Release Thoughts

[Timothy Slaught]

Hello All:

I wanted to get others ideas on techniques or swing keys concerning the release. Lately I have been fighting a push slice and here is the pattern that develops.

1) I want to swing with a slighty in to out path and hit a slight draw.

2) I do not release the club properly therefor the outside path creates a push slice

3) To compensate, I instictively change the path to outside in and end up hitting a pull slice, again because of the faulty release my clubface is open at impact but the "corrected" outside in path makes the shot playable.

I end up hitting shots that are, although playable, relatively weak and are not what I am striving for in my swing. This pattern is very common to every slicer and I believe is a result of the improper release fundamentals.

In my case, clearly the problem and resulting compensations are a result of not releasing the club properly. I have taken a look at video and in my case I'm simply holding off the release not allowing my right wrist to roll over the left. As I look at still sequences of pros (face on) at the point where the shaft is parallel to the ground in the follow through they all show the shaft pointing parallel to the target line and the right wrist is on top of the left wrist. The arms appear crossed. At this point you see the back of the golfers right wrist and the lower portion of the palm of the left. Also the toe of the clubhead is pointing straight up. I have not been attaining any of these characteristics in my release.

I have found that working on getting the toe up at this follow through position has been helpfull. I can get this position in my minds eye prior to swinging and it helps program the release point. I suppose I am also supinating the left wrist more properly as a result of trying to get the "toe up" although I am not thinking of this. I am just thinking toe up in follow through.

I am finally starting to hit some nice powerful draws again and it has not taken long to reprogram my swing timing for the correct release. I am not sure how I got into this bad habit of holding off the release but I think it has to do with attempting to maintain the right hand in a bent position coming down. What I was doing was holding on to that right through impact not really relasing the club head at at all. I was releasing the shaft through impact but not the clubhead.

Please let me know your own keys for achieving a solid release. Does any one else use the "toe up" thought? Left wrist supination? Wrists rolling?

Thanks,
Tim S

[Martin Levac]

Re: Release Thoughts

The release can be explained as "the club is released from its cocked position into a somewhat extended position at impact". Regardless of how much we try to prevent it from releasing or to force it to release, it will release anyway. Once we accept this fact, we can focus on timing this release so that we strike the ball with all of the force we put in and all of the precision as well.

To time the release, we can either collapse the club so that it comes closer to our body. Or we can prevent it from collapsing by maintaining the angle between it and our left arm. Or we can force it to release early by casting it from the top. The best method is to maintain the angle between it and our left arm. But it is also the most difficult to achieve because it feels almost exactly like casting the club from the top.


Maintain the angle between the club and the left arm.

In order to do this, we must push the club away as we swing it down. This action feels almost exactly like casting the club from the top because it starts from the top as well. The difference between this action and casting is the amplitude of this push. When we cast the club from the top, we exaggerate this action to a point where we release it early. When we maintain this angle, we push only as much as needed to keep the angle until the club releases from this position. It takes practice and focus to do it properly but it pays in accuracy and distance. It also takes some getting used to using one's hands so much during the swing, something frowned upon for some senseless reason.


This pushing action to maintain the angle is frowned upon as well for some other senseless reason too. We've heard of "pullers" and "pushers" and how being a "puller" is better for some mysterious reason. The implication is that pushing the club for any reason is a Bad Thing™ regardless of the result we produce. So we pull the club allowing it to collapsed and to come closer to our body on the downswing all the while losing power that we must recover at some point hence the emphasis on this mysterious release where all the power is supposed to come from. Since we must recover all that power at this point and for some geometric reason as well, the action of releasing the club in this instance is so violent that it becomes proportionately difficult to control the club and just as difficult to strike the ball precisely and send it to our target.


A comparison below to put it in perspective


Long left thumb / loose long swing / flying right elbow / flat left wrist

Club drops lower at the top of the backswing
Swing arc is narrower
Distance traveled by clubhead is shorter
Angle between left arm and club is narrower
Thus, movement between top-of-the-backswing and impact is longer
Acceleration is more violent and more difficult to control

Short left thumb / tight wide swing / tucked in right elbow / dorsiflexed left wrist

Club drops higher at the top of the backswing
Swing arc is wider
Distance traveled by clubhead is longer
Angle between left arm and club is wider
Thus, movement between top-of-backswing and impact is shorter
Acceleration is smoother and easier to control


There is no prescription as to what method we should use but it is clear as to what method allows greater control and precision.

[BrianW]

Re: Release Thoughts

Hi Tim,

I suffered from a poor release and pushes for some time and had to focus on rolling the forearms to close the clubface. This was OK when I thought about it.

I changed my grip from a Vardon to a two handed type and this fixed it. With the two handed grip (both hands fully on the shaft with no overlapping fingers) my wrists are able to release naturally, the other benefit was more powerful and straight shots.

A good drill is to take an iron, grip it with the left hand then take a grip with the right hand so there is around two inch gap between the hands, swing the club back and through and feel the wrists release naturally. Take this feeling into the full shot.

[Neil18]

Re: Release Thoughts

Hello!

I don't have much I want to add to this, except to be careful of the perception versus the reality of what happens in most good ball strikers follow-through.

When the shaft is parallel to the ground in the follow-through, the wrists appear crossed over from the face-on view, but they are not - well maybe slightly but only due to the dynamic of teh action. They are in actual fact still extended out infront of the golfers turning chest and the right has not turned over the left much. If you were to imagine looking at that hand/wrist position from the eyes of the good ball striker, he would still be able to see his hands pretty much as he saw them at address. The toe of the club still points up, but via a different, more connected and poweful method than crossing the hands.The perception from the onlooker is a crossing over. The perception and action in first person is not.

I say this occurs in most good ball strikers as a few top players do have a more flippy release (noteably Ernie Els), which is why he suffers from the pull-hooks occasionally. It's heavily timing-orientated.

[BrianW]

Re: Release Thoughts

Hello!

I don't have much I want to add to this, except to be careful of the perception versus the reality of what happens in most good ball strikers follow-through.

When the shaft is parallel to the ground in the follow-through, the wrists appear crossed over from the face-on view, but they are not - well maybe slightly but only due to the dynamic of teh action. They are in actual fact still extended out infront of the golfers turning chest and the right has not turned over the left much. If you were to imagine looking at that hand/wrist position from the eyes of the good ball striker, he would still be able to see his hands pretty much as he saw them at address. The toe of the club still points up, but via a different, more connected and poweful method than crossing the hands.The perception from the onlooker is a crossing over. The perception and action in first person is not.

I say this occurs in most good ball strikers as a few top players do have a more flippy release (noteably Ernie Els), which is why he suffers from the pull-hooks occasionally. It's heavily timing-orientated.

Neil,

The problem tends to be where the wrists and clubface are not brought square to the ball at impact but kept open, this is a very common fault in golf and the cause of pushes and slices.

The wrists and forearms have to be rotated somewhat to the right in the backswing to keep the club on plane(The club in the first picture would be pointing directly upwards otherwise). This rotation has to be removed in the downswing with the release and happens when the wrists and forearms return to the address position then continue to bring the club back on plane on the follow through.

[dnoonan]

Re: Release Thoughts

A good drill for working on the release: Take your regular stance with a 7 iron, then move your left foot up and right foot back (reverse for left handers). This should be pretty drastic, and nothing like your normal set up. Almost to the point of feeling like your back is to the target. Then make some swings with a limited backswing and feel your arms just flinging out there toward the target. You should feel like you are holding your body back from turning toward to the target. With the limited body turn because of the left foot up, right foot back, you will really get a feeling of the correct release and you'll get into that toe up position you mentioned. You'll probably hit some hooks but that is expected with this drill. I usually tee up the ball a bit as well. Hope that helps.

[Neil18]

Re: Release Thoughts

Neil,

The problem tends to be where the wrists and clubface are not brought square to the ball at impact but kept open, this is a very common fault in golf and the cause of pushes and slices.

The wrists and forearms have to be rotated somewhat to the right in the backswing to keep the club on plane(The club in the first picture would be pointing directly upwards otherwise). This rotation has to be removed in the downswing with the release and happens when the wrists and forearms return to the address position then continue to bring the club back on plane on the follow through.

Hey Bri,

I guess it's just the way I think of it as I had waaaaay too much after-contact wrist and hand action going on for a long time, so the opposite of that for me is what I said above. I guess for someone who doesn't have enough wrist action, your point is a good one as it encourages the opposite action.

I see what we're getting at here now! Thanks!

[dnoonan]

Re: Release Thoughts

I like to think of the release as having two different origins. You can either release with your arms and wrists - or you can release with your body. The body release I think is a more natural way to release the club and maybe a bit more reliable. Think about swining a golf club at waist level. Like you were to hit a baseball off a T-ball set up. Totally parellel to the ground. Now - if you were make a golf swing from there - the rotation and body turn would happen more naturally. The club will open on the way back and square at impact and start to close on the way through. Try this drill.

I think trying to time the hands at impact leaves too much to chance. Maybe your reflexes are a bit slower that day or you had too much coffee and are moving too fast. What do some of you think? Agree?

[BrianW]

Re: Release Thoughts

I like to think of the release as having two different origins. You can either release with your arms and wrists - or you can release with your body. The body release I think is a more natural way to release the club and maybe a bit more reliable. Think about swining a golf club at waist level. Like you were to hit a baseball off a T-ball set up. Totally parellel to the ground. Now - if you were make a golf swing from there - the rotation and body turn would happen more naturally. The club will open on the way back and square at impact and start to close on the way through. Try this drill.

I think trying to time the hands at impact leaves too much to chance. Maybe your reflexes are a bit slower that day or you had too much coffee and are moving too fast. What do some of you think? Agree?

I think the problem is that many, even most golfers have difficulties with releasing the clubface so that it squares at impact, this is why most golfers slice, push, hook and push the ball. The best thing for them to work on is keeping the arms and chest connected, staying centred through the swing with the arms and wrists loose as a goose.

[Martin Levac]

Re: Release Thoughts

I like to think of the release as having two different origins. You can either release with your arms and wrists - or you can release with your body. The body release I think is a more natural way to release the club and maybe a bit more reliable. Think about swining a golf club at waist level. Like you were to hit a baseball off a T-ball set up. Totally parellel to the ground. Now - if you were make a golf swing from there - the rotation and body turn would happen more naturally. The club will open on the way back and square at impact and start to close on the way through. Try this drill.

I think trying to time the hands at impact leaves too much to chance. Maybe your reflexes are a bit slower that day or you had too much coffee and are moving too fast. What do some of you think? Agree?

Reliable is not in question here. The club will release no matter how hard we try to prevent it or to force it. All that is left is the timing of this release so that the club strikes the ball with all the power that we put in to begin with. Too early and power is lost. Too late and power hasn't reached its peak. Not to mention that early and late will also affect clubface alignment so that the ball won't even go where we aimed.

If by reliable you mean that I can count on it to happen at the time I want it to happen, then I prefer to rely on my hands since they're the only thing I can actually control the club with. Even if I turned too fast or too slow, since I use my hands to time the release I can choose to release at any time I want.

How natural it feels is only a function of how used to it we are. Nothing feels natural for the first time. It takes time and practice to become accustomed to it so that it feels natural eventually. Perhaps it feels natural to you but not to me and vice versa. A little practice will fix that either way. We can swing that club in a multitude of ways, all of which don't feel one bit natural the first time we try it. Yet with practice we can become skilled at any number of those techniques that we can use successfully at some point or other.

Trying to time the release with anything other than the hands leaves everything to chance since the only thing touching the club is the hands. Golf is not a game of chance, it's a game of skill. With study and practice we develop, improve and maintain skill. And if you don't practice, good luck since you will need all of it.

[dnoonan]

Re: Release Thoughts

Reliable is not in question here. The club will release no matter how hard we try to prevent it or to force it. All that is left is the timing of this release so that the club strikes the ball with all the power that we put in to begin with. Too early and power is lost. Too late and power hasn't reached its peak. Not to mention that early and late will also affect clubface alignment so that the ball won't even go where we aimed.

If by reliable you mean that I can count on it to happen at the time I want it to happen, then I prefer to rely on my hands since they're the only thing I can actually control the club with. Even if I turned too fast or too slow, since I use my hands to time the release I can choose to release at any time I want.

How natural it feels is only a function of how used to it we are. Nothing feels natural for the first time. It takes time and practice to become accustomed to it so that it feels natural eventually. Perhaps it feels natural to you but not to me and vice versa. A little practice will fix that either way. We can swing that club in a multitude of ways, all of which don't feel one bit natural the first time we try it. Yet with practice we can become skilled at any number of those techniques that we can use successfully at some point or other.

Trying to time the release with anything other than the hands leaves everything to chance since the only thing touching the club is the hands. Golf is not a game of chance, it's a game of skill. With study and practice we develop, improve and maintain skill. And if you don't practice, good luck since you will need all of it.

******************************************

Martin - By reliable I'm talking about being more efficient instead of having to work hard on trying to time the hands at impact, which might be inconsistant. I'm not saying either one works better or worse than the other. Just that some do one and some do the other depending on their swing. Everyone has a different style and understanding of what happens during the swing. I'm just trying to throw some different ideas out there and see what kind of response I get. A learning experience.
BTW - How is your game? And are you playing this winter (It's freezing here in Connecticut). Stay in touch. I enjoy discussing the swing and I'm open to any ideas.
John

[Martin Levac]

Re: Release Thoughts

******************************************

Martin - By reliable I'm talking about being more efficient instead of having to work hard on trying to time the hands at impact, which might be inconsistant. I'm not saying either one works better or worse than the other. Just that some do one and some do the other depending on their swing. Everyone has a different style and understanding of what happens during the swing. I'm just trying to throw some different ideas out there and see what kind of response I get. A learning experience.
BTW - How is your game? And are you playing this winter (It's freezing here in Connecticut). Stay in touch. I enjoy discussing the swing and I'm open to any ideas.
John

When we refuse to use our hands to control the club, we allow the release to control the squaring of the clubface. Then when our release is off, the clubface is also off. Using our hands to control the club will fix that problem. Then when our release is off, we can still strike the ball square because we have a way to square the clubface even though our release is off. Since we're using our hands to control the squaring of the clubface, we might as well use our hands all the time to control the club all the time. Then with practice, it won't matter much if our release is off, we're hitting the ball straight and pretty much the distance we want. All because we use our hands to control the club.


The original poster wrote that he believes that the problem he exposes is a result of improper release fundamentals. I must disagree here and instead say that the basis of all problems in golf is the lack of understanding of the laws of colliding bodies and the magnus effect. Once we understand that, we can develop a technique to obey the laws of colliding bodies and take full advantage of the magnus effect. But when we remain ignorant of these fundamental concepts, we keep making the same mistakes of trying to lift the ball by striking it upward or fanning the clubface open to add loft. Or try to send it the opposite direction by striking it outside-in. Then everything else becomes a compensation but doesn't compensate for much since the underlying problem hasn't been taken care of anyway.

If you've heard of optimal launch conditions, this is where the magnus effect takes all its meaning.

[BrianW]

Re: Release Thoughts

Generation of a sidewise force on a spinning cylindrical or spherical solid immersed in a fluid (liquid or gas) when there is relative motion between the spinning body and the fluid. Named after Heinrich Gustav Magnus (1802–1870), who first investigated the effect experimentally in 1853, it is responsible for the curved trajectory of a tennis or golf ball and affects the path of an artillery shell.

There you go Magnus effect explained. That should stop you flipping your wrists.

[Martin Levac]

Re: Release Thoughts

Generation of a sidewise forceon a spinning cylindrical or spherical solid immersed in a fluid (liquid or gas) when there is relative motion between the spinning body and the fluid. Named after Heinrich Gustav Magnus (1802–1870), who first investigated the effect experimentally in 1853, it is responsible for the curved trajectory of a tennis or golf ball and affects the path of an artillery shell.

There you go Magnus effect explained. That should stop you flipping your wrists.

We must first establish a relationship between flipping the wrists and the magnus effect before we advise to stop flipping the wrists. I don't see one at this time. I do see a relationship between striking the ball upward or downward and the magnitude of the magnus effect on the golf ball with a corresponding ball flight. Or brushing the ball either way and the resulting fade or draw.

[BrianW]

Re: Release Thoughts

We must first establish a relationship between flipping the wrists and the magnus effect before we advise to stop flipping the wrists. I don't see one at this time. I do see a relationship between striking the ball upward or downward and the magnitude of the magnus effect on the golf ball with a corresponding ball flight. Or brushing the ball either way and the resulting fade or draw.

I think we should get out a bit more often first.