And the topic on this video is going to be: How do we create more lag in the golf swing?
A lot of my students want to know, "How does Sergio Garcia have such lag in his swing?
How do I get that kind of lag in my swing to hit the ball more solid and farther?"
And the fact is, every top pro, really every pro that I've ever played with, both LPGA
and Men's, and top amateurs, they all have a certain amount of lag in the golf swing.
What I see a lot of people do is, they try to statically create lag.
Of course, we know that lag is increasing the angle between the club and your right
wrist.
As you come down, that kind of narrows, which is going to help the speed of the golf club
and have greater distance, as well as better accuracy.
But, lag can't really be statically created.
I see a lot of people just taking their wrist and moving it down like this.
Well, if you actually just do that, I don't think you'll ever release the club in time,
and I think that can cause more problems.
Lag is a result of a great sequence of motion.
And what I mean by that is, as the club is actually swinging back, we have some weight
moving forward, and this motion here is what creates the lag in the golf swing.
I like to relate it to some other sports, particularly a throwing action.
If I was going to throw this golf ball, as I'm moving my arm back, I'm actually striding
forward, which is going to create more width and lag, and you can see that my elbow is
now leading my hand into the throw.
Another great analogy is a baseball player.
If you look at a baseball player, as that pitch is coming, his hands are moving back
as he steps forward.
So, he too is creating lag so that when he hits the golf ball, he's going to be able
to hit that thing out of the park.
So, let me give you a couple of thoughts, a couple of drills that might help you increase
your ability to lag the golf club.
Okay, so I've just got a 7-iron in my hand here, and I'm going to start out really slow.
I think it's important that we have very relaxed arms, particularly our wrists, because we
want the club to kind of have some independence.
What I see, a lot of people that struggle with creating some kind of lag in motion,
is they get up here, and then they're trying to hit it real hard, and they don't have the
right sequence of motion.
Again, we're going to go nice and slow to start, relaxed grip pressure.
Relax those arms and wrists.
As we start this club back, I just want you to feel it swinging, and you're transferring
your weight into your left foot as you're taking the club back, and you're just feeling
that swinging motion.
Now, to really get this feeling, I want to give you this step drill.
And I use this all the time, and it's helped my game a lot.
We're going to start with our feet together.
If this starting position is 6 o'clock, I'm actually going to start the club here at around
8 o'clock.
And what I want you to do is start slow.
As you take this club up, I want you to pick your left foot up, set it down, and swing.
So, these are going to be really slow motions to get you the feel of creating more lag.
So, I'm going to have my feet close together, I'm going to start the club here.
As I take the club up, I step forward, and hit through the shot.
This motion here creates the proper sequence in the golf swing.
What we really want to have happen in the swing is, as we get up to the top, we're actually
starting, a little bit, shifting to our left side, and that helps this motion of creating
more lag in the swing.
So, start out slow so you can get the feel of this.
We're going to just take little punch shots.
As the club starts, I step up, and go through.
Start at 8 o'clock, arms go up, step forward, hit the shot.
So, on all those, I'm feeling a little bit of this motion, and that's the feeling that
you want.
As we get going, you can add a little bit more speed to this drill.
So now, I'm going to, again, start here.
As my arms go up, I'm picking my left foot up and putting it back down.
So, I want this kind of motion, right here, in my swing.
That creates the lag.
So, this one I'll hit a little bit farther.
And you can see those are nice penetrating shots because I'm creating more lag on the
downswing.
One more here, and I'm going to actually go almost at full speed here.
Starting again at 8 o'clock, arms are going to go up, step, and let that club go.
So, you can see how that just helps the sequence in motion, and because of that, as I'm stepping,
that club is setting and I'm creating more lag.
So, give this a shot.
Remember, be relaxed, relax the wrists, and you don't have to do this fast.
Just feel the motion of the club.
It's a great way to get more lag.