Releasing the Golf Club – How to Master the Fundamentals

The release causes more confusion than perhaps any other part of the golf swing.

Most golfers understand that the club needs to ‘release’ through the hitting area to strike a solid shot, but they might not know exactly what that means. If you are currently struggling with the release portion of your swing, you have come to the right place.

What Does it Mean to Release the Golf Club?

What does it mean to release the golf club during your swing? Well, first of all, it does not mean to physically let go of the club and allow it to fly off into the distance. That would not produce good shots, and it would be, you know, dangerous.

Instead, the release refers to the process of letting the clubhead turn over as you approach impact.

As you swing down, the clubhead is (hopefully) in an open position relative to the target line. Without a release, the club would remain wide open and the shot would sail way to the right of the target (for a right-handed golfer). If you release the club properly, the face will square up in time for impact, and you’ll send the ball flying in the proper direction.

So, the concept is simple enough. As with most things, however, it’s the execution that gets tricky.

The problem is the speed at which the downswing takes place. The club is simply moving too fast to manually release the club each time.

In other words, you can’t just swing down and tell your hands to release the club at a certain point – that point will come and go before you know it.

Players who are stuck in the mindset of trying to manually release the club will forever struggle to make any progress.

So, if you can’t manually manage the release, how are you supposed to make it happen?

The idea here is to create the right conditions for the club to release on its own. Basically, if you do a bunch of other things right, the forces of the swing will lead to a natural release, and you’ll be in great shape.

With the rest of this article, we are going to highlight four keys that should lead you toward a proper release.

Key #1 – Light Grip Pressure

The first step toward a good release is using light grip pressure during your swing. If you are holding onto the club too tightly, you’ll restrict the movement of the club through the hitting area – and it will be hard to get a good release.

The proper grip pressure for your full swing is one where the club remains totally under control at all times, but you aren’t holding on so tight that it can’t move freely through the ball.

Key #2 – A Rotational Swing

Golf is a rotational game. When you make a swing, you want to rotate away from the target in the backswing and toward the target in the downswing. Many golfers fall into the trap of sliding instead of rotating, and it’s hard to play good golf while you are sliding from side to side.

Proper rotation is essential for your release because the forces you create when rotating will help the club to release through the ball. If you are just sliding toward the target on the way down, there won’t be enough rotational force to put that release into action.

Of course, good rotation in the swing is important for more than just your release, so this is a fundamental you should be working on for a variety of reasons.

To improve your rotation, focus on keeping your weight centered between your feet during the backswing. If you slide away from the target going back, instead of rotating away, you will have no choice but to slide back toward the target in the downswing. This side-to-side action is going to make it difficult to strike the ball cleanly, and it will also rob you of power.

Work on improving your rotation and you should see a better release and better overall ball striking.

Key #3 – Not Holding Back

Even if you do everything right throughout the first half of your swing, you can still go wrong as impact approaches if you give up on the shot. This is a common issue for the average golfer, as the typical player is a little low on confidence and that self-doubt can manifest in the form of a tentative golf swing.

If you hold back in your swing, you will slow down the rotation of your body during the downswing. Instead of turning all the way through with confidence, and letting the club release as a result, you slow up and try to guide the club into the ball. This rarely ends well.

To optimize your release and perform to your potential as a ball striker, you’ve got to trust your technique and swing all the way through to a full finish.

Key #4 – The Right Equipment

Believe it or not, the equipment you use can have an impact on your release, as well. There are a couple of issues here to watch for:

1. Grip size. Confirm that the size of your grips is a good fit for the size of your hands. If your grips are too thick, it will be harder to get the club to release properly.
2. Shaft flex. If the shaft flex of your clubs is too stiff for your swing, it will be hard to get the club to load and unload, and you may struggle to really release the head through impact as a result.

The release is a tricky part of the golf swing. It’s important, to be sure, but it’s not something that you can work on directly in most cases. Rather, you’ll want to improve the fundamentals of your swing around the release, in the hopes of making this part of your swing work nicely.

When it’s working as it should, a smooth and repeatable release is one of the best things you can have going for your game.