How to Release Your Body (But Not Your Hands) in a Golf Swing
One of the things that I think is overlooked so often in the golf swing is the release or the finish. Most people don't understand how important it is, but if you watch a tour player I guarantee you every tour player gets to his left side and faces the target. You will see his body go over there every time. That is the release.
What is the Swing Release?
Release means to let it go. I think one of the simplest ways to under stand the release is something Ben Hogan used in his teaching and I also used it in my book, and that is to throw a medicine ball or a basketball underhanded.
- I use a medicine ball because it is heavier and it makes you use your body more.
- Get in a golf position and toss a medicine ball underhanded, notice when you do that how your left elbow would be down, your right hip would be level and your spine and eyes move to the target.
- You can’t release if you don’t release your body. Your arms do not release, that is a crossover or it would be a flip.
Training With a Medicine Ball
Your body releases your arms and they are actually in the same place they started, there are no angles either way. The idea in this training method of throwing a medicine ball underhanded is that you would not hold your body back and just throw it with your arms. You sure wouldn't take a medicine ball and tuck your right elbow in and slide your hips and try to go. You would take your whole right side, you would take your spine and eyes, and then your left arm would fold down and you would release to the target.
Correct Stance to Release Your Swing
It is very important to understand the left elbow folding down is the only way you can extend the club down the line. If the left elbow travels up look at the clubface open, look at how it cuts across the line. You can never hit a descending blow down the line if your left elbow is not down.
So again, and I will say many times to you in teaching:
- The left elbow must always be pointing down
- The right hip must always be level
- Your spine and eyes must go to the target.
You can not hold your spine and eyes back because if you do you will cut across the ball every time or you will have to flip your hands and cross over. That is not a release, that is a flip. The body must release the hands and arms in the manner stated above.