Selected 19-point advice for releasing the club properly (2)

By Kim Jeong-kyoo

Releasing your club properly, you’ll speed up your club to the fullest and deliver your clubface squarely to the ball. There are diverse methods of swinging your club properly. Swinging your club back differently, you need to release it differently. If you keep your clubface closed during your takeaway, you need a release different from when you open your clubface. Several tips selected here will help you achieve a proper release. Find some that suit you, and you’ll enjoy whacking your ball powerfully and accurately.

1. Rotate the handle of your club

Briskly rotate the handle of your club counterclockwise as you fling your club past your left thigh. Critical here is to avoid letting your left wrist collapse as you rotate the handle of your club. That will allow you to release your club properly.

Incidentally, your left hand rotates your club more naturally from ‘closed to open’ than it does from ‘open to closed’. Your right hand turns your club more naturally from ‘open to shut’. You’ll rotate your handle and clubface more easily if you turn your handle by employing your right hand.

2. Picture you’re dragging your left-hand knuckles along the turf through your shot

Try to feel you’re dragging your knuckles along the turf through your shot. That’ll help you preserve your wrist hinge longer, ensuring enough clubhead lag. Power comes from clubhead lagging behind your hands until your wrists release at the bottom of your swing.

To do this effortlessly, start your backswing by pulling your right elbow toward your rear. Then, complete your backswing by rotating your right wrist and left forearm. Completing your backswing properly, you’ll feel your left-hand knuckles nearly facing the ground at the top.

3. Picture you’re flicking an object off your left thumb

To release your club properly, you need to roll your forearms as you start your downswing. Toward this end, sling your club smoothly past your left thigh, trying to flick an imaginary object off your left thumb. Imagine a warm accidentally fallen down on your left thumb and you flick it from your left thumb. That will correctly let your left-hand knuckles and left elbow face down immediately after impact.

4. Swing your arms past your body through the hitting area

Typically, your shoulders stay slightly open when your club meets the ball. However, they will stay too open if you drag your club down with your body turn alone. That means you haven't released with your hands and wrists. You’ll suffer pulls and pull-slices.

If you swing your arms back properly, your hands will rest behind your right ear at the top. Keep your head behind your ball, and swing your arms past your body through the hitting zone. That’ll leave your shoulders a touch open, allowing you to release your club full tilt. Critically, that helps you preserve your address posture. This allows you to create solid contact every time you swing your club. Without solid contact and fast swing speed, you cannot hit your ball as far as you want.

To release your club briskly, try to swing your left arm as fast as you can through your impact area. To this end, picture you’re making a karate chop move with your left hand toward the right of your target. Importantly, that ensures you swing your club on the correct in-to-out path through your shot.

5. Let your left-hand knuckles face the ground at the top and through the shot

For a proper release, you need to keep your left wrist staying in line with your left forearm through impact. Also, your right hand needs to remain behind and under your left hand. That shows your right hand did not overpower your left.

Put differently, you need to prevent your left wrist from buckling. To this end, you need to keep your left-hand knuckles facing the ground when your club catches your ball.

Swinging your arms and hands back correctly, you’ll feel your left-hand knuckles nearly face the ground at the top. Just let them keep looking at the ground as you come down. This is a great way to protect your left wrist from buckling and release your club fully. The slight cup on your right wrist will remain intact until just before you hit your ball.

6. Put topspin on your shots

To feel your arms rotate properly, swing your arms sideways without a club. Stand upright and raise your hands about chest-high so your arms are horizontal to the ground. Swing your arms sideways back and forth so they stay horizontal to the ground. You’ll feel your arms naturally rotating. Try to feel like a tennis player putting topspin on a shot.

After doing this several times, grab a club and stand erect. Try to re-create that feeling as you swing your club sideways.

Now, bend forward into your normal address posture. Try to feel your natural arm rotation as you make your normal golf swing several times. Importantly, picture you’re a tennis payer imparting topspin on your shot. Finally, hit your ball off the tee. You’ll feel it easy to turn your arms and hands. Just try to re-create that feeling when you play, and you’ll release your club properly.

7. Let your club reach the ball sooner

To hit your ball full tilt, you’d better try to let your club reach your ball sooner, keeping your hands staying static. That helps you release your club fully and speed up your club.

Incidentally, to increase your clubhead speed to the full, you need to keep your hands staying still through your shot. That allows you to square or slightly close your clubface when your club meets the ball. This helps you enjoy hitting straight shots or soft draws.