Breaking the handle drag habit

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Breaking the handle drag habit  

  By: Matt B on Nov. 2, 2020, 2:35 p.m.

As someone who is a lifelong handle dragger, I'm committed to breaking this habit during the offseason. The feels of the isolated ulnar drill have shown me the benefits a shallow and full release. My question is, what drills or step by step process would you recommend to break this habit? I have found that I really can't release the club early enough (at this point) but unfortunately when I try to ulnar deviate on full swings, my trail arm/shoulder goes internal and causes me problems. I've seen some old videos from Mike Austin where he advocates the feel of an underhand throw, keeping the trail forearm towards the sky as long as possible. Any help would be appreciated!

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Re: Breaking the handle drag habit  

  By: Tyler F on Nov. 16, 2020, 10:07 p.m.

Hey Matt,
I'm sorry for the delay, I thought I answered your question last week. Anyway, I haven't seen a really clear definition of handle dragging. Perhaps you can share what you mean by that term? Once we have it pinned down, we can come up with a plan of attack. For some people, a release issue is driven by a poor pivot. For others, it's more poor arm mechanics. The step-by-step plan is working through the arms, the body, and how they work together. The body can only work as well as the arms and the arms can only work as well as the body.

The goal is to find one or two of the keys that work to make your swing move closer to the model. Since you say that ulnar deviation causes you to go into internal rotation, that might be a good place to start. Usually, when working on a release issue, I like to see 4 videos. A full swing. A 9-3 swing. A 9-3 left hand only and a 9-3 right hand only. That gives a really good map revealing what your brain is thinking during the bottom of the swing. If you want to post the videos, we can dig into your pattern a little more. Otherwise, you can work though those 4 different swings yourself. If you can't do it solidly on a 9-3, then it's a true release issue. If you can make the swing you want on a 9-3, but not a full swing, then it's a transition or backswing issue. If you can't do a 9-3 or a full swing, then it could be either, but it's more likely a key concept misunderstanding. I hope that helps,

Tyler

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