Understanding & Creating Lag in Your Golf Swing (And How to Improve Yours)

HackMotion

Jan 7, 2025 . 8 mins read

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Lag is a critical element in the transition from backswing to downswing and significantly impacts your ability to compress the ball and gain extra yardage.

After analyzing over 1,000,000 golf swings using HackMotion, we’ve uncovered valuable insights into how wrist action contributes to creating lag.

If adding lag and improving your ball striking are your goals, these tips and drills will set you on the right path.

Creating Lag in The Golf Swing (Key Takeaways)

If you don’t have time to read our guide on understanding lag, here are the most important things to remember.

• Lag requires proper sequencing: pressure into the lead foot, unwinding hips, chest rotation, and a shallowing club.
• Avoid excessive cupping (extension) in the lead wrist to prevent an open clubface and ineffective lag.
• Adding radial deviation (wrist hinge) during the downswing is ineffective for increasing lag in the golf swing.
• Body rotation during the downswing is essential for maintaining lag and ensuring a powerful, controlled impact.
• HackMotion provides real-time feedback and drills on wrist angles to improve lag control and swing performance.

What Do I Need to Understand to Create Lag?

Lag refers to the angle between the lead forearm and the club shaft during the downswing. For amateurs, it feels like the club trails behind the hands through impact.

Maintaining this lag allows for a whip-like action in the clubhead, leading to increased clubhead speed and greater distance.

Proper lag also contributes to better timing and sequencing of the swing, ensuring a more efficient transfer of energy to the ball at impact.

The Common Myth that Exists about Lag in Golf

Lag is not about aggressively increasing wrist hinge (the ‘Sergio Garcia’ myth).

Instead, it’s about sequencing: allowing the club head to fall behind the hands naturally as you shallow the club.

Many times, when we see faces in pictures or videos of Sergio or any other professional on the downswing, they seem to increase their wrist hinge or radial deviation. This is an illusion. From a down-the-line view, they shallow the club with proper sequencing.

Professionals very rarely increase the wrist angle, or their radial deviation, on the downswing.

How to Create Lag in the Golf Swing

It is crucial to understand wrist movements and their role in creating lag.

To improve lag, you must ensure that your wrists are in the right position and that you approach the golf ball with the lead wrist flexed.

Proper Wrist Positions to Create Lag

Wearing the HackMotion can help you become aware of your wrist positioning during the backswing. The most important wrist measurements are the extension (cupping) and flexion (bowing) of the lead wrist.

Excessive extension at any point in the swing reduces lag and opens the clubface, leading to weak shots.

Hinging at the Right Time

Hinging is necessary to create lag. The wrists bend toward the thumb when adding radial deviation.

The hinge is necessary for lag, but if it is overdone or done too soon, you may unknowingly add an extension, making it difficult to square the face.

Reduce Extension on the Downswing

As part of the transition from backswing to downswing, it is important to move the wrist from an extended position to a flexed position.

When your wrist moves more to this flexed position, you can release the lag you have built up effectively at impact.

Most importantly, with a square face and a flexed lead wrist on the downswing you’ll be able to rotate the hips and allow your chest and body to unwind through the golf ball.

This is where additional power and control is added.

Additional Drills to Create Lag in Golf

As we have mentioned, the best way to feel and create lag in your golf swing is by working on drills.

Drills will help with both positioning and sequencing required to create lag.

Here are three additional drills to help you create lag in your game.

One-Arm Swing Drill

The one arm swing drill is used to develop feel for lag and minimize lead wrist extension.

It’s a simple drill that you can do with or without the HackMotion.

HackMotion Release Drill

The HackMotion release drill helps improve wrist angles and energy transfer at impact.

This drill focuses on getting your fundamentals correct from the 9 o’clock to 3 o’clock position.

Sequencing Drill with HackMotion

The correct sequence is essential to maximizing lag in the golf swing.

Use this sequencing drill with HackMotion to master the sequence of pressure shift, hip rotation, and wrist angles.

Final Thoughts

Creating and maintaining lag in your golf swing is essential for maximizing clubhead speed, achieving powerful ball striking, and controlling your shots.

Utilizing tools like HackMotion to provide real-time feedback allows you to fine-tune your wrist angles and ensures you’re on the right path toward more consistent and controlled shots.

The key is to take advantage of real-time feedback and data to improve your fundamentals and lower your scores.