How to Get More Lag In Your Swing

Many a player has set forth on the quest for golf technique’s holy grail, “lag.”

Unfortunately most golfers never attain it, either continuing in vain to chase the elusive secret or simply giving up the search. Others are unsatisfied with their current amount and believe that more lag will provide the key to unlock golf’s golden gates.

I am of the belief that even the best golfers will have varied amounts of effective club head lag. Like many other parts of the golf swing, every golfer has a unique “swing fingerprint.” Attempts to force too much lag can overload a golfer’s alignment structure, while “throwing away” lag indicates improper sequencing.

The key to success lies not in extreme lag conditions, but in the ability to transport your own personal amount of lag from start down, all of the way into impact and optimize your ball striking.

What is lag?

We will define lag in the golf swing as the dynamic condition of the club head trailing (lagging) behind the hands from the top of swing down to impact. We can observe the amount of bend in our trail wrist to visualize lag, or the amount of angle between the club shaft and our trail forearm.

Do golfers need lag?

Yes, based on the fact that we identified lag as a dynamic condition. The absence of lag is evidence of a breakdown in the natural swinging motion and a less-than-efficient stroke.

How much lag do golfers need?

The fact is that even among professional golfers, the amount of lag can vary greatly because of how and when each player naturally loads the club.

Extreme lag models include Ben Hogan, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia to name a few. On the opposite end of the spectrum are great players such as Tom Watson, Steve Stricker and David Toms have very little lag. The commonality that I believe in is striving for is the ability to transport some degree of lag all of the way into impact.

Can golfers learn lag?

I have good news. Yes, golfers can learn to develop more effective lag by improving the quality of your overall motion.

Effective Lag Training

The secret to lag lies in the sequencing of a golfer’s down stroke. If motion is interrupted or the transition forced, the ability to sustain lag is lost. The two most common lag killers I see are “pivot disruption” and “hand misdirection” at impact.

Pivot disruption occurs when the lead shoulder slows or stops moving. Hand misdirection is the of the stopping the hands at the ball in an attempt to “hit,” rather than swing through impact in a seamless motion.

Everyone has an opinion when it comes to lag. Golf gurus will continue to preach it; training aids will continue with claims to teach it; videos and books will continue to sell it.

My advice is not to look for one magic move to solve your ball striking ails, but rather to obtain improvement from a quality sum of the parts.