Play The Best Golf Of Your Life in 6 weeks | 2 of 6

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Tension in your golf swing - how to release your golf club head during your golf swing by using relaxed or light grip pressure. Learn the best golf drill to use for allowing clubhead rotation and eliminating tension in your golf swing.


In Week 2 of our amazing golf lesson video series, we're going to build on the the problems we solved with too much head movement by eliminating tension in your golf swing. 

Tension in your golf swing is a real distance and contact killer.  Loose grip and muscle tension is critical when improving your golf ball striking.  That's why we are going to show you how to apply less tension and let the clubhead rotate and square itself up and impact.

The key golf drill we want to show you is how to pick up two clubs and grip them both lightly.  Since there are two clubs, you will feel more weight and the weight, when used with a soft golf swing movement, will creat momentum and prevent overgripping of the golf club. 

By standing with your feet together and swinging two golf clubs with a half-height swing, hip high to hip high, you will gain the feeling of momentum and relaxed grip after 30 reps.

Once you get the feeling of relaxation and loose swing, put one club down and make the same movement with one golf club.  Feel like you're holding the club in the back two fingers of your right hand.  Try to prevent excessive thumb pressure. 

The goal is to feel the club bottoming out at the same spot with every golf swing.  Remeber to have light grip pressure and eliminate the grip pressure so you can properly release the golf club

Hey, what's up brother eastern golfers welcome back to week number two of The Best Golf of Your Life series here, where we're working on becoming much more consistent ball strikers. I hope you guys all had some great success over the last week working on trying to minimize some of the excess head movement that you had in your golf swing. I know it was kind of tough working through and trying to get a thousand repetitions in of this, and it felt like we were starting to use some bigger muscles. So this week I promise it's going to be a lot easier on us and we're going to be really focusing in on tension. We are going to really try to eliminate tension in the hands and the arms. That's a really critical area that a lot of amateur golfers tend to struggle with, is just carrying way too much tension.

                                So the ultimate goal this week, it's not going to be big movements but I know we've got a good golf tournament on TV this weekend, it's something that you can do right in front of your TV. it's a drill that I really strongly encourage you guys try out because it's going to, it's going to segway into what we're going to be doing next week in the week number three video. That's going to really start to tie the head movement, and then the tension, we're going to start to add more moving parts to this and you're going to see that you're going to hit the golf, golf Ball much more crisply and much more consistently.

                                Okay guys, so in step two here we're going to be really focusing on shaking out a lot of that tension in your lead arm. Anything from our shoulder down to our fingertips, it's going to be really critical that we spend as much time as we can over the next seven days really focusing on getting the correct sensation of letting your arm and your wrist, your forearm, all of that stuff, stay extremely relaxed because it is really critical for ball striking. Now, let's talk about this real quick, about why we want to stay relaxed and why we want to allow the club to swing before you get into today's drill.

                                Well, here's what I want you to know. The Golf Gods were really smart when they figured this all out. When they designed the golf clubs they figured that we should put the shaft down here at the hosel, so this where the golf club connects here, and because it's on an angle and we're swinging on an incline plane inherently the golf club is designed to rotate. Okay. So what a lot of amateur golfers tend to struggle with is that they're squeezing or manhandling the club so much that it doesn't want to rotate, it doesn't want to square itself back up. Then in turn, it makes for erratic ball striking. So that's why tension or releasing tension from your lead wrist really, form is extremely critical to allow the club head to do what it's designed to do, and that's rotate and square itself back up.

                                Now, here is a little simple golf swing drill for you guys to focus on this week. I want you to go ahead and grab two clubs. So I've got my nine iron and my six iron here today, you can do it with a seven and eight iron, that's fine. I want you to go ahead and grab both clubs. We're going to stand with our feet together, okay. I've got my hips back, okay, my chest is going to be over the ball so I'm still trying to maintain my golf posture. What we're going to be doing here is, we're going to be swinging from hip high to hip high. Just making our arm feel really relaxed, okay? So no big tension by squeezing these grips or anything like that. I just want you to swing your arm back and forth, okay, and what you are going to start to feel, because we've got two clubs and it's heavy, you're going to start to feel the weight of the club. You're just going to start to feel weight of the club head here.

                                You're going to feel like it wants to swing on its own. What it's actually causing my wrist to do here, is that you can see that my wrist is starting to rotate without me having to do or having to think anything about it. Okay. So I want you to do several reps with two clubs, okay. I don't want you to feel like you're pulling your arm, just let it swing very naturally here. Okay, you can see how I'm trying to keep it evenly paced on both sides of my body here. You'll start to feel the club heads gaining momentum or maximum speed right at the bottom of the swing arc.

                                Once you have that correct sensation put one of the clubs down. You're going to go back to it with your feet together here, okay. You're still going to make the same movements. What I want you to focus on when you have one club, is I want you just to feel like you're holding the club in the back two fingers of your lead hand. So the back two fingers here are going to be really where my pressure is in my grip. I don't want to be pushing on the shaft with the thumb, that's going to make the club come down really steep here. So I just want to feel like I'm holding it in those back two fingers and you can see that because I'm just swinging my arm back and forth, I'm getting the golf club to bottom out in the same exact spot every single rep.

                                Okay? So once you've really gotten out of the way and allowed the club to do what it's designed to do, you're going to notice that you can get the club head to bottom out in that same piece of carpet or wherever you are practicing. That is telling you that you are now allowing the club to do what it's designed to do, so that's you getting out of the way of it. Okay, so make sure you spend a lot of time with two clubs in your hand, I know we've got that great golf tournament to watch this weekend, this is something you can do right in front of your TV, just don't tear your carpet up because I don't want you loved ones calling me. Be like, "Why the heck is my loved one tearing my carpet up?"

                                Just make sure that your goal with week is to eliminate tension and try to feel the weight of the club. I don't want you to actively feel like you're having to flip your wrist over, allow the club head to rotate on its own and you're going to start to see that, "Hey, I've got more control of this club face than I ever thought I would." This is going to be a great segway for us into video number three. We're going to start to ramp things back up, we're going to start to add some more moving parts to this and you're going to see that you have way more compression on the golf ball.

                                Okay guys so there you have it, week number two we're going to be working on shaking out some of that tension and I want to let you guys know, if you haven't seen Five Minutes to a Perfect Golf Club Release, or Fixing Your Release, both of those videos are going to be really critical that you watch to make sure that you really refine the movements that you saw me doing today. Five Minutes to a Perfect Release is actually going to walk you through a step by step process. There is five steps to making sure that you've got great control of that club face, which is really critical for ball striking. Also, the Fixing the Release video shows a lot of the pitfalls that we see a lot of the amateur golfers tend to struggle with when they are going through Five Minutes to Perfect Release.

                                We're going to talk about some of the common faults and that's a great way to get a couple of little drills here that are going to get even more proficient with it. If you haven't seen either one of those videos I strongly suggest that you take a look at those. Let's make it a good week this week guys, good luck. Post up those results for us and I will see you guys next week.

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Jesse
Hi, Chris, at the end of this awesome video, you mentioned two other videos, one of which you said was "fixing a release." However, when I tried to search for it, I couldn't find it. Can you send me the link to it? Thanks!
April 2, 2021
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Jesse. Try putting this into the search box. Fix Your Release. Should be the first video to populate.
April 3, 2021
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Jesse
Thanks, Craig, that did it!
April 3, 2021
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Jeff
When getting into a preset impact position prior to performing this drill, do I have my lead leg straight and but cheek back when performing this drill and also when diving into a little of the "5 min to the perfect release drills"?
June 27, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello William. When doing the drill from a preset position. Allow for a straighter lead leg with the hips open. The goal isn't presetting perfect body, but to start getting the tension out of the lead arm to allow for a proper release.
June 27, 2020
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John
I’ve noticed I have a problem with excess tension, and this really helps. Is there a feel for the amount or pressure in the grip and arms to aim for? I’ve heard it expressed as having a 2 out of 10 pressure for the grip, and 0 for arms. That seems to help me with the drill.
June 20, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. Most pros start with about a 2/10 pressure with the hands at setup. Arms should be relaxed, but not dead. Take a look at Proper Muscle Activation Video.
June 22, 2020
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John
Will do, thanks Craig!
June 22, 2020
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michael
Hi Craig, I wish it were pushing with my trail foot as you’ve told me about that many times. No the issue is my lead heel lifting as I start down or at transition. As I said, a weird move, have you seen this before? Regards Mike
October 28, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. I haven't seen that very much. Mainly when someone is working on weight shift and actually trying to lift the heels. I will look for it in your next review. But, for now try to keep hyper focus not letting it leave the ground as you do with the trail foot.
October 28, 2018
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michael
Hi Craig, didn’t know where to post a question,so as you mentioned this video here it is. When I start my downswing I immediately lift my left heel and then lose my spine angle. Only happens on a ball swing. Weird move I know, what am I doing?
October 28, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. Are you meaning push with the trail foot while transitioning? That is a trained movement on your end. It could be you trained it for power or weight transfer. You need to make sure you are pulling with the lead to move your weight. Also, practice shifting and behaving with the trail foot. A good drill for that would be How to Fix the Two Way Miss Video. However, keep the eye on the prize with your Step 2 body movements.
October 28, 2018
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Gary
“Fixing your release” video?? Cannot locate?
September 12, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Gary. Type "Fix Your Release" in the search box.
September 12, 2018
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James
I apologize in advance for requesting it here... but I was on the site about a month ago and found a series of videos where this instructor detailed drills on focusing keeping the lead wrist flat/bowed and now I cannot find them. Any help would be appreciated.
August 15, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello James. A series, or one video? Maybe the Perfecting Your Golf Impact Series or if solely a video "Fix Your Release."
August 15, 2017
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James
Thanks, it was Perfecting your Golf Impact Series.
August 16, 2017
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arthur john
Thank you Craig, it has given me much to ponder and work on. I went out to the garden and worked on it for 30 mins. I am getting there. More practice required. I will keep you posted. Again thank you. A. John
May 9, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. My pleasure. Get to work!
May 10, 2017
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arthur john
i noticed an answer to my question in the comments further down. left arm" passive straight" is the word i am looking for. i have been looking for how do that all my 54 years of golf. i remember an old 60 year old(i was 24 and both of us were 7 h/cap) he used to bend his left arm completely at top of swing(i thought this was odd) but he straightened it first thing in downswing and he had some lag (i had never heard of lag then and only achieved it consciously because of rotary swing. I just thought that I would add this as an afterthought. It has giver me much to think about. a.john
May 9, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. Yes, passive straight. Also, make sure it is rotating properly from the lead shoulder socket to reduce tension. How to Keep the Left Arm Straight Video.
May 9, 2017
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arthur john
i have used the shoulder glide, right arm straight etc in backswing, and wide to narrow wide .i can keep my left arm straight with difficulty but i cant be loose enough to swing properly. can you help john
May 9, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. I answered above.
May 9, 2017
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T David
I spent the day at the range working on this drill and removing all the tension from my hands, wrists, and arms. I focused on keeping only a constant pressure with the last two fingers of the left hand. This worked well, but I noticed that the right hand would keep a light touch so the downcock at the start of the downswing so the shaft would move deeper into the crevasse between the thumb and first finger (V). And then .... keep it lightly there with the right hand (holding that lag angle) until the post up at the release point. Does this make sense? Am I looking at this in the right way here?
April 2, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Dave. Yes, the trail hand will help preserve the lag. I don't want you to grasp to maintain, but lightly hold to retain the angle until post up and release. The crevasse (you refer too) helps support the club.
April 2, 2017
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Lance
Is it important to keep the left elbow pointing at the target in this drill or does it just take care of itself?
October 14, 2016
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Micah (Certified RST Instructor)
Hi Lance. If you do this drill correctly the left elbow will take care of itself. Try not to get wrapped up in elbow position though. The point of this drill is to create the sensation of proper release.
October 15, 2016
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Jack
It seems that the 6 week program changed. Both are very good but I prefer the first 6 week series. In the first series push right heel into ground then pull right shoulder back then keep turned as long as possible while shifting weight to left heel and post up on left heel etc -where did this series go? I can not find it JACK
May 20, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Jack. The series I believe you are referring to is the RST 5 Step System.
May 21, 2016
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Denis
Excellent drill! Not just for removing tension from left arm but for set upper body erect, stay in box and didn't bend left elbow. Great new feeling about where is center of the swing! After few hundred reps figured out that is more naturaly swing club with little steps without splitting foot. Small amount of weight shift is very helpful.
May 16, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Glad to hear you found this drill useful and keep up the great work on your swing changes.
May 16, 2016
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Michael
just moving from week 1 to week 2 today. played golf today and kept topping ball. never done that before. i have stopped moving top of body. any correlation?
May 5, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. You might be lifting your head. But, the top is typically caused by lack of proper shift to the lead side and too much secondary tilt. You need to stay down and in the shot with the lead shoulder/arm. The upper half has to move back and lead shoulder/arm stay in the shot. Fixing Your Weight Transfer Video.
May 5, 2016
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Michael
I noted that the last comment from Conrad was answered with eliminating tension in the reps. I'm not sure just how to identify that tension feeling. Is it wanting to add the the index, middle finger and thumb in the downswing or some other clue that I can use as a signal.
April 27, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. Yes, it is wanting to add tension with the incorrect fingers or pressure points. But, also inhibiting the pendulum feel by adding tension to the entire lead arm and hand. You are allowing the club to rotate versus trying to steer or guide the face.
April 27, 2016
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Loran
How do I keep from hanging back or moving beyond my left hip joint line, when I release and shift?
April 26, 2016
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Steven (Certified RST Instructor)
Loan-If you're hanging back on your trail leg what typically happens is we spin the hips open before we shift into the lead side. The shift must happen first into the lead leg and then use the obliques to open the hips up at impact. Or we are swinging from the rectangle or the upper body to start the downswing not allowing yourself to shift your weight. Again the shift must happen first. If you're moving past Neutral Joint Alignment in the downswing it's because we push from the trail leg. To shift the weight to the lead leg we pull with the left leg, externally rotating the upper leg to shift the weight to the lead side. The big takeaway is shift first while using the lead side to do so.
April 26, 2016
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Loran
Pull with the left leg...as in the entire leg? Or the left foot, ground up? Or does it matter? Or is the thigh or femur bone? I am confused over the Stomp the Left foot video. Should not the weight be the entire lower leg or just the left thigh? A little bit confusing. Hope some of this gets cleared up.
April 26, 2016
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shannon
i see the the reply to bruce and was wondering do you have a date where you think the video #3 will be fixed/coming out?
April 19, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Shannon. It should be released within the next 2 days before the weekend.
April 20, 2016
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Bill
I am also waiting for #3! Perfect time for training here in Denver under a foot of snow!
April 18, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Bill. I apologize for the wait. See my reply to Bruce below.
April 19, 2016
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Bruce
Hi Chris haven't seen part 3 of "Play the Best Golf of your life series. Did I miss it?
April 18, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Bruce. You haven't missed the video. Some technical issues on our end. I apologize for the wait. We will notify via email when released.
April 19, 2016
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James
Hi. Great video. Gives better ball striking though the club face tends to open a bit if held too loose sending the ball to the right. Also does this same grip pressure apply at the top of a full swing? I struggle to keep the left arm straight without applying some more pressure. Not sure you can keep the left arm straight without firming the left arm muscles?
April 17, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hi James, glad you enjoyed the video. You might be losing the ball out to the right by getting the club face too open when taking it back, this would make you have to rotate the clubface and excessive amount in order to get it back to square. Check out the perfect your impact series video #1 for some checkpoints to fix this. You want to do your best to keep the grip pressure and a constant rate during the swing. The pressure will go through various peaks, like at the top of the swing, in order for the club to change direction. To keep the left arm straight, you shouldn't be trying to ram rod the arm straight. It needs to be a "passive" or relaxed straight position to help keep the tension levels down. Hope that helps.
April 18, 2016
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Michael
Thanks for the Videos, when will number three be released and will we be notified of its release and so on. Thanks.
April 16, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. I will have to check on that for you. Yes, the membership will be notified by email when released.
April 16, 2016
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Jason
I find that rather than loosing tension, using two clubs makes my forearm muscles burn some. I know I am doing something wrong, but not sure what that is. The first week videos really helped me get consistent strikes, but I am not sure what I am doing with wrong with the second week. Any advice?
April 10, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Jason. Feeling some usage in the forearms isn't a bad thing. More often than not when I teach in-person lessons. The players will tend to feel some usage/burn in the lead forearm due to not using it properly in the swing before.
April 11, 2016
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Dennis
What videos should I watch for coming out of shot early.
April 10, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Dennis. Work on the Long Arms Drill and the Fix Your Release.
April 11, 2016
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Jerry
I have the same thing happening on my lab top as Sean is having it say (sorry because of its privacy settings this video can not be played here ) I just go find this same video that you are showing and watch it there
April 8, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Jerry. Thanks for notifying us. I will forward both your message and the one below to customer service.
April 8, 2016
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Butch
I just got this video and did not have time to really work on it but had to try it a few times just to see what it felt like and WOW!!! Couple this with the fixing the release video and drills and its pretty amazing. The fingers tip is pretty good. After trying it a few times I am one of the ones who is guilty of grabbing and pushing with the thumb. Great video Chris.. I know it will take some time to ingrain but really great video..
April 8, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Butch. Glad you liked the video. It is a good tip that a lot of us instructors use to allow students to finally let the club swing rather than working so hard. Get to work on reducing the tension and allowing the club to work for you.
April 8, 2016
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Jerry
I have a question I have notice that on my down swing my mind goes blank and I don't see the club hitting the ball I have recorded my self and it don't look like I raise up to look for the ball before I hit it are there any drills that you have to train your brain to stay focus on the ball until you hit it thanks
April 8, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Jerry. I don't have any specific drills for your issue. I kinda go blank as well though. Not necessarily a bad thing. However, make sure you practice some release drills where your head stays looking at the ground until you reach the 3 O'Clock positioning.
April 8, 2016
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Jim
Would using just one club with one of those weight donuts at the hosel suffice to start?
April 8, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Jim. You could, but sometimes you can get swinging the donut and not the weight of the head (which will inhibit face rotation). Also, it might be a little too heavy to decrease tension.
April 8, 2016
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Sean
It says: "Sorry. Because of privacy settings this video cannot be played here."
April 7, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Sean. The video is working properly on my end and haven't seen any reports of errors from other students. Make sure you are using Chrome or Firefox. If all is set properly. Please contact customer support and they will help you get all fixed up.
April 8, 2016
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Jerry
I have been working on this already I have been using three fingers on left hand and letting it rotate as I swing it so I got a jump on this so I am ready for next weeks lesson lol I love your videos and tips I have came a long was this year because of you all thanks so much keep being the videos thanks you and you have a great day
April 7, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Awesome to hear Jerry! Thanks for being such a great supporter of RST.
April 7, 2016
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Conrad
Did you mention how much time each day we need to do this drill?
April 7, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
1000 would be ideal as long as each one of the reps is concentrated on eliminating tension. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions at all along the way. Next week we really start adding some bigger movements. So, I would start out each drill session with some reps, maybe 20-40 or so with 2 clubs and then finish the drill session with several 1 club. I would break it up over 5 days and aim for 200 total reps each day.
April 7, 2016

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