Miles Bennett
Golf lag drills are a set of exercises aimed at improving your golf swing. They are recommended by top golf instructors like Adam Bazalgette, Andrew Rice, and Mark Durland. The drills can be done with or without a ball and can be tracked using the HackMotion app. One such drill involves using an alignment stick or another club and positioning it on the ground to your left, pointed down the range, and aligned with your heel line. You then take your arms to waist height, ensuring your wrists are hinged, and drag the handle through the hitting area, maintaining the angle. This drill helps you create lag in your swing, resulting in higher, farther, and straighter iron shots.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To improve the speed, distance, and accuracy of a golf swing |
| Equipment | Alignment stick or another club |
| Body movement | Start the downswing with the lower body, then progress up to the hips, core, and shoulders/arms |
| Wrists | Keep wrists loose to maintain the angle between the hands and the club |
| Hands | Keep hands in front of the club |
| Angle | Maintain a decent angle between the lead wrist and the club |
| Direction | The clubface angle at impact determines the direction of the shot |
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What You'll Learn
The importance of loose wrists
Keeping your wrists loose is crucial for achieving a powerful, effortless, and pain-free golf swing. It allows golfers to generate more clubhead speed, resulting in increased distance with their shots. This increased clubhead speed is achieved without relying on physical strength, as loose wrists enable greater flexibility and freedom of movement.
To understand the importance of loose wrists, consider the difference between swinging a stiff, locked 2" x 4" piece of wood and one with a hinge in the middle. With the former, you might hit the ball 200 yards, but with the latter, you can expect to hit it 300 yards. This simple illustration highlights how loose wrists can significantly improve your distance and accuracy off the tee.
Additionally, loose wrists can be maintained throughout a golfer's lifetime, allowing for consistent improvement in performance on the golf course. It is a technique that can be learned and does not require excessive physical strength. By practicing the hinging motion of the wrists, golfers can achieve a powerful swing. This motion creates a snapping sensation, indicating that the wrists are loose and generating clubhead speed.
When focusing on your wrist position, it is essential to keep the wrist joint loose while maintaining a firm grip on the club. This ensures you are not letting go of the golf club but instead harnessing the benefits of loose wrists to create a more efficient transfer of energy in your swing.
To develop loose wrists, you can practice the hinge and re-hinge motion repeatedly. Start with a thumbs-up position and move to a re-hinged position, mimicking a hinge with your wrists. This will help you achieve the desired looseness and flexibility in your swing.
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How to avoid an early release
To avoid an early release, or "casting", in your golf swing, you need to maintain control of your wrists. Casting is when there is an early release or loss of wrist angles during the swing, which can cause the club to be released too early.
To avoid this, you should keep your wrists bent, especially the trail wrist, as you move from the top of the swing to the halfway point. This will delay the release of the club. You can practice this with the HackMotion Casting Drill, which is built into the HackMotion app.
Another drill to avoid an early release is the Trail Arm “Lose the Arm Wrestle” drill. This drill teaches you to keep the shaft on plane and avoid an early release. First, extend your right arm in front of you and rotate your elbow inwards and your forearm outward, as if you were losing an arm wrestle. Then, grab a club and address the ball, maintaining that externally rotated sensation in your trail arm as you swing. At the top of the swing, your trail elbow should point downwards and the club should be shallower. On the downswing, keep the elbow close to your ribs. This prevents an early release and allows the wrists to stay hinged for longer.
Additionally, you can try a drill that focuses on the feeling of lag. For this drill, you will only be taking your arms to waist height. Lay an alignment stick on the ground to your left, pointed down the range and aligned with your heel line. While holding an angle between your lead wrist and the club, drag the handle through the hitting area, keeping the angle until it aligns with the alignment stick. This will help you get used to the feeling of having lag stored at the bottom of your swing.
Finally, it's important to remember that lag is a byproduct of starting the downswing with your lower body. You should start with pressure into your lead heel and hips rotating towards the target, then progress up your body to your core and shoulders/arms. Keep your arms and hands relaxed, and your lead arm in front of your body. This will help you achieve the correct swing sequence and avoid an early release.
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The role of the lower body in the downswing
The downswing is a complex movement that requires the coordination of multiple body parts. The lower body plays a crucial role in initiating and driving the downswing, while the upper body, arms, and club follow with a slight delay. This sequence is essential for creating and maintaining the desired lag angle, which, in turn, maximizes clubhead speed and improves the power and control of your shots.
During the downswing, the lower body, particularly the hips, lead the movement. This involves rotating your hips towards the target, followed by unwinding your core and then your shoulders and arms. It is important to keep your arms and hands relaxed during this process to produce the desired movements. Additionally, maintaining a stable spine angle throughout the swing is crucial.
Another effective drill is the Step and Turn Drill, which helps golfers internalize the importance of initiating the downswing with the lower body. To perform this drill, take your normal stance with the ball in the center and start your backswing, turning your upper body away from the target while keeping your lower body stable. As you reach the top of your backswing, step forward with your lead foot towards the target. Initiate the downswing by turning your lower body towards the target, allowing the upper body, arms, and club to lag behind. As you continue the downswing, firmly plant your lead foot on the ground, providing a stable base. Accelerate through impact, maintaining the lag angle, and complete your follow-through by fully rotating towards the target.
By focusing on the role of the lower body in the downswing and practicing these drills, golfers can improve their lag and overall swing mechanics, resulting in more powerful and controlled shots.
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Using an alignment stick
For golfers with a straight back and straight-through putting stroke, alignment sticks can act as a guide. You can also use an alignment stick to improve your wrist mechanics and take control of your club face. Combining alignment stick drills with wrist data from tools like HackMotion can help you track progress, receive immediate feedback, and ensure you're practising the right moves.
If you're looking to fix an over-the-top swing, try sticking an alignment stick in the ground at about the angle of your shaft. Place it behind you but a little in front of your desired swing plane, and practice swinging below the alignment stick.
You can also use an alignment stick to help with your setup position. For example, setting the stick inside your left foot is a great way to ensure the exact same ball position every time. It can also help with balance at address: if your stance is too narrow or too wide, you'll be able to feel it in relation to the stick.
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Practising without a ball
Practising golf without a ball may seem counterintuitive, but it can be an effective way to improve your game. Removing the ball from the equation allows golfers to focus on the task at hand, whether that's swinging for more speed or perfecting their putting technique.
One of the benefits of practising without a ball is that it helps to improve your body awareness and matching things up. This can be achieved by practising your swing in slow motion, as recommended by professional golfer Will Zalatoris, who says he rarely practises at full speed. Another professional golfer, Max Homa, also advocates for practising without a ball, suggesting that standing in front of a mirror and checking your posture can be beneficial for amateur golfers who can't get to the course as often.
Dr Sasho Mackenzie, a golf biomechanist and co-creator of the Stack System, agrees that not hitting a golf ball is beneficial because it helps golfers focus on swinging for more speed. The Stack System uses a series of weights, a shorter club, and a radar to train for higher swing speed, and it intentionally does not include hitting a golf ball.
There are a variety of drills that can be done without a ball to improve your golf swing. One example is the gate drill, which involves setting up a gate using two tees, rubber discs, guitar picks, or golf ball sleeves. The goal is to swing your club through the gate without hitting either side. This drill can be made more challenging by using thinner discs or by cutting down tees so that they barely stick out from your golf mat.
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Frequently asked questions
The "Me and My Golf" lag drill is a simple drill that can help improve your lag putting. All you need are four golf balls and a practice green. Line up the balls in a straight line on the green, placing one about six feet away from the hole and the next six feet farther away, and so on. This drill is especially beneficial if you are playing on a course with unfamiliar green speeds.
Take your time and don't rush your takeaway. Place the balls in a straight line, starting about six feet away from the hole, and practice putting them. Focus on maintaining a smooth and consistent pace.
There are various other lag drills that can help improve your swing and putting. One drill involves using an alignment stick or another club. Place the stick on the ground to your left, pointed down the range, and aligned with your heel line. Take your arms to waist height, hinge your wrist, and drag the handle through the hitting area while maintaining the angle. Another drill involves using a golf towel. Fold the towel a few times and place it on the ground about a club head away from the ball. Practice your swing, focusing on shifting your weight to the lead side to create lag.
Many players try to help the ball get in the air, which can result in weak ball flights and inconsistent contact. Instead, focus on hitting down on the ball by shifting your weight to the lead side. Additionally, keep your arms and hands relaxed, and start the downswing with your lower body, allowing your hips to rotate towards the target before your core and shoulders/arms.
