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This is a drill inspired by a video I saw of Brett Rumford. In this version of the drill, you'll hold on to the club with only two fingers from each hand. The thumb and index finger. Then you'll perform 9 to 3 drills. Your goal is to feel the natural rotation of the club face through the release. With only 4 fingers on the club, you won't be able to force the rotation. Rather, you'll feel the weight of the club do it. Then, you'll put your normal grip on and try to duplicate the feeling of the softness of the arms as the club swings through. If you are used to holding on to the club with a firm death grip during the release, then this will likely feel like you're giving up control of the club. But this is closer to the ideal tension of the arms during the release.
Tags: Release, Drill
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This drill video is the four finger release.
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So the four finger release is a way to kind of feel the rotation of the club, happening a
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little bit more natural.
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I use this drill a lot for golfers who tend to have a lot of arm tension, have kind of
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very little twisting of the club, often have a really strong grip, but have very little
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twisting of the club and have more of this kind of hold on, bend the look, chicken wing
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through impact, where there's just a lot of tension and lifting.
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So I got this drill from Brett Rumpford.
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He was using it as a short game video, but I found that it's really helpful for feeling the
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full swing release as well.
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So the four finger release is you're basically going to grip the club with two fingers
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from your left hand and two fingers at your right hand.
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One, the left hand is going to be up towards the top of the grip and the right hand is
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going to be more towards the middle of the grip, kind of like this or towards the bottom
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third.
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So now, because the club is an L shape, if I let it drop a little bit like I'm doing those
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zoro loops and then I just let the club rotate.
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I'm going to, I'm going to help it.
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I'm not saying that I'm not doing anything.
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I am helping the club rotate, but I'll get a sense or I'll get this feeling of the club
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rotating on its own if I'm soft enough.
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If you are one of those who has a ton of grip tension, then this will feel very soft and
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foreign to you.
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It will feel like you're giving up control, but you also feel how stable and kind of
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fluid the club face feels.
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So I mostly do this on 9 to 3s, basically feeling the club rotate.
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If I keep my arms extended and I keep a pretty centered pivot, then I can actually hit
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some pretty solid 9 to 3 shots and I'll get into a pretty good finished position.
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So then, oftentimes, as you know me by now, I will have golfers stop and then put their
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normal grip on to feel what it would feel like.
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So in this one, the most common I will use is more that follow-through and I wasn't
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gripping it quite far enough down, but if I get into that follow-through position, there
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is that good arm extension, instead of oftentimes I will feel more underneath and kind of
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in like this.
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So it will feel more wide as it's twisted over.
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The other common place that I will stop it and usually this is hard to do on your own
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is I will grab the club and kind of stop it right after impact and have the golfer
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put their hands on it.
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And oftentimes this is where they'll feel the most different.
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That'll be where you'll feel, oh man, my arms would be separate and releasing more
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under instead of letting this gradual rotation happen.
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So I would try and stop right about there, like I said, it's really hard to do by yourself.
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But if you're used to more of this pattern, then that will feel down and turn over
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or on top.
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But one of the big things, the most common reaction that I get is my forearms feel like
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they're doing nothing or like they're very soft.
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Then the next step becomes trying to get that feeling in the full swing where the softness
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kind of starts happening right around here.
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So the softness in that rotation is rotating into the ball as opposed to happening after
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impact.
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That's one of the common things that I see with golfers who have too much of this arm
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tension down at the bottom is they will hit the ball and then let it soften as opposed
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to what this drill kind of helps you feel is right around there is where it has to start
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releasing and it has to start rotating in order to square the club face with some body
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rotation.
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So this is an excellent kind of relaxation or softening drill to quiet some of your aggressive
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arm pull.
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I use it primarily for 9 to 3s but once you get that feeling you can take it up into
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bigger and bigger swings, 10 to 2 full swing.
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Here now I'm simply getting this feeling of it rotating early and soft as opposed to
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I might have been trying to do the motorcycle or trying to do the club face rotation with
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too much effort.
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So if you see either a really dynamic effort movement like that or you see a big hold on
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movement like this the forefinger release should become part of your at home training
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program to learn how to soften your arms and let the club face release more naturally.
