Understanding What Release Is In Golf

In this video, PGA Professional Ben Emerson talks about what release is in golf, and with a simple drill, how you can improve your release

Transcript

00:00Hi, so we're talking today about release, about releasing the golf club, what is releasing

00:08the golf club and how can I get into the positions that we see these tour players deliver day

00:14in day out on the TV.

00:16So I try and understand this, what is release?

00:18For me it's this understanding of I'm trying to generate as much power as I can in my body

00:24throughout my swing and I'm trying to release it at the correct point to ensure that power

00:29goes through my body, through the club and into the ball.

00:34Giving a good release pattern is actually what I see daily in the teaching room is actually

00:40when I get to the top here, players actually start to release either too early, they have

00:44this casting kind of effect or they actually get to impact, body's frozen, it hasn't moved

00:51and actually the club kind of breaks down, you get this scooping kind of effect or you

00:56get this kind of chicken wing.

00:58What we like to see is actually, I like to see, if I was to imagine there's a tee or

01:02I put a tee just down in front here, I want that club to be just past the ball pointing

01:08at that tee, I like to think of that club head the furthest point away from my body

01:13at this position.

01:14I like to have my chest open, my hips open and everything's pointing at that tee.

01:20So a lovely little drill you can do, bear in mind I just said it's about body rotation

01:24as well to allow that release to kind of happen naturally, is to let's set the body

01:29in a good position first.

01:31So a lovely little drill that you can do is set up and actually I'm going to put you in

01:35impact position.

01:37So I want your hips to be rotated, your chest to be rotated and I like your hands to be

01:42ahead of the golf ball, so your hands are in front of the golf ball in this position.

01:47What I want you to do in this drill is actually take the club back so the lead arm is parallel

01:53and I want you to feel that the lower body is going to turn, it's going to pull you back

01:56to that impact position and just past once we hit a good checkpoint as my arms are together

02:02and that club is pointing at that tee.

02:05So if we can put it all together hopefully the shot looks like this.