A lot of people would benefit from remembering that the words “release” and “manipulate” are NOT synonyms. To “release” a clubhead, or anything else, means to “let it go”, not to consciously or forcefully manipulate it.
A proper release is nothing more than natural body mechanics and how they should unwind the club to impact. If you are releasing incorrectly, there is an issue in the backswing or transition.
All of this lag and related caca to get more distance fights all of this.
The problem is too many people are theorizing and teaching to restrict club rotation as much as possible because club rotation is inconsistent…and that is nonsense. What is more consistent than how the body works all by itself?
Didn’t we learn from ‘X Factor” that restricting things is bad.
We don’t want to restrict anything, what we want to do is avoid excess movement (e.g. arms over taking shoulder turn). I know that is semantics and it is hard to discern which is which, but that is what I am here for. 😀
Streaming Video Series
I just learned a little stronger grip “allows” me to release without “fear the flip”. Therefore a free release. Really “let it go”………..One would think it’s the other way around but we must remember how opposite golf is………..
http://rojoass.com/
We could learn this from baseball. Let the forearms roll over if and when they feel like it.
When we were kids with wooden bats, we took our stance with the trademark away from the path of the approaching ball. The theory was that a hit on the trademark might crack the bat.
But, it was set-it-and-forget-it. We didn’t try to micromanage the swing so that the trademark was away.
Similarly, maybe we don’t have to square-up the clubface with a block-release. The right kind of swing has the release taken care of automatically.
Proper release seems to have a lot to do with how you grip the handle. A tip from Tom Watson about how firm your grip should be helped me. He says to hold the club in a vertical position with the head up and grip it only firmly enough to stop it sliding through your hands. That helps me to release the club and square the clubface, among other benefits.
Monte
Glad to see this post. You seem to be staying true to your self. Sorry I doubted you.
I will have to say you sound like Mike Austin when talking about the release and the holding of angles. It should all happen naturally with having to force anything. Use the body how it was made.
“We don’t want to restrict anything.”
“What is more consistent than how the body works all by itself?”
“We don’t want to restrict anything”
Thanks for a great post
Amen. I was swinging left when I still pulled the handle, erroneously thinking that that at least was a good thing in my swing (probably a rather common Hogan swing mania induced perception).
Since I improved aka shallowed the transition, I note that I am also now rolling the forearms over much more after impact- aka releasing, and I am no longer thinking that this is bad or flipping.
Conan E. has also figured it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BqC2-B1wL0
But the prior keys to get there were to feel the bump first, separately from the dump, and the dump second and very conciously- maybe you cannot quite imagine how difficult that is to grasp for a handle puller; in your BD&T video you should therefore IMHO rather not lower the club at all when bumping (just for feel demo purposes)-
and then your ‘the left arm is the key, rotating down the chest’ thought.
They should accept your videos and blog comments as credits for your PGA exams and just waive you through!
Ha, I am exempt from my pledge not to comment until May 2014 because it is only 2011 (pre-promise)–as can be seen from the date on my post above.
“swinging left” is not a Hogan concept. I’ve read Power Golf (1948) and Five Lessons (1957) and it’s not there.
You say, “not lower the club at all when bumping.” Maybe anything can work to some degree if it complements whatever else is being done.
But, I’m going to suggest that when you really get ‘bumping,’ you might feel your right shoulder being pulled down. Here’s something that is actually written in one of the Hogan books: “Turning brings your hands and club down” (Power Golf)
But, that’s just the bump-dump, to get things moving. And, maybe this concept won’t work if the backswing–or the bump–wasn’t done it a way that complements it.
You better brush up your posts reading skills (never said it was, just for feel demo purposes) and stick to your promise, because your wisenheimering usually borders between being boring and annoying.
Why don’t you start your own ‘but Hogan wrote’ blog instead?!
+10000000000
Hello mr Scheinblum! Thank you for your thouts and insights, your videos om youtube has helped me allot! I have a question about the release. In your youtube-video proper release vs. cast you talk about how the release is a rotation of the forearms. At the same time allot of swinganalysists talk about how the pros shallow the shaft when they start the downswing. The rotation of the forearms and shallowing the shaft seems like opposit movements? What is your opinion? Thank you for all of your advise!
It’s a cohesive movement between the wrists and arms. The arms rotate, but the shaft gets more horizontal. It’s not an easy move, which is why golf is hard. 😀