Ear To Ear Lag Drill

By | on April 1, 2023 | 33 Comments |


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Paul Wilson is the creator of Swing Machine Golf and founder of Ignition Golf. Paul's golf swing technique is based on the Iron Byron swing machine. YouTube Channels: Paul Wilson Golf and Ignition Golf Tips. Please Join me on Google+

33 Responses to “Ear To Ear Lag Drill”

  1. January 5, 2014

    SeanPinnell

    Paul,

    Is this supposed to hurt your wrists at first? Maybe my wrists are just tight? Let me know. I’ll keep working on it.

    Sean

    • January 5, 2014

      Paul Wilson

      Sean,

      If your wrists are tight and you are trying to move them in ways you have never moves them it may cause a little pain but nothing that shouldn’t go away in a short period of time. If they are really hurting and keep hurting you are most likely doing something wrong.

      Keep your eye on it and gradually work on this angle and getting them loose.

  2. April 19, 2014

    PaulKwon

    Hi Paul

    I have developed vicious slices recently probably from being tired and coming over the top.
    At least one person and Scott Adams (http://www.golf.com/instruction/adam-scott-stripe-it-down-center?eref=sihp) suggest that I keep my right foot planted at least until impact.
    Is this consistent with your teaching ?
    I do have problem separating my lower and upper bodies and tend to turn in one piece.

  3. Paul ,
    I understand the purpose of this fine drill ,but I was always told you should never Play golf with your wrists ,you should never consciously put them in Play .
    In the “BASQUE COUNTRY “where I took up golf in earnest , in the early ’60’s ,after being initiated in the USA ,the local BASQUES (SEVE BALLESTEROS ,JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL ,and Many top Spanish golf Players Are Basques,my first golf instructor ,Champion JEAN GARAIALDE ) who played a lot of “Pala “- a small very hard ball Made of cowhide you hit against a wall ,they Play golf using their wrists very much ,and the ball ,if hit strongly ,may go any place ,so I was told not to do so and not to think about them never!
    Are you. Advocating to utilize the wrists ,As it seems in this video?

    • April 20, 2014

      Paul Wilson

      Raymond,

      Some people need to manually work on this until you get it then turn them off. Just keeping them loose may take years for the majority of people to master. I don’t have years.

      • Paul ,The best recommendation you have given me is to keep my wrists LOOSE :they are LOOSE to the point that I feel as if the club Will fall from my hands ,at address .Of course the fingers naturally tighten when going to the top of the backswing ,but my lag has spectcularly benefitted from this tip .

        • Raymond,

          Very good. Looseness is the key but this is opposite to what people want to do.

  4. Avatar photo

    April 20, 2014

    KennthBova

    Paul, it looked like you had a very firm grip on the club. From a 1 to 10, how firm was it?

    • April 20, 2014

      Paul Wilson

      Ken,

      Yes, you want to hold on securely because hinging it this much forces the grip to come loose. So hold on. At first the hinge may be tight when you try to swing it back and forth. Just keep doing it. It will loosen up in no time.

  5. April 22, 2014

    GeraldJoyce

    Hi Paul,

    I worked or probably overworked the wrist drill as I usually do but it backedf fired on me. After three days work I went out to play and the golf ball went all over the left, right, topped shanked etc.

    I was going nuts but finally figured out the drill had caused my powerless arms to disappear and I was back at hitting from the top.

    I am guessing that I did the drill the wrong way? Please comment and explain in more detail how the rest of the body should should be working during the drill?

    Best Jay Jay

    • April 22, 2014

      Paul Wilson

      Jay Jay,

      THIS IS A DRILL. This means you do not have it after 3 days. You need to do this for a month or so. When you hit your actual shots you are not even thinking about doing this. The whole point is that you are constantly doing the drill then one day it will be in your real golf swing. Yes, as you do this you will feel your arms. This is because you are purposely doing this drill. When you go to hit your shots just turn them back off again and eel you legs and hips powering the swing.

      You are not thinking about the body when doing this drill. You are thinking of hinging ear to ear. This is a drill for your wrists and creating more lag not about using your legs and hips.

  6. April 24, 2014

    NelsKlyver

    Hi Paul,
    To be consistent with your “powerless arms” approach, wouldn’t this drill be better if you release the club by making a body turn and just let your arms move by being driven by the body and shoulder movement. When I do the drill the way you show it, I feel like I am going back to an arms swing–which is what I have working so hard to stop.

    Thanks for all your great instruction.

    Nels Klyver

    • April 24, 2014

      Paul Wilson

      Nels,

      No. The drill is for your wrists. I don’t want you thinking body.

      You should be feeling your arms. You are working on a specific drill for your arms. You need to do this every day for about a month. When you are hitting balls you are not even thinking of this drill. You are doing your normal swing. As you keep doing it, the lag will enter into your swing. You are the second person who has said this. I could have sworn I said exactly how to work on it in this tip.

      Anytime you are working on specific arms drills and positions you will feel them. The goal would be to get the arms working as they should. Turn them off and focus on powering the swing with the body coil.

  7. April 26, 2014

    TIMADAMS

    Paul I understand this is only a drill(this has helped me greatly in the hinge backswing & Finish)But I believe it has degraded my one piece take away

  8. Hi Paul, my club fitter observed yesterday that I am casting and I think I am now casting in an attempt to start roll over early do I don’t slice. Granted when I played yesterday I drove the ball dead straight, still woefully short about 170 yards. So I am definitely not keeping any lag. I’m not sure I understand how to keep your lag and rollover at the same time. I have a lesson with Pete tomorrow but I just thought I’d check with you in advance of that. Thanks so much.

    • March 20, 2016

      Paul Wilson

      Ben,

      You can certainly work on lag. I have tons of tips on it. Just use the search box in the Dashboard or on the original site and they will all come up. Just realize this takes a long time.

      Casting is you using your arms. Think of the word lag. It means something is trailing behind something else. In your swing its your club trailing behind your body. If you are casting you are moving the club before your body. Now image if your arms were totally powerless and you could not pull the club down. Don’t you think it would lag every time? It sure would. So you need to be way looser in your arms and wrists. The roll over drill works on loosening your wrists and fixing the spin. Keep rolling it until you learn the release and rarely every put slice spin on it. Once you have it mastered then switch to lag or powerless arms or driving your hips way, way, way harder. 170 is telling you that you are not turning fast at all and no no lag. So don’t forget the legs.

      Watch:

      Does Turning Off Arms Create Lag?: https://ignitiongolf.com/powerless-arms-create-lag/

  9. January 26, 2017

    HelenWinning

    Hi Paul, I believe I have very loose wrists I do this drill often however when playing I flick at the bottom then I chicken wing making a very weak shot & loss of distance. Can you suggest a drill for me to stop my flicking? Yes I am somebody who started golf in later years.

    • Avatar photo

      January 27, 2017

      Paul Wilson

      Helen,

      If you are flicking you are hitting. As I showed in a recent tip you are doing this. In order to get out of hitting you need to feel what it feels like to not hit and allow the club to swing to its widest arc.

      First, you need to not care about distance (you are saying you are not getting distance anyway so this shouldn’t be an issue).

      Next, you need to tee up your ball and hit shots with a mid iron.

      Next, after you hit the shot about 30 yards you need to full stretch out your arms to their widest point as I show in this tip:

      It is a Letting Go Experience: https://ignitiongolf.com/letting-go-experience/

      This will be a new startling feeling but once you get used to it this feeling goes away.

      So no matter how bad you hit it (for a while) you must get used to this feeling. There is only 1 widest arc so if you keep doing this drill and getting used to this feeling you will be doing your widest arc ever time. At this point you add the body coiling and uncoil and you have the whole swing.

      This is not hard, it is different to what you are doing. If you keep doing it, you will get used to it in no time. Watch out for fat shots. This is a good thing which tells you the arc is widening. Fix the fast shots with the body rotation.

      Also watch these tips:

      Wide Arc: https://ignitiongolf.com/wide-arc/
      DRILL: Try To Hit Chair: https://ignitiongolf.com/try-to-hit-chair/
      DRILL: Another Way To Widen The Arc: https://ignitiongolf.com/drill-widen-arc/
      Power: How a Wider Swing Arc Affects Power: https://ignitiongolf.com/wider-arc-power/

  10. March 27, 2018

    RichardKrohn

    Hi Paul. I like this ear to ear drill since I can do it inside since I am in Canada with a lot of snow on the ground. You state that the club head speed comes from the wrists releasing . Do you have any exercises to strengthen the wrists so they can provide a faster release without getting a wrist injury?

    • Avatar photo

      March 27, 2018

      Paul Wilson

      Richard,

      If you do this drill your wrists will strengthen. You’ll see. After about 30-50 back and forths you will be feeling it. Keep in mind I want the grip secure but wrists loose. So strong wrists isn’t really the best thing. Secure grip is good.

  11. Hi Paul,
    Nobody in this stream of comments has asked what you are doing with the left wrist as it re-hinges? Your left wrist seems NOT to cup on the follow-thru. Should we just ROLL without ANY cupping in left wrist through release? Or not worry about cupping? Cupping usually happens for me after the “straight point release.” And then after that point, I let it cup into follow-thru. Thanks for being patient with all our comments. You are the best teacher out there because you hammer away at fundamentals. Over and over again. Brilliant, physics-based instruction.

    • Avatar photo

      April 24, 2018

      Paul Wilson

      John,

      I am not thinking about the cupping. It is slightly cupped relative to a 2 knuckle grip position at the top. Then at the release point after the ball is hit they are extended so minimal cupping at they were at setup. Then into the through swing the left is cupping as it was in the backswing (I just watched it again). I really wouldn’t be thinking about it in the through swing unless the right wrist was bowing. If so, the left would be too cupped. Just work it back and forth ear to ear for a month then let us know how much longer you are hitting it.

  12. August 24, 2018

    GarrettAkre

    The lag angle timing is hard to get I can t seen to break 80 on the club speed indicator and my best drives are only 200 yds

  13. Hi Paul, so you are holding your lag as you come down. So should I feel the weightless arms as I release the lag. I feel slight tension as I am holding my lag on the downswing. Thanks.

  14. September 1, 2018

    DonReynolds

    Subject: Lovking my left leg. I remember doing this all the time as a 4 hcp and age 27 before getting broadsided in an auto wreck in 1976. Out of golf until I finally rehabbed the back but lost my beautiful golf swing 265 yard average drive with my Tony Pena deep faced persimmon driver. Now I just turned 70 and carried an 8-11 hcp until 2 years ago. For some reason I’m having difficulty completely locking my left leg as in the past. I am very flexible thanks to yoga type exercises and can play 45 holes a day with no pain. I seem to be able to lock or virtually lock my leg by standing very tall and nearly locked at my knees at address. Am I on the right track? I’ve lost 100 yards on my drives, thank God for a short game and pitching game that keeps me at a 12 hcp from both the blue and white tees but not the black. Any ideas??? Don “(Rick”)

  15. April 4, 2019

    DAVIDLAND

    Fantastic tip. Before going out onto the course I practise the ‘loose wrists drill’ along with Paul’s other drill swinging the club above the ground. Result is that a slow, easy, straight and satisfying swing happens and that longstanding slice is now history.

    Thanks Paul!

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