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You can find the articles below and additional instruction from Dr. Jim Suttie at the Naples News website here.


Golf’s Most Important Fundamental: “The Release”
By Dr. Jim Suttie

Since many amateur golfers have problems with slicing I am addressing one of golf’s most important fundamentals: The release.

According to Webster, release means “let go”. This is exactly what DOESN'T happen in most amateur’s golf swing. Most have so much tension in your hands and arms that you are unable to feel the clubhead. Just for fun, take an old club and throw it down the fairway! If the club goes left or behind you, you know you are over-controlling it. It must be released straight down the fairway. Make sure there are no people around when you try this little experiment!

Generally when we refer to “releasing the club”, we are referring to rotating the clubhead from an open position just prior to impact to a closed position just after impact. As simple as this sounds, most of you just do not do this. You are most likely trying to squeeze the clubhead so hard with your hands that the club simply won’t rotate closed. Also, many golfers try to steer the club in the hitting area instead of just letting centrifugal force create the clubhead rotation naturally.

The heart and soul of a good swing is that area from the waist on the downswing to impact and back to the waist on the forward swing. The club goes from open before impact, to square at impact, to closed after impact. This is the “release” we're looking for.

If you have a good release the ball will go turn from right-to-left in a hooking fashion. If you don’t have a release then the ball will go to the right as in a “push” or “slice”.

Drills to Correct the Slice Tendencies

Waist-to-Waist Drill
At the range, work on a Waist-to-Waist Drill. Let the club open up to the target line on the backswing and close to the target line after impact. You might have some success if you are a slicer just trying to get the toe of the club to the ball before the heel.

You may be able to feel the release better if your right forearm has rolled over your left at the waist high position after impact.









Split Grip Drill
In the Split-grip Drill you split apart your grip at address and then simply take some swings.











Continuous Swing Drill
To feel the clubhead more try the Continuous Swing Drill. In this drill, simply tee up 5   to 10 balls in a row and take continuous swings without stopping.











Advance Drill
Use the Advance Drill for the release would be to face your back to the target and hit balls. There are also training aids where the toe of the club is weighted to give the golfer a feel for release. The biggest tip I can give is to get rid of that tension in your hands and arms and let the force work for you. That force, of course is centrifugal force.
















Speed Limits
By Dr. Jim Suttie

Many golfers are looking for more distance when they come to me for a lesson. Distance is a function of mass x velocity squared. This means that velocity, or clubhead speed, has twice as much to do with distance as the weight of the clubhead. This is why manufacturers are trying to make their equipment lighter and lighter. Simply stated, a lighter club can be swung faster and thus more clubhead speed generated, assuming you hit the ball in the middle of the clubface.

The velocity a club travels through impact is a result of two things:
  1. Your strength.
  2. Your technique.
Since most of us don’t have the opportunity to pick our parents, we must work on our technique to improve our distance. But, believe it or not, strength is not nearly as important as technique. After all, we all have seen that so-called 120 pound slightly built person hit it 280 yards. The answer lies in sequential motion or order of movement. This is also called timing. Generally, timing is controlled by how weight moves both back and through–that’s why I always emphasize weight transfer fundamentals when golfers are looking for more distance.

Some things that aid in producing more clubhead speed are:
  1. A bigger swing arc: All things being equal, a wider longer swing arc ahs more potential to produce distance than a short, narrow arc.
  2. Better leverage: By leverage I mean the maximum cocking of the right wrist and right elbow on the backswing, and your ability to retain this angle on the downswing is vitally important
  3. A better turn of the shoulders and hips on the backswing
  4. Faster rotation of the hips on the downswing will create more clubhead speed at impact.
  5. Increased hand speed at impact. Remember, for many of you, your hands are the transmitter of speed to the clubhead. If your grip is tight, your hands slow down and can’t catch up. The result is the loss of speed.
  6. Better weight transfer both during the backswing and forward swing.
  7. Use a longer club. A longer club will immediately produce more distance.
Don’t give up on getting more clubhead speed and more distance. If your willing to give up your old habits, you can gain up to 15 yards.

Drills:
Swing drills that will help your clubhead speed:

Drill 1: Swoosh Drill

Purpose: Train for clubhead speed. This drill may be with either the right or left hand.

Directions:
  1. Turn club upside down and grip under clubhead with both hands.
  2. Take your normal swing while swinging as fast as you can on the downswing–until the shaft and handle will make a "swooshing" sound in front of an imaginary ball.
  3. "Swooshing" sound should occur just after where impact would be.

















Drill 2: Baseball Drill

Purpose: Develop more clubhead speed and a sense of a hand and arm release. It may help overly upright swingers.

Directions:
  1. Stand erect with club in front of you, approximately 3 feet above the ground.
  2. From this position, feel like you are swinging a baseball bat around your body on the backswing and in front of your body on the the forward swing.
  3. While doing this feel the release of the hands, arms and clubhead.















Drill 3: Club on Shoulder Drill

Purpose: Increase clubhead speed and relax hands, arms and wrist.

Directions:
  1. Assume your normal address posture and grip.
  2. Rest the shaft on your shoulder as the arms remain bent and relaxed.
  3. Keep your address posture angles while turning your body until your back is facing the target.
  4. Your arms should remain relaxed and bent with the club shaft resting on your right shoulder.
  5. From this unconventional top-of-the-swing position swing down and through as fast as you can.
  6. Feel the sensation of having loose arms at impact.

















You can find the articles below and additional instruction from Dr. Jim Suttie at the Naples News website here.