How to Delay Your Release

Early Release

Good players are able to create tremendous clubhead lag, storing energy until the last possible moment before finally unleashing the clubhead through the ball.

The majority of poor ball strikers lose this lag much too early in their downswing. They suffer an early hit.  As a result, whatever power they might have stored in the backswing is lost with a very weak, slappy hit, and the clubhead decelerates through impact.

Symptoms of such an early release can be loss of the angle at the back of the right wrist, the club and right arm virtually forming a straight line; Impact – a scoopy position, the hands either level with, or slightly behind the ball; post impact – the right hand wraps over the left as the left wrist collapses.

Another clue to this fault is that you hit your woods reasonably well but strike your iron shots poorly – not solid, no divot. If that sounds familiar, you can assume you are an early releaser. You can get away with an early release more with a wood than an iron because you can sweep a wood shot, but in order to really strike your iron shots crisply, your left wrist must be ahead of the clubhead through impact.

Delay Your Release

You cannot just put yourself in this powerful, delayed release position. It is a moment captured in a series of good movements and so can only be achieved in conjunction with a correctly moving body.

Try this exercise: Grip an iron with the right hand on top and the left hand low. As you make your backswing, notice how your right wrist really hinges and then try to maintain that wrist cock for as long as you can on the downswing. When you do this correctly, it should feel as if you are leading with the butt-end of the club before finally allowing the clubhead to release.

To further appreciate the sensation of impact, take your six iron and address a corner of a wall, or another immovable object. Put your body into the impact position, then push the clubhead into the wall and feel your hands slightly ahead, your left wrist flat (pointed at the target), and a cupped angle formed at the back of your right wrist. Hold this position for a few seconds, then repeat the exercise. Now try to re-create these feelings of lag and impact when hitting some balls – you should have improvement in your striking. 

Your Partner in Golf Success!

Stan Moore,PGA

Teaching Professional @ Don Law Golf Academy