Release and drawing/hooking

I have a question for low handicappers here. I'm working hard at the moment at timing my release better. Basically from the top I have a lower body move, whilst tryin to hold my wrist angle and then a full release with my arms/body

I've found that I was drawing to the point where it was basically a hook. Came back from the range today and I noiw *think* this ie because what I may be doing is aiming my release to the right of the target in a misguided attempt to come from the inside and hit the ball at 4'o clock

I found that when I actually tried to release right at the target or even left of it ( where my hooks where going) my arms would stay connected and I would hit it much straighter and longer. BUT is this the right mecahanics? Im worried in case this was a fluke and Im doing something else but it seems and feels right?

Golf truly is a game of paradoxes. To stop hooking swing to the left !

Ahhhh a fellow sufferer.

Im afraid it was probably a fluke. You are maybe coming across the ball as if you were cutting it but the pull tendency is cancelling it out. It does indeed work (much like Trevino's swing worked) but from a fundamentals point of view it would be hard to successfully analyse and create a repetitive swing based on this action without hitting tens of thousands of shots to groove it.

What you are trying to do with hitting the ball at 4 o'clock is correct. You have to make sure that your swing is flat enough that you arent simple blocking it straight left with a draw. Also make sure you are actually pull hooking. If the ball doesnt travel more than 30 yards left of the line it started on its just a pull draw, which is the problem I have struggled with for many years. The pull hook comes about when you swing as though to hit from the inside but release your hands too soon and the clubface is closing as it attacks the ball this will hit it straight but with a big swinging hook, rather than pulled with a 10-20 yard draw.

I wouldn't worry too much about timing your wrist release. The best way to increase your wrist action is to make a full wrist cock on the way back. This way the wrists have to release fully on the way down. Keep the wrists supple dont try and control them. To gain distance concentrate on your turn rather than your wrists. A full shoulder and hip turn away and through the ball will generate more distance than a strong wrist release.

Ok, let's go back to ball flight laws 101 here, just so that you can understand what influences the way the ball flies after impact.

If you're hooking, the ball will start right of target and turn left ending far to left of target. This achieved by an in-to-out (starts right) swing with a closed club face (hook spin). If this is what you're doing - you have to correct both the swing path (too far inside) and club face angle (too closed).

If you're pull hooking - the ball will start left and go further left in a draw shape. If this is you, then you're swinging outside-to-in (starts left) and the face is closed (draw spin).

A draw has is somewhere in between those 2 extremes, but it's normally associated with an in-to-out swing path with a slightly closed club face (we're taking 1 degree or maybe 2 degrees maximum).

It sounds like your meachnics are all 'in the correct direction'. What you know need to do is experiment and practice ... how much release and how much 'turning over' do you have to do to achieve the desired result. Once you find that 'happy medium' and you're happy with the ball flight, practice and practice some more until it becomes second nature.

Good progress though - if you can hook the ball, you can draw the ball. I always teach my stuents to go to the extreme and bring them back over time. It takes a huge amounf of work to teach a drawer to hook!

__________________
Golf is easy ... once you know how.
Graham Arnott, teaching professional
Kelrosa Golf Studios
www.kelrosagolf.com
Class 'A' PGA Member
Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I)

Its a pull draw then as most of the shots go 10-25 yards right of where they start out. Good distance but frustrating as its not something I control. Of course when I them aim 20 yards right to draw it in I bang it dead straight ! Mizuno, how have you worked this out (or havent you !)

At least I know to persevere with the in to out approach and try and time my release better. Im thinking a good way to do this might be to try and hold my wrist angle a fraction longer before I unleash my hands and arms through the ball. I guess its all in the timing, I can see me hitting push fades on another day !

Funnily enough the problem is less pronounced with Driver/3/5 and more so with 7/8/9/pw ????

The first mistake you’re making is trying to time the release. The second mistake you’re making is trying to hold your wrist angle. The third mistake you’re making is using your release for direction control. I’ll go over each one.


You don’t time the release; it’s a result of physics. Both your hands and the clubhead move down plane towards the ball. When your hands reach the bottom of their arc your left arm will provide centripetal force as the clubhead wants to keep moving down plane. This will in turn cause your left wrist to uncock. As your left wrist uncocks the clubhead than starts to rotate around your left hand and since it has a bigger degree of arc to go through to catch up with your hands we get acceleration. Hence, the release is the period of clubhead acceleration.

<><>Holding your wrist angle is nothing more than a muscular block out. This tells me your have over-acceleration. In other words your clubhead speed is faster than your hand speed in the first half of your downswing. This will cause the clubhead to over take your hands too soon. It’s more commonly known as casting. To avoid this early taking over of the clubhead you hold the angle with muscular tension. Holding the angle is compensation for a fault. <>

The secret is lag. Lag is the steady driving of the clubhead towards impact. You should feel like your swinging the club against it’s own weight. What you’re actually sensing is the clubs inertia; it’s resistance to acceleration and change of direction. It should be a steady as she goes motion, a constant nursing of feel. As long as you feel like you’re swinging against the weight of the club you’re accelerating it – the club is lagging. When the club lags you automatically have the angle. When you lose the lag you chase the club and lose the angle. <>

The release is a clubhead motion as the wrist goes from cocked to uncocked. Cocking and uncocking the wrist raises and lowers the clubhead. Wrist roll and reverse roll opens and closes the face. This is two separate motions. So using a clubhead motion for direction control is a faulty procedure. <>

What happening is you’re coming into impact aimed right with a block out (holding the angle). To keep from hitting a push, slice or shank you flip it over the top to get the ball back on line resulting in a closed clubface at impact and a hook. When you aim the release at the target or to the left of it you don’t have the need to force the ball on line nor come over the top as much so you hit the ball straighter. <>

1) From the top slide your hips laterally towards the target. This will keep your spine tilted away from the target and pull down your right shoulder – the period of shoulder acceleration. At this stage you should also be aiming the path of your hands to be straight line through the inside aft quadrant of the ball (or as you out it 4 o’clock). <>

2) Your left hand will move away from your right shoulder as your left arms starts to separate from your chest and over take your left shoulder- the period of hand acceleration. Your effort continues to want to drive your hands straight line through 4 o’clock. Be careful that the pivot components do not interfere with the path of your hands nor forces the clubshaft off plane. <>

3) As the hands near the bottom of their arc the clubhead will start to over take your hands – the period of clubhead acceleration. Hand acceleration and clubhead acceleration are two separate actions. They can be separate or simultaneous but clubhead speed cannot supercede hand speed. As the clubhead over takes your hands it does so with a free wheeling action, it must not be manipulated in direction. <>

Note that it is the path of your hands that is directed and not the release itself.

^ What he said.

Keeping wrist angles is easy if your takeaway is fine. I've learned this one from my pro - he kept stressing a flat left wrist (put a comb under your watch band so it touches the back of your hand on your lead arm - don't force contact or lose contact with the comb). I found this difficult with my very flat takeaway - but easy once I made my swing steep. Not only did my wrists set 'automatically', they also came back and released properly and automatically at impact.

The other thing you may want to check is the size of your grips. Waggle the club and do a half swing to impact. If the club doesn't stay square, your grips may be the wrong size. (This is my experience - I have largely oversized grips as I used to put a death grip on the club, and hold the club in my palm. After learning a proper grip, I have to choke down every club to get the correct grip size to keep the face square through impact).

I haven't really got it beat im afraid Pnearn. All I know is that as long as I swing along a flatter plane and attack the ball from the inside, the shot shape is much improved instead of the big looping draw ! get a nice 5-10 yard draw. The reason its more pronounced in the higher clubs is because they are harder to start off online in the first place due to the greater loft. Its just exaggerating the overall effect. One tip of course is to always take one club more and you will be more accurate (not by much but every little helps).

D.

Well I played today and broke 80 for the first time. Actually shot 78 and if I could putt it would have been better than that

And my mantra all day was to agressively release through the ball with my hands with my head and core behind the ball at impact. I was flushing everything. It must be a personal thing but I find I have to try and think about the release being led by my arms and hands. I do have a pause at the top where my weight shift begins but I cant think or make it a body movement. Just doesnt work for me. I suppose its different strokes for different folks but if I play like i did today for a few rounds I'll be delighted

But no doubt something else will go wrong next time