Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro
So with this swing tip video, we’re going to look at how to help you create more power and more consistency with your connection during impact. And in order to do that we’re going to look at when you are releasing the golf club on your downswing. A lot of ladies will struggle with the release and will end up releasing the club too early on their downswing which means that as a result, they’ve already put all the speed into the club head, released all of that wrist power, and they haven’t got to the ball yet. So by the time they do get to ball with the club head, all that power and speed is gone, so they don’t hit the ball as far as they could, and they are struggling and fighting with the club to make sure they get a good connection.
So, let’s look at what release actually mean initially. If you swing to the top of your backswing, we’re looking at the relationship between your left arm and the golf club. We’re looking at this angle here. If you are releasing, as you’re pulling the club down on the downswing, you will be releasing that club into a straight line with your left arm and creating a straight line from the left arm and the club. So you’re releasing your wrist angle. And the release shouldn’t happen until you’ve pulled the club all the way down, so the hands are in front of the right thigh. The club should still be horizontal or just slightly above there which we see with better players and the club head higher than the level of your hands. Once you’ve got to this position, that’s when you should release. That’s when you should create that straight line. So, looking at how to improve releasing early, that would mean that you’re creating the straight line by the time you are here. So by the time the right hands are in front of the right thigh, we’ve got a straight line, you’ve already released the energy from your wrist, the speed’s going into the club head but you haven’t yet struck the ball.
So here’s two drills that you can use at the range to help you with this. First of all, take a wood cover and place it on the target line. So it’s in line with the ball and opposite your right foot. What we want to start doing, is working on swinging so we don’t hit that wood cover. So, on your backswing, just hover the club up above the ground, so we don’t knock the wood cover out of the way, on the backswing, swinging to the backswing position. And then on the downswing, if you are releasing the club early, the club head will be at full extension away from you, you’ll have the straight left arm and straight club look before you’ve got to that wood cover, so you’ll hit the wood cover.
What we want to learn to do is we want to learn to strike the ground with the club after we’ve cleared the wood cover. If we’re doing that, that will mean that we are swinging this angle that we are creating with the left arm and the club, so that we get the hands past where the wood cover is on the floor, the hands are now more opposite the right thigh and now we can drop the club head down and create the straight line. So it just initially start doing that very slowly and get a feel for how you’ve got to wait until you release the club, get much closer to the point of impact before you release, before you create that straight line.
Try this also; take an alignment pole and your range balls and place the alignment pole through the basket. Now I’d recommend that you do this with an empty basket. You place the alignment pole through and we want to work on having the alignment pole approximately three to four inches up off the floor. We’re going to put that on the left side of where the ball would be. And about a foot and a half to two foot on the left of the ball. If you’re releasing early, and you’ve created your straight line, before you get to the golf ball, as you go through the golf ball you’ll very quickly be on the upswing. So you’ll swing up and past that alignment pole without striking it at all. So this would give you valuable feedback. I’d recommend doing this at home, you could use a plant pot, just to get a garden [cane] raised three to four inches up off the floor. And then work on swinging the club back, and then striking the floor but keeping the club head low on the left side of the golf ball. That will ensure you’ve released correctly into the shots. The club head wants to work on travelling under that alignment pole, but the shaft of the club will hit it. So you should spin the pole out of the way there as you swing through.
And again that’s another way to get some really good feedback as to whether you are releasing at the correct point on your golf swing. If you try those two swing drills it should really help you create a later release on the downswing and get you away from this early release where you’re wasting the club head speed and your power before you’ve got to the golf ball.
2013-08-14 Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro
So with this swing tip video, we’re going to look at how to help you create more power and more consistency with your connection during impact. And in order to do that we’re going to look at when you are releasing the golf club on your downswing. A lot of ladies will struggle with the release and will end up releasing the club too early on their downswing which means that as a result, they’ve already put all the speed into the club head, released all of that wrist power, and they haven’t got to the ball yet. So by the time they do get to ball with the club head, all that power and speed is gone, so they don’t hit the ball as far as they could, and they are struggling and fighting with the club to make sure they get a good connection.
So, let’s look at what release actually mean initially. If you swing to the top of your backswing, we’re looking at the relationship between your left arm and the golf club. We’re looking at this angle here. If you are releasing, as you’re pulling the club down on the downswing, you will be releasing that club into a straight line with your left arm and creating a straight line from the left arm and the club. So you’re releasing your wrist angle. And the release shouldn’t happen until you’ve pulled the club all the way down, so the hands are in front of the right thigh. The club should still be horizontal or just slightly above there which we see with better players and the club head higher than the level of your hands. Once you’ve got to this position, that’s when you should release. That’s when you should create that straight line. So, looking at how to improve releasing early, that would mean that you’re creating the straight line by the time you are here. So by the time the right hands are in front of the right thigh, we’ve got a straight line, you’ve already released the energy from your wrist, the speed’s going into the club head but you haven’t yet struck the ball.
So here’s two drills that you can use at the range to help you with this. First of all, take a wood cover and place it on the target line. So it’s in line with the ball and opposite your right foot. What we want to start doing, is working on swinging so we don’t hit that wood cover. So, on your backswing, just hover the club up above the ground, so we don’t knock the wood cover out of the way, on the backswing, swinging to the backswing position. And then on the downswing, if you are releasing the club early, the club head will be at full extension away from you, you’ll have the straight left arm and straight club look before you’ve got to that wood cover, so you’ll hit the wood cover.
What we want to learn to do is we want to learn to strike the ground with the club after we’ve cleared the wood cover. If we’re doing that, that will mean that we are swinging this angle that we are creating with the left arm and the club, so that we get the hands past where the wood cover is on the floor, the hands are now more opposite the right thigh and now we can drop the club head down and create the straight line. So it just initially start doing that very slowly and get a feel for how you’ve got to wait until you release the club, get much closer to the point of impact before you release, before you create that straight line.
Try this also; take an alignment pole and your range balls and place the alignment pole through the basket. Now I’d recommend that you do this with an empty basket. You place the alignment pole through and we want to work on having the alignment pole approximately three to four inches up off the floor. We’re going to put that on the left side of where the ball would be. And about a foot and a half to two foot on the left of the ball. If you’re releasing early, and you’ve created your straight line, before you get to the golf ball, as you go through the golf ball you’ll very quickly be on the upswing. So you’ll swing up and past that alignment pole without striking it at all. So this would give you valuable feedback. I’d recommend doing this at home, you could use a plant pot, just to get a garden [cane] raised three to four inches up off the floor. And then work on swinging the club back, and then striking the floor but keeping the club head low on the left side of the golf ball. That will ensure you’ve released correctly into the shots. The club head wants to work on travelling under that alignment pole, but the shaft of the club will hit it. So you should spin the pole out of the way there as you swing through.
And again that’s another way to get some really good feedback as to whether you are releasing at the correct point on your golf swing. If you try those two swing drills it should really help you create a later release on the downswing and get you away from this early release where you’re wasting the club head speed and your power before you’ve got to the golf ball.
