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The Teachings of Norrie
Wright - How Grip and Stance Affects Lag
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The Grip and
Lag
One of the cornerstones of his teaching is LAG, which some
people think is the secret ingredient of great
ball-striking. In previous articles I showed how a cowgirl
snapping a whip is using LAG to break the speed of sound.
The `crack’ you hear is the result of incredible speed, that
came from the inside moving the outside.
The handle of the whip started the movement, and it coiled
down to the tip, gathering speed. That same principle is
possible in a golf swing.
A golf club is not as flexible as a whip. For that reason,
as lag begins to happen, a heavy feeling is develops in a
few places in the golfer’s body, called pressure points. The
pressure points are felt:
• Under the left armpit, (From this point on, lefties,
substitute left for right, and vice versa. Thanks.) This
principle is like the feeling you would get if you threw a
Frisbee, your arm would compress against your chest, as the
body unwinds.
• That point where the right palm presses against the left
thumb.
• In the last three fingers of the left hand.
• In the right index finger, or the `trigger finger’. This
is the closest part of the body to the club head, and is
therefore an important place to feel lag.
So the placement of that index finger is important, as it is
a sensor. Without that feeling of pressure, there is no lag.
If you were to grab a golf ball to throw it, you would
naturally wrap that index finger around the ball. Your hand
should look and feel the same on the handle of a club. Watch
a good player’s grip; the right hand seems huge, even on a
player with small hands. That’s because of the trigger
finger.
Equally important is holding the club with the last 3
fingers of the left hand, under the heel pad. Too much in
the palm, and you decrease the all-important angle between
the left arm and the club shaft.
The Stance and Lag
The angle of the spine throughout the swing influences the
swing plane, which in turn influences lag. Bend over too
far, and the swing becomes more upright. Stand too straight
up and down, and it becomes flatter. Tilt to the right and
you swing more inside. Tilt left, and you swing steeper.
To check this yourself, spin a weight on the end of a
string. With your forearm vertical, the string swings level,
like a merry-go-round. Put the forearm horizontally out in
front of you, and the string swings vertically, like a
ferris wheel. Tilt right and it’s inside-out. Tilt left and
it’s outside-in.
Think of your forearm as your spine in the golf swing; the
same thing will tend to happen with the club.
To make sure your fundamentals are correct, contact a
competent PGA or CPGA instructor for a session to review the
extremely important grip and stance. To become a certified
CPGA instructor, one must pass a rigorous learning and
testing process. I recommend you look for CPGA when you look
for an instructor.
A few years ago, I was fortunate to take part in capturing
some of Norrie’s teachings for a wider audience. I went to
Jacksonville with documentary filmmaker James Hoagland (The
Lions Roar), and the result is the essence of Norrie Wright,
a DVD entitled The Wright Swing, a video textbook for
students of the game. This is available through my Halifax
Training Center.
More information. |
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