I'm sure you've seen pictures like the one at the left a million times. It shows a top-class golfer executing what is called the "late releasse". There's only one problem: You can't do it, right? The reason for this failure is quite simple, I believe. You have never felt the precise sensation that a great golfer experiences when he makes a perfect downswing. It's been said that a picture is worth 1,000 words, but I say feeling a precise sensation is worth 10,000 pictures. I have developed a two-part conditioning program that will not only enable you to feel the Number One enemy of the late release - something I call the "Hit Impulse". This primitive instinct takes over at the top of the swing and results in such harmful reflex actions as right-hand cast, right-arm thrust and right shoulder roll: all of these actions produce a premature release, or "hit from the top". The program will purge these destructive reflexes from your swing while feeding the sensations of the late release directly into your kinesthetic memory (commonly called "muscle memory"). You practice the program off the course with maximum mental involvement. Gradually, your swing will improve without your knowing it. On the course you swing without mental effort, in other words, with your kinesthetic memory, the way the best golfers do.
The first part of the program uses String Ball the description of which I've posted before. The second part is the 'Step In and Swing' drill which is similar to the step & swing drill advocated by Gary Player:
Whereas the first part of the pregram was designed to condition you to perform the "late release", the second part will enable you to get feed-back on your progress as well as reinforce Proper Tempo (P.T.) and Proper Sequential Motion (P.S.M) in the downswing. Ninety per cent of the time, when a good golf swing malfunctions, it is due to a lack of either P.T or P.S.M. The right tempo allows enough time at the top of the swing for the correct sequence to occur in the downswing.
The "Step in the Swing" practice swing (below) forces you to have P.T. and P.S.M. By swinging back with your feet together, you are forced to use the arms to make a proper coiling action going back. Then, by stepping forward with the left foot into a conventional stance, you ensure that the left knee initiates the downswing. Once the downswing has been started correctly with the lower left side, you swing the arms down and through at about one-half the normal speed. This gives you the time to check on how your release is improving.
