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Shaft Parallel - Lag Checkpoint

This is a great drill for golfers that struggle with a flip style release and inconsistent low point control. By simply placing an alignment stick, pool noodle, or headcover, roughly in-line with the golf ball, you can create a visual checkpoint of where the hands need to be at shaft parallel during the release. Players who tend to stop short before this checkpoint will often lose power and struggle with heavy and/or thin shots. For maximum benefit, be sure to combine this with a few "Delivery And Go" or "Delivery/Release Pump" swings. This can be a challenging drill at first, so start slowly while focusing on good release mechanics and a solid pivot. 

Tags: Poor Contact, Not Straight Enough, Not Enough Distance, Release, Drill, Intermediate

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This drill is shaft parallel lag checkpoint.

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So some golfers who struggle primarily with low point control can benefit from having a

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visual of where the club needs to be in space.

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So I've got a shortened pool noodle, but you can use a head cover or even just the alignment

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stick.

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But the pool noodle is a little bit more of a clear visual and I've got that pool noodle pretty

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much in line with the golf ball.

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Realistically compared to the golf ball anywhere between here and a few inches behind

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the golf ball, especially with the longer clubs, is going to be quite fine.

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And so what I'm doing here is I'm going to get set up and I'm going to use this as a

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checkpoint of when I get the club back to parallel to the ground and parallel to the target

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line.

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I want my hands to be even with or past this little pool noodle.

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So a lot of golfers who struggle with low point, they would get their hands more

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back here when the club is parallel to the ground.

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And then as it releases, you could see that I would tend to bottom out so I would tend

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to have to pull away from the ground and hit more of shots like that.

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So you would tend to hit a lot of fat and thin shots.

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So now if I on the other hand got this pretty much even with the golf ball or even a little

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bit past it, then when I continue

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rotating and extend my arms, I'm more likely to hit the golf ball before the ground

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or basically hit them solid instead of fat and thin.

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So this is a good little reference for working on low point.

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You can either do it in combination with things like the delivery and go or you can do this

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in a pump style drill.

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So we're going to get set up, go up to the top of the swing, pump it down to here where

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everything feels like it's in close.

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And then extend the arms from there.

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And if I extend the arms from there, I should be able to get the ground contact after

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the golf ball.

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I find that it's very hard to do full swings and be aware of where the grip was at this

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point.

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At least at first.

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One and a half to do a fair amount of little wipe pump drills and slow motion drills to

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really feel where the club is at that point in time.

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Especially if you're used to it being more back there like we would want for wedge shots.

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So we're going to work on trying to get it here.

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Now one big key is that it's very easy when you start doing this to just focus on the arms.

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If I just try to get my arms there, you'll see I can still hit the ball solid, but I'm

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going to tend to lack a lot of power.

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So ideally I'm going to get there by having my body rotate me into position kind of like

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this.

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So if I use my body to rotate my hands, it will be easier to get the hands ahead and it

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will be more natural and powerful.

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Now that I have a decent feel of where I want to be right about here as my little checkpoint,

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I can do a few three quarter swings and just kind of test my awareness of how well

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was I in that shaft parallel checkpoint.

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With some practice, you will be able to get a sense of the arms being a little bit

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more in front of your body instead of way behind and that should ultimately help you with

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your low point control, especially with the short irons.

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