. A player playing from well inside cannot use the strong grip because it’s not a match; everything has to balance. If you got a flightscope reading of 6 degrees inside on your path, a strong grip will likely hook and vice versa.
Jonny B
Oct 29, 2014 at 8:11 am
I find that working on this “second” part of a proper release – supination and pronation of the wrists – is a major necessity to proper ball contact, once a basic swing is grooved. With irons, a good release is the essential key to pinching the ball off the turf and getting the proper compression that will lead to consistent ball flights and distacnces. When I find myself not pinching the ball the way I want to (usually leading to hitting high fades/blocks), I know I need to head to the range and work on my release.
One way I work on getting the proper release is by just grabbing a 7 iron on the range and starting with slow, half swings. I concentrate on releasing my wrist cock and turning my arms over at the precise moment of contact and look for a nice penetrating flight with a slight draw. Slowing everything down is a great way to work on this – these 7 iron shots only go about 100 yards. Remember to keep your weight slightly forward during this drill. From there, once comfortable, I start adding more distance, about 10 yards for every 5 balls hit, until I am hitting full shots. It really helps too if you can get to a range with grass tees so you can ensure your divot starts after the ball.
brilliant
Oct 29, 2014 at 1:48 pm
great post
marty
Oct 29, 2014 at 7:57 am
On my release I lock out both elbows at the same time right after impact. This helps me follow out to the target line. I really have not read about this any where. But I see the pros do it especially the women.
Howard
Oct 28, 2014 at 10:44 pm
Great article Dennis. I’m repeatedly told I’m too handsy through impact and am encouraged to hold off my release and extend my finish toward the target rather than around my body. I hit a lot of low hooks. Would a stiffer and/or heavier shaft help? I currently use a light regular flex steel shaft but I have a very slow tempo. Any advice would be appreciated.
Dennis Clark
Oct 28, 2014 at 11:05 pm
Well extending toward the target may not be the best thought for hooking. Finishing more left with a more active body turn is what I’d be suggesting. Remember that hooks from a path Inside where the club face is pointed. So ur goal is to reduce that amount of inside. Club wise a stiffer heavier shaft MAY help. So might a grip change?
Bogeypro
Oct 28, 2014 at 9:43 pm
You seem to advocate very active hands and arms in the golf swing. What are your thoughts on a more body controlled release where the arms and hands are much more passive?
Dennis Clark
Oct 29, 2014 at 12:08 pm
Bogey, If you read it again I’m not really advocating anything but what works. I suggest active hands and arms for steeper and less inside swings, and more body with quiet hands for flatter arcs and more inside paths. Thats the lesson in the article; the club face can be squared both ways. Find which one is right for you. Thx
Bogeypro
Oct 29, 2014 at 10:03 pm
I gotcha. Thanks Dennis.
marcel
Oct 28, 2014 at 7:25 pm
get a proper coach and dont worry about the rest. and also visit gym at least 2-3 per week.
Dennis Clark
Oct 28, 2014 at 9:47 pm
I agree on both!????
Philip
Oct 28, 2014 at 7:04 pm
This weekend I came to the same conclusion that all I should really care about is my impact position. Visualize my impact and follow-through and let my body do what is required to get me there. As a result, my body started making adjustments to reduce the steepness in my swing, eliminating my fat hits, while getting me closer to the impact position I was visualizing. During the round I started wondering what changed and happened to notice the difference in my left wrist at set-up. I sure wish I had tried this before the last day of the season.
Next year.
Dennis Clark
Oct 28, 2014 at 7:06 pm
ye sir…there’s always next year! Impact is golf and golf is impact!
Toño
Oct 28, 2014 at 4:24 pm
RELEASE = double lever extension ( -muñeca arm / wrist -palo ) WHERE Control = lowest, AS = extension education , ELEMENTS = ground -body- suit, bola.OBJETIVO = ball impact . .Did you know that may influence the clubface hits while immediately after you think? Or do things happen before?
Dennis Clark
Oct 28, 2014 at 4:31 pm
could you repeat the question? I understood very little of the phrasing.
Stretch
Oct 29, 2014 at 1:11 pm
The wrists have ulnar deviation (upcocking) and radial deviation (downcocking). The arm bones have supination (rotation away from the target) and pronation (rotation back to the address position and past impact). Sideways back wrist hinging is extension and sideways fore wrist hinging is flexion. Cupping of the forward wrist is extension plus supination.
Everyone has a similar yet different biomechanical makeup. To answer your question one would need to watch your swing. What I can tell you is when the club and arms are dropped into the slot, square to the aim line, the throw out motion of the arm rotation and wrist unhinging produces centrifugal force. This must counteract the centripetal force that wants to swing the club and arms inside after impact in order to deliver the power down the aim line. Artist feel the square release. Engineers think the positions. Da Vincis combine the two.
jd
Oct 28, 2014 at 4:06 pm
First, you can’t perform ulnar and radial deviation at the same time so I take that as some type of typographical error. Second, the problem with using right arm pronation and left arm supination for a right hander to square the clubface is that it leads to inconsistencies you often see in all but the best golfers.
Dennis Clark
Oct 28, 2014 at 4:30 pm
Is that what you have observed in your students?
jd
Oct 28, 2014 at 4:39 pm
I’m not an instructor. I do think that squaring the club face with the body is the best way to be consistent.
Dennis Clark
Oct 28, 2014 at 6:11 pm
i agree. But…if you look at video from down the line and see the golf club in transition through your shoulder or even upper bicep, or you’re VSP reading is 60 degrees or so for a 6-iron, you cannot release the face sufficiently to square it simply by using a “body” release, aka quiet hands through impact. If you “body release” from that vertical a plane, you will be FAR too late and the face will be left well open. Yes, Radial deviation going back and ulnar deviation coming down are separate movements from pronation and supination. But after the angle formed at the top of the swing begins to diminish, the turning down of the forearms can begin. Sooner for some than others. As the left hand grip begins to strengthen the golfer is actually much more in a flexion/extension position than ulnar/radial deviation. Thats why I strengthen grips to get more wrist cock when
needed. Try it. Thx
jd
Oct 28, 2014 at 10:34 pm
Dennis,
I appreciate your response. I really should not argue because I don’t have much at stake and maybe it’s just an argument about semantics anyhow. But if you look at many of the pictures at impact position, ulnar deviation has occurred in both wrists, but the leading arm and trailing arm have not supinated and pronated, respectively, that much. This suggests that the motion of the body more than the arms have squared the club face. We all know that the proper release cannot and should not be manipulated with the arms or wrists. It occurs automatically by forces and angles that are set in motion which start with the body (lower before upper), then arms/wrists. When this happens the golf swing looks effortless. Of course, if one cannot get the body to be in the right dynamic position to release the club properly, in order to make club contact with the ball, the golfer has no choice but to perform an arm release. Such an arm release can vary widely from day to day because it requires more precise timing and hence leads to inconsistencies.
Stretch
Oct 29, 2014 at 1:51 pm
The first teacher ever to explain wrist and arm movements in clear biomechanical terms.
The two best ball strikers I ever saw had the same hand and arm action. The front wrist had radial deviation and pronation. The back wrist had no radial deviation or pronation but did have extension. The releasing of these movements to an impact fix and holding well beyond produced serious accuracy.
They were Moe Norman and Johnny Bullas.
IJP
Oct 28, 2014 at 7:01 pm
so no one should swing like the best golfers?
Jeff
Oct 28, 2014 at 3:47 pm
I have a kind of stupid question, is the golfers similar on every club in the bag, or do we release the driver much more than say, a 90 yard wedge?
Jeff
Oct 28, 2014 at 3:49 pm
Golfer’s Release similar*
Dennis Clark
Oct 28, 2014 at 4:29 pm
well not as Ive seen it; a driver is clearly released earlier as it wants to slight ascend. But that’s the uncocking of the wrists,a distinctively different motion than the rolling of the wrists (ulnar or radial deviation as opposed to pronation and supination) that I referred to in the article. Go back and read the piece I wrote, “Tiger’s late release” and you’ll see what I mean. I think in his better driving days he clearly released earlier. But again, the rolling of the hands and arms, is based in the plane and path the golfers is playing. I know you’re a regular reader and I appreciate your interest in learning
Jeff
Oct 28, 2014 at 3:44 pm
I actually got an email from “Haney University” trying to sell me a split-grip “NEW” training aid for “Beta testing.” The problem with calling it new is I’ve had one for about 8 years, and I bought it at goodwill for about a buck.
The Swing Magic by Kallasay or something is a great split grip training aid. You can find em on ebay cheap, or Hank Haney can find you one for 100 bucks, an email address, and the
life-time earnings of your first born son(best deal on Haneys website).
But im sure the drill works the old fashioned way too, thanks Mr. Clark, you’re really one of the best things about GolfWRX.
Dennis Clark
Oct 28, 2014 at 3:50 pm
Thx yes there are some very misleading ads out there. But I get the feeling you’re a little ahead of that game ???? some are good though just have to separate wheat from chafe. You can do a lot with a little if you understand the principle. Sounds like you do!
Dennis Clark
Oct 28, 2014 at 3:15 pm
You’re welcome. Thanks for the kind words
juststeve
Oct 28, 2014 at 3:08 pm
Dennis:
I always enjoy your articles. This Is another good one. Thanks for sharing.
Steve.