What does the right hand do in the swing????

Is the right hand conciously active in the golf swing? I pull with the left hand and the right is along for the ride --- but I read in article that tiger's swing thought is to rotate his right forearm into impact. This is making me wonder if I am not using my right side correctly.

Basically the left hand guides the club but the right hand provides the power. Don't read too much into a single Tiger swing thought as it's something very specific he's working on but without using the right hand your distance will really suffer. So the right hand only really becomes active in the final part of the downswing to provide that whipcrack acceleration of the clubhead through the ball.

thinking of the right hand may bring flipping problems. Next time you are at the range try this. Set up to the ball and for the backswing think of not turning the shoulders, or hips, just pull your right elbow behind you and your shoulders may turn to 30 degrees or so. now just push the heel pad of the right hand straight at the ball while keeping the right wrist cupped. push with right heel pad of hand while rotating left forearm. You should get very crisp contact, low ball flight, and 130-150 yard six irons with hardly any backswing at all. Now you would not want to swing this way but it is a great way of illustrating what truly generates clubhead speed in the golfswing, the body is not the biggest power souce. right arm extension and lag are the biggest power sources

my right hand is keep passive throughout my backswing and through the downswing untill about 3/4 through the downswing when i release my right hand into and through the impact zone.

I'm curious, why would you not want to swing this way actually? If you practice to really speed up the arms, you can probably even get 160-170 yds with the 6 iron. A swing like this is more consistent as it involves much less movements, and balls travel very straight with this method.

Just like to hear some thoughts on this Thanks!

guys I took a 2hr lesson today and my instructor which I haven't been to in two yrs worked with me on switching to a 1plane swing. He said that my swing was really close to it anyway so we worked on the impact and downswing. I was taught at a young age to start my swing hip high to hip high and think of shaking hands with my left hand going back and shake hands with my right hand coming through, but I got away from that because of hooking the ball. TODAY I modified that feeling with a new swing and noticed a 15 to 20 yard difference on all clubs.

Just wanted to share with you all if anyone is interested please reply back.

you are right that it is very consistent. I can reproduce straight shots this way and I have only hit 200 balls or so trying this. seems weird for the driver though. If you know an instructor, or if you can figure this swing out for yourself, you are right that it would probably be a consistent swing. Maybe you do it already

The only time my right hand does anything, is just before impact, and after contact is made. IMO using the right hand for more then that is going to ruin your swing. The way I like to think about it is...

"Use my right hand to stabalize the club. I don't like to use the word guide because that confuses people into thinking that they have to use their right hand more then they should. If you use your right hand to guide your swing must be way off course anyway."

I've seen a clip of Phil Mickleson (Sp?) right hand actually leaving the drivers grip slightly before impact. Instead of having the club touching the palm of the right hand, it was only held by a blurry thumb and pointer finger.

I'm not a pro by anymeans, but this is my personal opinion. Take it with a grain of salt :-)

Hi shootin4par,

Well as you know that is not very orthodox, and that's why I responded to your statement that one would not want to swing this way As a matter of fact, I have been taking lessons with a coach who is advocating such a swing. But you know, it's difficult to pick up because we are all exposed to the classic swing everywhere, and everything that is being discussed is contrary to this swing method. And though it works well with the irons, I am still curious how well it works with the longer woods.

Anyway back to the main question. For me, the main thing I'm focusing on now is to cup my right wrist at the backswing, so that I can arrive at the proper waiter position at the top. Does that already come naturally to everyone right from day one? I've been struggling with this for quite a while actually..

messing around today and on the 18th I dropped an extra ball 160 yards out. proceeded to hit said shot and stuck it right were I was aiming, only attmept all day. is your instructor tgm by chance? supposedly there is a way that this swing works, it does work reall well on pitch shots too.

I am with the Peter Senior and Gary Edwin Academy. Well I guess my coaches have long perfected the swing so it's easy to see the proof of concept there But you are right, this kind of swing hardly produces any slice shots which is so common amongst amateurs who try to whip the ball... I think when beginners try to hit the ball hard, their shoulders invariable outrace the hand, thus causing all the slice and push problems. But in this swing, you already set up your body for impact position, so all you need to do is take the hands back and whip them through.

To stay in line with the subject matter, I think the right hand does the same thing in both kinds of swings. But in this case, at set up you are already doing the forward press and cupping the right hand, just like it would be at impact time.