more on lag

[lgskywalker37]

Re: more on lag

it is my bedtime but a quick example.
say you set up with a lot of angle in your wrists at address, meaning a big angle between lead arm and club shaft.

so are you advocating less of an arm angle at adress?

[Simon Woo]

Re: more on lag

In my books a practice swing is not a good one unless everything stays the same except the presence of a ball

[Timothy Slaught]

Re: more on lag

Hello All:

I wanted to follow up on recent replies to the lag thread by Brian and Simon:

Brian, I did not mean to crirticize the hammer analogy used in this thread for the purpose of describing lag. Certainly the easy way to drive a nail into a board requires a simple cocking and uncocking of the active wrist very similar to that action used in the correct golf swing. To drive the nail you do not really have to even think about making that natural cocking and uncocking motion. But if if you tried to add rotation of the hammer's head to the cocking and uncocking action then we may bruise a few thumbs along the way. Unfortuately this is what some golfers attempt to do when making a golf swing. Instead of using the legs, hips and torso to square the clubhead, they try to square it (if timing is good) by rotating the arms or hands along with the cocking and uncocking (happening at 80-110 MPH). If we can attempt to keep the hand and arm action in the golf swing to the relatively natural and instinctive cocking and uncocking used to drive a nail then it simplifies things greatly. Of course this is all contingent on many other things happening with the athletic motion of the swing from the ground up which is where I think most hi handicaps miss the boat.

Simon: Swinging through the ball as opposed to hitting at it will remain one of the great philosphical questions in golf(....although this lag topic is getting a good workout). Many top players have varying views on whether they swing through the ball like it was not even there (Ernie, Jack for example) others say they look at a specific spot on the back of the ball and aim the clubhead for that spot so those players are more ball oriented.

Probably the better thing to work on would be spending more time looking at your target instead of the ball at set-up. This is where all the top players are very similar. Once their alignment is good they really spend most of the time looking at the target with just a few quick glances at the ball. The average player does the exact opposite. They glance at the target maybe once and then glare at the ball. Two problems with this approach. One, it creates tension and the body tends to lock up when staring at the ball for too long. Two, you never really develop target awareness, and golf becomes a hit and hope approach. I think golfers tend not to look at the target because they don't subconciously believe the will hit it there anyway. Why set themselves up for dissapointment, they think. Just like any skill to master in golf, developing target awareness takes practice but it can really help you develop into a better player. As part of the preshot routine, really pick out a target and focus your looks and attention at the target with just a quick glimpse at the ball. This will probably feel very strange at first but practice it until it feels comfortable. Obviously, not every shot will go to your intended target but you will learn to use the information and feedback from bad shots more positively as well as the feedback from the good shots. Give this a try at the range.

Good luck guys

[BrianW]

Re: more on lag

Timothy,

Well put, you are absolutely correct in both cases.

Regarding looking at the target: I tend to stare at the target as if I am burning it's image into my mind, when I look at the ball at the start of my swing I can actually see the target overlaying it.