How to Create Golf Swing Lag

Many golfers tend to ignore golf swing lag. Lag is difficult to measure even with a video recording or photo. This is why many people don’t think about it easily. The easiest and most natural thing to do though is creating the much-needed lag in the golf swing.

The golf club is designed in such a way that the design makes it almost impossible to have no lag. Add the mechanism behind the golf swing to the equation and you are involuntarily and fluently speaking the lag language.

The golf head lags behind the hands to some degree when you swing the golf club. This happens regardless of whether you want it to or not. One can surely do a few things when they swing the golf club to counter this lag.

Yet the truth remains that a golf swing will be unsuccessful if a golfer tries to fight against lag. A lost cause from the get-go. ‘What do I do as a golfer then?’ You may wonder. The best thing you can do is to leverage lag to work in your favor.

This will ensure your golf swing lives up to its potential. This means you will eventually be swinging like the pro you are meant to be.

Golf swing lag keynotes covered:

What is golf swing lag
The pros of lag in the golf swing
How golf swing lag is created
How golf swing lag is maintained
Drills to perfect golf swing lag

What golf swing lag is

The delay of the golf club head behind the hands, that happens during the downswing, is known as lag. Golfers should not manually try to create lag because it is something that results from correctly executing the golf swing.

Lag is, on that note, an important and natural motion for golfers in their swing. That steep angle as the downswing begins is what every golfer desires. The moment you start your downswing, your hands should lead the way through impact, with the clubhead coming through slightly behind the hands.

Many golfers are aware that lag is something they must have and maximize. What they lack, in their intention to work on the said lag, is a perfect understanding of it.

Apart from not knowing what lag is for, they also don’t know how it affects their swing. Ask any random golfer and they will give you a vague answer that is in the region of; “I don’t know, it is supposed to help me get faster clubhead speed and longer distance.”

The fact is, you should be clear on all the ins and outs of lag to master it. When you bring yourself to that awareness level, then you will know how lag should feel. Nothing beats practical knowledge.

The one that tells you that lag is stored energy. Not even a whole world of the best theory. It goes without saying that, different golfers have a different amount of lag in their swing.

It all depends on their release action. Lag is fundamentally created by maintaining the wrist bend throughout the downswing. Bent wrists guarantee that the golf club lags behind the hands as you swing.

The longer your wrists can maintain the angle between the shaft and your forearm in the downswing, the better the lag will be.

The pros of having lag in your golf swing

Lag builds more clubhead speed which increases your golf shot distance.
Lag makes the impact more solid as it allows a snapping motion through impact.
It also helps in the creation of a downward motion toward the ball.
The golfer’s angle of attack is better if they allow the golf club to lag behind their hands through impact.
The golf club is designed in such a way that flex is created in the golf club’s shaft. This allows the club to lag behind the hands, snapping through impact. This creates distance, consistency, and a desirable solid impact.

How golf swing lag is created

Here are a few techniques that golfers can use to create, improve and consequently maintain lag in their golf swing;

Swing speed:

Swing speed helps in the creation of lag in such a way that the faster you swing, the more the golf swing lags behind the hands. However, it is important to swing faster while maintaining your technique and balance, and not just for its sake.

Trying to swing faster often causes issues so relaxing your muscles is an easy way to start swinging faster. Relaxing muscles helps in keeping the arms loose hence allowing your wrist to hinge faster.

Swinging harder does not mean tensing up your muscles because a tense muscle does not have as much flexibility or range of motion. When swinging, therefore, it is not about the tension but the range of motion and flexibility.

Maintain wrist hinge:

As long as you can, always maintain your wrist angle through the downswing. Do not release your wrist angle too early because you are trying to get under the ball. This works against you.

Maintaining your wrist angle ensures that the golf club naturally lags behind your hands. This creates more speed through impact and a descending blow towards the ball and this gets it into the air.

Delay the release:

Release is the rotation of the hands through impact. Many beginner golfers tend to swing within and outside the in-swing path thinking it helps to stop a slice yet it does the exact opposite.

An outside in-swing path fights against lag by enabling the club to slightly travel ahead of the hands because of the wrist rotation. Golfers can stop this by making sure that they swing with an inside-out swing path.

This makes it hard for the golfer to release the hands too early hence maintaining the lag throughout the downswing.

How golf swing lag is maintained

Many beginner golfers make mistakes that make it hard to create and maintain lag in the golf swing. Here are some of the ways to eliminate these mistakes from your golf swing:

Casting the golf club;

This is the movement of the arm and wrist that is similar to casting a fishing rod. In the downswing, casting the golf club means that the golfer loses the angle too early, thus causing the golf head to travel further forward passing the hands. Lag is eliminated when the hand the golf club passes the hand.

Lifting the ball;

Lifting the ball in the air is not done by getting under the ball and lifting it but rather, by hitting down and through the golf ball. Golf swing lag is eliminated whenever a beginner golfer tries to lift the ball in the air.

Always make sure that you hit down on the golf ball so that you maintain your lag. Striking down on the ball allows the golf ball design to lift it. This is because the dimples on the ball create lift which makes it spin and rise.

Drills to perfect the golf swing lag

The following are the drills golfers can practice, to ensure that their golf swing has the right amount of lag. First before that though, they can enlist the help of a special training aid that will skyrocket their results.

The use of Lag Shot

If you do not know yet, Lag Shot is a new invention that hit the market a short while back. It is a golf club that was designed for training the feel for the stored energy. The club itself has a blue end that is stretchy.

This gives rise to a natural whippy motion in the golf swing. The training club can be used independently to perfect swing motion or with golf balls that you hit. It is a favorable aid to have especially for older golfers whose mobility has seen better days.

Golfers agree that a reduction in mobility drastically cuts down clubhead speed and distance. Improving lag makes up for that loss by offering the much-needed speed and distance.

With Lag Shot, you can practice the technique in a way that involves no strain. The actual training is nothing more than swinging the way you do your everyday golf club. The only difference is the additional attention you must pay so you take note of how it feels.

The stretchy shaft will allow you to feel how the clubhead loads energy when you reach the top of the swing. Its design, additionally, releases this energy naturally at the right time. All while making it possible for the golfer to feel this as it happens.

The beauty of this aid is that this sensation is present with or without the golf ball. It will still be effective as you navigate through the golf swing sequence in either scenario.

Whether you are at home, you can take a few minutes out of each day to practice with Lag Shot. Overdoing it will certainly create faster results. Many have attested to the fact that it is so brilliant with the golf ball, hence the method being their favorite.

And now, the drills…

Swing the golf club upside down drill

Flip the golf club over such that you are gripping it near the head and the grip is down towards the ground.
Practice your swing in this position, you’ll notice a whizzing noise at some point in your downswing.
Endeavor to pinpoint the exact place in your swing where the whizzing sound occurs.
The closer to the impact zone the whizzing is, the better release your swing has, and the more the lag.
Your wrist hinge is lost when you hear the whizzing sound too early. This means that you are casting the golf club instead of maintaining a wrist hinge and the lag.

The 6-Finger drill

Some beginner golfers find this drill to be a little hard but it is well worth it. All you have to do is;

Normally grip your golf club on the grip end of the club.
Raise both of your pinkie fingers off your golf club. Do the same for your ring fingers.
The club should only be gripped with six fingers, that is to say, both thumbs, both middle fingers, and both pointer fingers.
Hit some short shots and take some slow swings.
This will force the club to lag behind your hands.
You should be able to feel the whipping back and forth of the golf club more than usual.
The finger drill emphasizes the golf swing lag. Since the golfer has fewer fingers on the golf club, they will have less control of the club.

Swing donut drill

A golf club donut is a small weighted circle that the golfer sticks on the shaft of the golf club to make it heavier than normal. Many golfers use the donut to warm up. However, it can be used for other purposes.

The club naturally lags behind your hands more than normal when you swing your club with a donut. This is the feeling that every golfer wants to create in their actual golf swing.

Golfers should always be careful not to swing too much with a donut because their muscles will become used to the weight of a heavier club. Yet when the golfer moves to the actual club weight, their hands may move quicker and release the club through impact too soon.

When you take off the donut, make sure you maintain the lag feeling rather than the opposite.

Final Words on Golf Swing Lag

With the appropriate information, drills, and techniques, any golfer can create and maintain lag in their golf swing. This lag will in turn help them achieve swing speed, the much-coveted descending blow to the ball, and suave contact.

The impact will thus benefit greatly. Poor lag, therefore, means a golfer will likely struggle with swing speed, the descending blow, and worthwhile impact. A golfer’s journey to solving the imperfections with their golf swing begins with relaxation.

This advice works when you set out to solve poor lag too. By relaxing, letting the club delay a bit, before hitting down and through the golf ball, you get the result you seek. This does not mean overthinking things though, as lag is relatively natural.

Allow things to flows smoothly and create the steep angle that you should desire as you begin your downswing. This beginning is what will load the clubhead with the energy that will be released when the moment is right.

And thus, you will have your lag. But only if you allow your body to learn how to naturally make it happen. Once your body recognizes the true feel of lag, there’s no stopping you.

Golf Swing Lag: How to Create More “Lag” in Your Swing

How to Create Golf Swing Lag

What golf swing lag is

The pros of having lag in your golf swing