Casting/releasing hands etc

Quick question before I watch the rugby.

Sorry for terminology let me know of correct terms if I get this wrong. 

It's difficult to tell but I think on the downstring when my hands reach the ball so does the clubhead which I think is called casting, and the ideal anlge of attack is to still have cocked wrists at this point.  Thus reducing the angle of attack and increasing the accelartion through the ball.

Any tips on removing this ?  if this makes sense.

I did try this at an indoor virtual golf centre using the practice facility. Obviously I didn't have my own clubs and am going through some other swings tweaks to remove my slice but my average 7 iron went about 130 yards, fairly high trajectory with little roll. If I made a mental note to try and 'cock my wrists/hold back' then with a lot ower trajectory I got about 140 carry and then 20-30 yards roll.  On a very few shots I managed to maintain my normal trajectory (well just lower) but got a good 30-40 yards on my original 130 yards carry.

Now obviously this was indoors and not a real world scenario but it did seem to help, the problem was it's very hard to feel and I have know idea what to work on to assist with this.  

Next step is to hear feedback if this a true feedback of the swing and for me to get on the range or course and try this. 

Casting is the result of thinking clubhead, as opposed to hands. The clubhead will do its own thing naturally if the hands are moved correctly in the downswing.

Maintaining the angle created by the cocking of the wrists on the upswing during the downswing is vital to good contact with the ball. I find it is easy for me if I concentrate on the butt of the club pointing to the ground for as long as possible on the downswing, combined with my right elbow in the right pocket keeping the club on the correct plane.

The hands are released almost subconciously as the speed of the swing and the forces it is producing, will take the clubhead througth the ball on the correct plane and lead to a nicely balanced finish at the end of the swing.

That is my interpretation of what should happen and I am sure there are others who have ideas of their own.

Cheers for that John, will give it a try.

Like with the 'Right Elbow Right Pocket (RERP)' thought it seems a lot easier to practice and use in terms of making a mental note rather than using a visual aid ie header covers on the floor etc

Years ago someone suggested something similar to the RERP using a visual aid but then your concentration goes on the visual aspect.  It never really clicked until you mentioned RERP, nothing visual just the mental thought!

Darren

As I understand it the way John described it is correct.  To imagine what happens dring a swing think of a piece of string with a weight on it so it acts like a pendulum.  Swing it gently back and forwards and as it's on the downswing stick your finger in the way about halfway down, you'll see the end kick as it accelerates.  Now imagine the same thing with two extra pivot points (fingers) and that is the 'cast' - very similar to a fly fishing cast.  The pivots are caused by the wrists breaking and the shaft kick, which is why pro's can get 120mph+ club head speeds with slow looking swings, it's all to do with timing, getting the maximum acceleration points to work together.  This is why someone with a fast swing can't use flexible shafts, the clubhead is deccelerating because it's already gone past it's optimum kick point.  Alternatively, someone with a slow swing speed won't get any kick with a stiff shaft and hence no acceleration. 

Care to post a diagram/video Engineer Hawkins ?

Ooh, tricky.  I'll see if I can do one, may have to let you have it to post though.

Darren,

a simple drill  imagine you have water up to your waist, on your down swing make sure your hands enter the water first, the club will catch up and you will also increase your swing speed.

Keep your hands quiet from the top as they will naturally unhinge as the club head accelerates

Obviously really difficult to see on my golf swing video and golf swing gallery

but the following shows how I seem to train and maintain a perfect line between club and arms, definiately need to go to the range !!! 

Compared to the perfect golf swing , albeit it was 2 years ago when it was a work in progress

Info from Mr Hawkins, not Hawkings as in Steven but Tim.

http://www.golfshake.com/forums/view/1535/Mechanics_of_the_Swing_1.html ;