What is Lag in Golf, Is It Worth Focusing On?
Reading Time: 6 minutes 
Lag in golf is a swing technique where you delay the release of the club by keeping your wrists cocked (maintaining the angle between the club and your forearm) as you start the downswing. This “lag” generates extra clubhead speed, giving you more power at impact.
Understanding Lag in Golf
What is a Lag In Golf?
Lag in golf is primarily related to the angle between the club shaft and your lead forearm during the down swing. (Left arm for right-handed golfers and right arm for left-handed golfers)
As golfers maintain the angle they can generate more swing speed when the release this angle right before impact. Creating a sort snap when hitting the ball. The lag also allows for a player’s hips to clear the ball first, almost storing the energy and releasing it at impact.
The Physics Behind Lag
In simple terms, lag works because of how the golf club and your arms move together as a system.
From a physics standpoint, the golf swing is best described as a two part system. Your arms move first and the club follows. Early in the downswing, when the wrists stay cocked, the clubhead stays closer to your hands. This matters because objects that are closer to the center of rotation are easier to accelerate.
Think of a figure skater spinning with their arms pulled in. They can rotate faster with less effort. The same thing happens in the golf swing. With the wrists cocked, the club has a smaller effective radius, which means your body can accelerate the arms more efficiently early in the downswing.
As the swing continues, the wrists naturally uncock. When this happens, the clubhead moves farther away from the hands and the radius increases. At this point, energy that was built up in the arms is transferred into the club. This transfer happens because of the changing geometry of the system, not because you are actively trying to snap the wrists.
This is why lag does not mean forcing your wrists to hold an angle. It is a position that allows energy to be transferred efficiently at the right time.
You can see this clearly in slow motion swing images where the hands begin to slow down while the clubhead continues to speed up approaching impact. That hand slowdown is not a flaw. It is a sign that energy is moving from the arms into the club.
For a more in detail real life explanation, watch the video below of Shawn Clement explaining the dual pendulum idea in the golf swing.
If you want a deeper and more technical breakdown, research on the physics of the golf swing explains this energy transfer using conservation of energy and changing rotational inertia. A good starting point is academic work on the double pendulum golf swing model, which breaks down exactly why maintaining wrist angle early and releasing it later leads to higher clubhead speed.
The key takeaway is this. Lag works because it helps you accelerate the right parts of the system at the right time. It is not stored power. It is efficient motion.
Benefits of Creating Lag
Lag has progressively become a very fundamental part of the golf swing. Especially for those that wish to hit it a long way. Without lag, the swing is one dimensional. With lag, it always for your body to get involved in the swing and not rely solely on your arms to hit the ball.
As mentioned above in the previous section, lag taps in to natural physics allowing for the most efficient swing with the least amount of exertion.
Simple Drills to Improve Lag
Drill 1 – The Pump Drill
A very popular lag drill for many amateurs is the pump drill. This drill is all about getting the feeling of holding that lag for the needed amount of time in the downswing while ensure your body moves in sequence so the you arent just throwing your arms at the ball.
This helps integrate the right amount of lag within the proper sequence of the golf swing.
How to perform the pump drill:
- Bring the club back making sure you are angling your wrist properly to create lag
- Bring the club down as if your are starting the down swing until it reaches your trail legs knee area.
- Stop it there and bring it back up and do it again.
- Bring it back up and then swing through the ball.
It can seems confusing listed out step by step. A better way to to understand this drill is to watch Piers Ward from Me and My Golf demonstrate how to do the pump drill below.
Drill 2 – Towel or Headcover Drill
The towel or headcover drill is a great drill for understanding the feel of lag through impact. This drill is for those who tend to through the hands at the ball at impact. This causes the ball to have more spin and go shorter.
How to preform the towel or headcover drill:
- Evenly place a towel over the hosel of your golf club sangs evenly over the shaft and some of the clubface.
- Hinge the wrist in a lag position halfway through the backswing.
- Now as you hold that lag through the impact, you will feel the weight of the towel/clubhead lagging behind your body and swing.
Feeling that wieght will show you should feel lag through impact. Afterwards, take shots with that feel in mind. This will help you with holding the lag through impact.
Watch Dr. Alison Curdt of PGA America break down the simple drill ion less than 1 minute!
Drill 3 – Split Grip Drill
The split grip drill is a drill that helps with alot in the backswing and downswing. However, this is great drill for lag. This will help align your arms in the downswing and get that feel for how long you should be holding the lag as well as when you should be releasing the stored power.
How to preform the split grip drill:
- Set up with a split grip – Your top hand in the proper position at the top of the grip and your bottom hand passed the grip on the shaft about a foot away from the top hand.
- Take a backswing with your split grip slowly
- Slowly complete the downswing with your split grip.
In the backswing this will allow for your trail arm to bend properly and not chicken wing. This will in turn keep your wrist properly cocked, creating the right amount of lag. And as we complete the downswing it will keep the lag until impact. That’s the feel were looking for. Once we understand that feel, we can look to replicate it in a normal full swing.
Watch John Watts from TruGolf explain the drill and all its benefits below.
Conclusion
Lag is not a trick. It is not something you force. It is not about snapping your wrists at the ball. It is understanding how your arms and the club move together as one system.
When you keep the wrists set early in the downswing, you make the club easier to accelerate. When you allow the wrists to naturally release later, you transfer that built up speed into the clubhead at the right time. That is where the extra speed comes from. Not effort. Not tension. Just proper sequencing and physics working in your favor.
We covered what lag actually is. We broke down the real physics behind why it increases clubhead speed. And we walked through simple drills that help you feel it without overthinking it.
If you struggle with early release or feel like you are throwing your hands at the ball, start with the pump drill. If you need to feel weight and sequencing, try the towel drill. If you want to understand arm structure and timing, work through the split grip drill. Keep it simple. Focus on feel. Let the motion build naturally.
Lag can absolutely improve your ball striking, increase distance, and make your swing more efficient. But only if it is built the right way.
Not quite at the level to understand or to incorporate lag in your swing? Start with more basic fundamentals here.
