During what seems like every PGA Tour telecast, there’s a swing video analysis segment that mentions how a player retains the angle formed between the club shaft and the left forearm during the downswing.

This action, called “lag,” often confuses the average golfer who’s watching because they see it as a singular key to distance, power and consistency. But that’s not necessarily the case. In this article, I show the correct way to retain the angle, and also a few ineffective ways I’ve seen my students try to lag the club in the downswing.

Proper lag is mainly created during the transitional phase of the downswing and is controlled by the actions of linear force and the centrifugal rotation of the body, not through improper focus on the wrists and/or right elbow. Basically, if the pivot of the body is correct and in the proper kinematic sequence on the way down, then this angle will take care of itself. It is not a conscious thought or physical action of the arms, hands, or wrists on the way down as some players believe.

All too often, players try to make a conscious effort to retain this angle, or “delay the hit,” in order to fix an over-the-top action that they’re aggravated about. By forcing this move, they tend to put themselves into a position at belt-high where they cannot catch up. As a result, they either leave the ball our right or back up and out of it.

Whenever you cast the club or lose the angle too early in the downswing, it is usually caused by an incorrect start to the downstroke and improper body rotation. It’s here where we will discover the physiological functions that the body must follow in order to retain the lag for good, and where your swing is going wrong.

Before we dive any deeper, let’s examine the correct motion of the swing in order to create and hold the angle of the clubshaft and the left forearm. As your club reaches the top, there should be some type of angle formed between the left wrist and the forearm at the top. Most players have this angle in excess of 90 degrees to the top. In order to fix this casting action, they must first understand how lag is created, maintained, delivered and unloaded.

When the club is ALMOST to the top, several things happen and occur rapidly.

• The lower body begins to shift laterally a little to right field, which moves your center of gravity forward and shifts your weight onto the front part of the left foot. This sets the body in motion while the club is left behind.

• As the club starts to move into the downstroke, your wrist angle becomes more acute as a result of the forward motions of your body. This is due to the linear drop of the clubshaft to the inside to start the forward swing, and the increasing flex and path of the right elbow as it moves closer to your side to accommodate a flatter and more inside downstroke plane.

• From here, as the club moves between your chest and belt, your sternum and zipper now “re-connect” to some degree in order to rotate through the impact area in a more connected fashion.

• During the final rotation phase of the downstroke — belt high through impact — the angle is held off from releasing due to the body’s rotation. A natural release occurs through impact, as the club is thrown into impact via centrifugal force. This is not a conscious movement, but one that occurs naturally.

So what mistakes are amateurs making, since lag isn’t happening naturally for them?

1. Casters, Blockers, and Over-the-Toppers 

Don’t try to hold the angle! By focusing your attention on the upper body, primarily the hands, wrists or right elbow, you’ll get all out of sequence on the way down. Let the body lead the club at the start of the downstroke, which will allow the club to fall linearly and let the shoulders work naturally. That way, the club can achieve the proper inside plane.

2. Right-Elbow Jammers and Spin-out Masters

Trying to hold the angle by spinning the hips rapidly to start the downstroke, in order to hold the angle or lag on the way down, causes you the most problems.

This move is incorrect because when your hips spin out from under you, the base of your spine moves toward the target while the shoulders and head lag behind, which results in a dramatic falling back of the upper body through impact. As this occurs, the body falls backward to start the downstroke, thereby eliminating the return of the right elbow back to the proper area in front of your side. By spinning out and falling back, you cause your right elbow to become jammed up behind your right hip (due to the rearward falling of the upper spine), and thus, you flip your hands through impact to regain some remnants of power you lost by jamming up your right elbow.

Utilize the proper blend of upper and lower body rotation, so they can work together, and you will hit it farther with less effort! Every swing has some degree of spinal lean to the right during impact, but you will find that the most accurate professionals control this action very well. They don’t allow the lower body to out-race the upper body; thus, their spine stays controllably tilted to the right of vertical through impact.

3. John Daly Impersonators

If your only goal in life is to hit the ball 500 yards off the tee, and you try to achieve it by utilizing only the strength in your upper body, you can lose the angle by trying to overpower the downstroke with the hands. By trying to kill the ball from the transitional area throughout the downstroke, you’re setting yourself up to lose the angle by not letting your body do the work and releasing your hands prematurely as you swing from out to in. Don’t use your arms and hands to overpower the downswing; just use your whole body!