How Do I Create Lag In My Golf Swing?

I am a decent player but I do not hit the ball very far. I have been told that I need more lag in my golf swing. What is lag and how can I do that in my golf swing?

First let me try and explain lag to you and then we will talk about how to create lag in your golf swing.

First you must understand than you have two choices, whether you know it or not, when you swing a golf club. You can choose to pull the golf club or you can choose to push the golf club. With that being said, you need to choose to pull the golf club to create lag in your golf swing. It is much more efficient and powerful to pull the golf club. The easiest way that I can explain it to you here is that it is pulling the golf club with your body as opposed to pushing the golf club with your hands and arms.

An image that has worked with many of my students is to imagine that you are holding a bucket of water. As you try to swing the bucket of water, how will you go about making this happen? You will start turning your bigger muscles to make it happen. This will allow you to keep the water in the bucket. If you try to use your hands and arms to make this happen the water will start to come out of the bucket and get you wet!

Is there a easy golf drill that can help you create lag in the golf swing? Yes there is. Pick a target and address the golf ball as you normally would. Now for a right handed golfer, take your thumb and index finger of your right hand off of the golf club. Making your thumb and index finger to look like a gun will return the best results. Do not get lazy and let these two fingers start to curl back around the grip of the golf club. This will defeat the purpose.

Think about what you are doing with your grip and what the results are going to be. Your thumb and index finger help you do most everything that you do during the day. You employ these two fingers to help you hold a fork, writing with a pencil or pen and many other things. Simply put, these two fingers are used to taking over whatever task you are trying to do. Taking your thumb and index fingers off of the golf club they cannot join the action. This makes the club heavier to you and allows the golf club to drop from the top of your back swing. This will force you to turn towards your target or use a larger range of motion, unless you enjoy hitting behind the golf ball!

When this is done correctly you will feel the golf club placing more pressure on the straight index finger since you are now pulling the golf club. That is the feeling of lag in your golf swing that you have created. Once you have done this drill and are comfortable that you now understand the correct feeling of lag in a golf swing, you can curl your fingers back around the grip. However, this time I want you to make your thumb and index finger touch. This allows you to get the same feeling without answering the questions on the golf course from your golfing buddies about what you are doing.

Understand the “gun grip” as I have come to call it, is legal and you can use it on the golf course. I have had students play very good eighteen-hole rounds utilizing the gun grip to create more lag in their golf swing.