When the term lag is applied to golf, it refers to the angle created by the wrists during the back swing and retained until the club enters the impact zone with the ball. Top players use lag and the positioning it requires of the hands leading the club head to help generate the maximum amount of power possible in their shots. Learn to harness the lag in your own swing and you'll see power increase, too.
Fundamentals
Brad Brewer of the Golf Channel describes the fundamentals of creating adequate lag in your swing. He cites the importance of keeping your hands loose on the club, making the wrists pliable enough to easily hinge and, ultimately release the hands. Brewer also notes that many amateurs do not keep their arms and hands in front of the chest during the takeaway, allowing them to get ahead or fall behind, making lag in the wrists difficult to accomplish. Be sure to rotate back with your arms and upper body synchronized to make things easier.
The Tee Drill
Teaching pro Tom Denby recommends working on creating and maintaining lag by placing a tee in the hole on the butt of your club grip. The orientation of the tee at various points in your swing will tell you whether you have created lag in your back swing and how well you maintain it into the downswing. Denby points out that the tee will point away from your body at the top of the back swing if you've adequately created lag.
Rope Drill
A simple drill that helps you to learn the feeling of creating lag without a club involves a simple piece of rope, long enough to lay on your shoulder while holding it like a golf club with your hands in the position they assume at the top of the back swing. Golf teacher Chuck Evans describes the drill as a good way feel the sensation of creating lag as you initiate the downswing by starting your hands down toward the ball, as if to make contact, while keeping the rope on your shoulder as long as possible.
Using a Towel
PGA pro Jim Suttie advocates practicing the development of lag by tying a towel to the end of your driver. Suttie suggests swinging the club this way 25 times a day for 2 months. The additional weight on the end of the club will not only help to set our wrists and keep them ahead of the club head, but also increase your club head speed by 10 mph at the bottom of the swing.
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