July 16, 2019
I have spent a considerable amount of time recently emphasizing the proper golf club release. Do you know why?
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Learning how to properly release the golf club is the difference between a 300-yard drive down the middle with a slight draw and a 250-yard slice out of bounds to the right.
As you can see, a correct golf club release is a major key in both producing club head speed AND squaring the club face through the hitting area.
This video is critical because it introduces a simple but extremely powerful drill that will teach the lead hand how to properly release through impact by actually doing LESS with the trail hand.
Vijay Singh gives you the perfect mental image for how to use the right hand.
It is crucial that the trail hand works properly so as not to interfere with the lead hand during the release. In fact, it is usually the trail hand in the golf swing that causes nearly every major swing fault, from swinging over the top to flipping and scooping at impact.
You can see above how Vijay's trail hand is doing so little that it is barely holding the club at all!
If you have worked hard on the Throw the Ball Drill but still look like the image below when hitting shots, you are robbing yourself of distance and accuracy. To see how your release and club face control compare to elite standards, try a free AI swing analysis.
Holding too tightly with the right hand through impact is like making a weak check swing in baseball.
When you hold on too tightly and too long with the trail hand in the golf swing, as demonstrated above, you are impeding a natural release and destroying your speed at the most critical moment: impact.
Instead, you want your trail hand to feel just how Vijay's looks — relaxed and loose. If you continue to try to dominate the golf swing with your trail hand, expect to struggle and lose speed.
The drill in this video will teach you when to actively use the trail hand and when (and how) to disengage it, allowing the lead hand to take control and properly release the golf club.
If you have always wanted to have that free, powerful release that Vijay, Mickelson, and others demonstrate, you are going to love this video! It will free up your golf swing and teach you to effortlessly begin hitting a little draw, simply by learning how to stop overpowering your swing with the trail hand.
Video Transcription: Lose the Trail Hand
When it comes to releasing the golf club, most golfers do it incorrectly. It is simply the nature of the game that, because most golfers are right-handed, they play right-handed, and they tend to overuse the trail hand through the hitting area.
Let go with the right hand
The trail arm's job is to supply and support the lead hand by helping it control the club, but also to provide it with speed. However, in order to generate speed, you must release it — and that is a critically important concept to understand in the golf swing.
Most golfers through impact are holding on very tightly with their trail hand and pushing with their trail shoulder and trail hand. At impact, their trail hand is gripping the club firmly and the lead hand is being driven around. It is very common for the swing to start breaking down if they incorrectly flip that trail wrist.
The reality is that your trail hand through impact is done. In fact, I actually feel like I am just barely holding onto the club with the trail hand at all — that is a subjective reference point for you. I want my golfers to feel the same, that they are releasing that trail hand.
Down the line view
If you think about the Throw the Ball Drill, we discuss going to the top and then firing that trail arm. At some point during that drill, you are releasing the ball. You must feel the same way with the golf club.
If you try to do the Throw the Ball Drill while holding onto the ball, obviously the ball is never going to release. You are never going to get any speed out of it. It defeats the entire purpose of the drill.
The same principle is true in the golf swing. If you try to bring the club down quickly with your trail arm but then hold onto it with the trail hand, you are essentially performing the equivalent of a check swing — because you are not letting the club release.
An excellent drill for this is simply losing the trail hand through impact. As you come down, try to feel like you let go with the trail hand — and actually physically let go. You can use it to apply speed, but then release it, and you will see that your lead hand is now free to release with tremendous speed, and you do not have to put additional effort into it. You are simply freeing up the release. For real-time coaching on your release mechanics, try a free AI golf lesson.
Speed is limited with both hands on the club
If we look from down the line, what you want to see as you are coming down is the trail hand coming off. You can use it to supply speed, but then let go so that the club can release and your body does not have to keep turning aggressively.
You can see that if I keep my trail hand on, the club cannot move as fast unless I physically try to throw it with the trail hand. I need to fire it early and release it. When I let go, the club can zip through impact with no problem.
If you look at some great ball strikers on the Tour — Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson are two excellent examples — both of them, their trailing hands especially with the driver, basically come off the golf club. Vijay would come through, and his hands are barely touching the club. Phil is no different.
They are doing the same thing in practice that you need to feel, where the trail hand releases to prevent it from impeding the release of the golf club. That is what you want to feel.
You do not need to hold onto it tightly with your trail hand. That is going to compromise numerous things in the swing — it keeps you turning your body too hard, it gets you moving too aggressively with the trail side, and it slows the club down.
Vijay Singh's hands end like this
You want a fast, "zip" release, not a hard, controlled release with the trail hand. Let the trail hand come off when you are hitting balls if you struggle to get a proper, snappy release at the bottom, and you will be able to generate significantly more speed with substantially less effort.
Simply hit balls — little half shots as always. Let the trail hand come off. You can see as I go through, I am putting virtually no effort into this at all, and the club has tremendous speed. If I did the same thing while holding on tightly, my body has to stay with the club and rotate really hard.
Practice releasing the trail hand. Then as you transition into your full swing and start keeping the trail hand on the club, practice where it is just along for the ride through impact. Let the club pull you up into the finish. Your hands should finish very soft, and you should have significantly more speed with dramatically less effort.
Watch part 2 now to see how you're moving your body in the opposite direction of the pros!
