This tip is designed to work with the release sequence seen in ‘The 21st Century Golf Swing’ book. Remember this book is more concerned with accuracy for good golf play and scoring than maximum power, versus the ‘How to Kill the Ball’ book which is written primarily for long driving contest type power. Maximum power must, due to its inherent violence, reduce accuracy. In playing for score, giving up a small percentage of power increases one’s chances for low scoring.
The hands are the major speed producers in this type of golf swing; they are actuated by the forearm muscles in an entirely different way than in the common swing. As you have read in my books, we will be using the hands and the forearm muscles to twirl the club in a circular manner rather than in a chopping down and rolling over fashion as commonly taught.
Through impact, the right hand tosses the clubhead through the ball under the left forearm, rather than over it, as the left hand flexes at the wrist. When this happens, the clubhead travels from behind the point of the arm shoulder triangle and catches up to it during impact. Done correctly, the clubhead swings past the point of the triangle after impact without the clubface closing. This can be learned by teeing up the ball and hitting easy 3/4 wedge shots and tossing the clubhead past the left arm through impact. Be sure to not rotate the left forearm in a rollover type movement; instead, feel the left palm face down after impact. A good way to feel this type of release is to turn your left fist knuckles up after impact, this gets the left palm facing down. Do this while swinging easily and you will soon feel the release. This action allows the inner forearm muscle of the right hand to slap through, assisted by the left outer forearm muscles as you fully release the left wrist.
Much additional speed can be gained without negatively affecting clubhead alignments if the forearms are wound up during the backswing and unwound throughout the entire release sequence. This winding and unwinding of the forearm muscles allow the use of the complete set of forearm muscles, including the ones that rotate the forearm bones, rather than just the ones that flex the wrists in the fore and aft plane. Use your little club to see this action up close and personal.
Do not overlook the full completion of the release, the club must have a square clubface as it passes through the ball. A less than full release will often leave the clubhead trailing the hands, rather than catching up to the left arm at impact and shortly after impact passing it. This error creates a soft block type shot that gives up some power and falls short and to the right of your objective.
A little time spent learning this release feeling will pay big dividends later. The correct use of the hands will allow the player to use a less violent hip slide in the pivot, without giving up too much power.
