This 'release' thing. Pardon me, but I'm somewhat skeptical.

[Kevin Lutes]

Granted, I haven't been able to get out and try it because of the weather. Why hasn't this been emphasized before? Or maybe all of the greats have known 'the secret' and just didn't want to share it with the minions?

Don't label me a hater. I've worked with Brian more than once. I'm just asking for some input.

Thanks

 

[jenhaoyen]

dunno, but it just works

I stop thinking about my swing after learning this. I'm now point and shoot.

 

[OLIVER1]

Granted, I haven't been able to get out and try it because of the weather. Why hasn't this been emphasized before? Or maybe all of the greats have known 'the secret' and just didn't want to share it with the minions?

Don't label me a hater. I've worked with Brian more than once. I'm just asking for some input.

Thanks

'Cos Mother Nature kicked that one in for free to the top players. They wouldn't think of describing it any more than they would think of describing how they tie their shoelaces, but the job still gets done.

 

[dbl]

To be fair, there were were lots of teachers who had parts (or even a lot) of this before. Brian acknowledges this.

If you entered golf instruction and heard primarily about a flat left wrist, that would be from a camp, but not everyone followed that lead, instructor-wise. My guess would be 60-70% of teachers in the last few decades did. Did the great golfers? Not so much.

 

[bgoodyear]

If its "greats" that convince you then you should know that Nicklaus and Watson both advocate an early release in their books. I'm sure many teachers do too. BM and crew just validated the claim and have provided scientific evidence to support it.

 

[Matt 4-L]

It all depends what "camp" you were in, I had a teacher a couple of years back tell me I needed to release the club and not drag it through impact but I blew him off as not knowing what he was talking about because of the "tgm camp" I was hanging around.... I think the biggest obstacle is to stop tugging and once you do that a light bulb goes off.

 

[Whiteflash]

I also wondered how all the pro's learned this swing if nobody was teaching the entire method of this release? How did they learn to swing this way???

 

[Lindsey Newman]

For starters, many and all of the best teachers were trying to teach it. They used words like "width", "synchronize" or phrases like "straighten the right arm" and or "arm flow" The difference is now we have scientific research that shows it may in fact be optimal and also how to achieve the motion properly.

I am not going to name the teachers, but those words and phrases can be easily tied to many of the more hyped instructors of the last 30 years.

 

[Lindsey Newman]

Granted, I haven't been able to get out and try it because of the weather. Why hasn't this been emphasized before? Or maybe all of the greats have known 'the secret' and just didn't want to share it with the minions?

Don't label me a hater. I've worked with Brian more than once. I'm just asking for some input.

Thanks

Oh, and you should be sketptical. It's your golf game. Don't take anyone's word for it, put in some lab time on the range and see if you like the flight. BUT, if you have not tried it or given it a run, it would be unfair to be contrarian.

 

[BertramSterling]

I think a lot of skepticism comes from the out toss. I don't think it is intended as a way to throw away all the 'angle' as early as possible - it is needed because if you have ONLY force being applied in the direction of the grip (normal) then the club will fall on your shoulders out of transition. I think Brian made a video about this somewhere.

Now some people like to argue that you couldn't have enough of this lag angle, but good luck applying ZERO out toss and trying to put the club head on the ball. My guess is most people do some out-toss type force naturally, and trying to do more may be harmful in that instance. Also, it can feel strange having a more actute angle later in the downswing - you can begin to get the feeling that you can't get rid of it all and line up for impact.

On my good driver swings I feel like I have to do a Bubba style jump just to line up, which could be hard to trust..I am sure I could create more 'lag' with the transition, but doubt I could get rid of any more!

 

[spktho]

It all depends what "camp" you were in, I had a teacher a couple of years back tell me I needed to release the club and not drag it through impact but I blew him off as not knowing what he was talking about because of the "tgm camp" I was hanging around.... I think the biggest obstacle is to stop tugging and once you do that a light bulb goes off.

I would like to add that most for most instructors "release the club more" means to add more roll into and through impact. The "new" release described by MJ and Brian is not a "rolling" release of the club.

 

[ms1170]

it is needed because if you have ONLY force being applied in the direction of the grip (normal) then the club will fall on your shoulders out of transition. I think Brian made a video about this somewhere.

I must admit I am skeptical about this "Jackknifing" as Brian described it. #1. it seems like a decent grip on the club would prevent this. #2. if it were physically possible to move the grip straight away in the direction it is pointing for a foot or so, the club head would follow that line, and not drop down on your shoulders. I'm a believer in the "new release" and think Brian and Michael are doing great work.

 

[Steve Greffen]

Granted, I haven't been able to get out and try it because of the weather. Why hasn't this been emphasized before? Or maybe all of the greats have known 'the secret' and just didn't want to share it with the minions?

Don't label me a hater. I've worked with Brian more than once. I'm just asking for some input.

Thanks

Kevin,

Since you have worked with Brian before you could appreciate that he doesn't cookie cutter the lessons. I saw him do a handful of quick lessons today and he didn't really focus on the ideas of the release in particular. The new information in my opinion offers him a better way to fix some people. And your going to get your individual fix, whatever you need, and no more.

 

[hp12c]

dunno, but it just works

I stop thinking about my swing after learning this. I'm now point and shoot.

I was s little point and shoot, I then took a lesson to help me and now I feel all cramped and restricted and lost 1 club to a club and half distance with a high ball flight, dont like it one bit! Im going back to my swing.

 

[Kevin Shields]

If its "greats" that convince you then you should know that Nicklaus and Watson both advocate an early release in their books. I'm sure many teachers do too. BM and crew just validated the claim and have provided scientific evidence to support it.

Please, please, pleeeeeeeease, get it out of your head and everyone else's that this is an early release. It is absolutely not an early release. Done correctly, it often (as in my case) makes the release much later.

 

[Kevin Shields]

I must admit I am skeptical about this "Jackknifing" as Brian described it. #1. it seems like a decent grip on the club would prevent this. #2. if it were physically possible to move the grip straight away in the direction it is pointing for a foot or so, the club head would follow that line, and not drop down on your shoulders. I'm a believer in the "new release" and think Brian and Michael are doing great work.

Jacknifing was explained again by Nesbit. I'll admit anything can be difficult to totally grasp. I have an unfair advantage in this area because I already knew exactly what it was because I did it like a son of a gun. It does exist but not everybody has to worry about it. The detractors who look at video and say "look, he's not doing any goofy out toss" have no idea. This is a key element for my own personal swing in the transition and I feel like I'm doing a ton but you would never know from video. You don't have to see it like Ernie Els to say a player is doing it.

It's just another tool as a prevention against a flaw if you have it.

 

[bryan@nobackswing.com]

Granted, I haven't been able to get out and try it because of the weather. Why hasn't this been emphasized before? Or maybe all of the greats have known 'the secret' and just didn't want to share it with the minions?

Thanks

this is an interesting point. a lot of people say "the pros aren't doing it, so it must not work". but that reminds me of an "appeal to authority" fallacy. so much data is coming out so quickly now with trackman and similar technologies, it's likely that some concepts will come from the "ground up" from teachers like Brian. And this idea of "the release" is one of them IMO.

take AoA with the driver, all the tour guys were swinging down a couple degrees. but there's some good evidence out there now that this isn't necessarily the best course of action.

 

[dbl]

Please, please, pleeeeeeeease, get it out of your head and everyone else's that this is an early release. It is absolutely not an early release. Done correctly, it often (as in my case) makes the release much later.

Kevin, your posts are always good, often providing a view that a mistaken reader might wonder about, but I can back you up on this. While I haven't bought the video, from that huge thread I figured out what to do (plus a summer lesson with BM). Anyway...lately...I am going normal very late in the downswing and getting a lot of pop, throwing the clubhead at the ball. Thanks for confirming with what you wrote. There are options!

 

[SteveT]

The first part of the downswing is "tugging", but the final part going into impact is "freewheeling", which requires proper 'going normal' sequencing. There is a phasing out and phasing in downswing action between tugging and freewheeling, and you have to find that in your own swing. Perhaps you are subconsciously unwilling to release yourself into a freewheeling mode and holding on too long.

Simply, if you tug too far into the downswing or tug all the way through, you are defeating the freewheeling action.

Tugging and then vigorously flipping through impact feels 'powerful', but it's not... it only feels aggressive and powerful.

Ya think ...??

 

[Todd Dugan]

Jim McClean, in his book, "The 8 Step Swing" said that it is possible to have too much lag in the swing. When this is the case, he advises the player to try to "spring" the shaft forward early in the downswing.

But I contend that all of the force on the shaft is toward the player at impact, as Brian presents in his video. Great-ball-strikers continue straightening the right arm past impact for full-power swings. So although the hands may be going "up" the plane at impact, they are also extending away from the player's center. Extention of the arms for power is fundamental in sports.