This Simple Drill Speeds Up Your Hands

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It’s no secret that your hands play a major role in generating club head speed in the golf swing, but the relationship isn’t as straight-forward as you might think.
To get the most distance, we want our club head speed to max out at impact… and to do that, we need our hand speed to max out BEFORE impact.
In fact your hands should actually be decelerating as you approach impact. Your hands decelerate and release, which causes the club head to accelerate into impact for maximum distance.
In today’s video I share a drill I learned from watching Rory McIlroy. This drill teaches you how to accelerate your hands at the beginning of the downswing, and also how to apply the brakes and transfer that speed out to the club head for impact. It will help you synch up your body with your arms.
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[@TheBing153]

Fantastic video Zach, thank you

[@Hunter12689]

Fascinating clear picture showing how to gain club head speed. One of the best instructors.

[@1cleandude]

Great video Zach thanks!🙏🙏🙏

[@youuutuuubee]

Thanks for the drill. Perfect for my upcoming range session with deWiz tomorrow ⛳️ Your the best! 🐐

[@ZachAllenGolf]

You are welcome it’s a great piece of tech.

[@dawnpatrolgolf]

Thanks for this video. Reminds me of when I used to use Zepp a number of years ago and you could compare yourself to the swings of a couple of professionals. I remember that Michelle Wie's hand speed was something like 5 or 6mph faster than mine. So now you've given me a good drill to follow. Thank you!

[@aldoileanumeliber]

This really seems to have a lot of logic behind it. I really like it, thank you!

[@ZachAllenGolf]

You are welcome.

[@vansonguitars8981]

Thanks Zach

[@simmo5071]

Very good explanation of why that drill is important.

[@thecount1001]

as a newer golfer this is great.

[@Asone82]

Thanks Zach, this reminds me of a swing feel, imagine a ball stuck half way on the shaft and on downswing try to chuck it at a spot about 1.5 feet behind the real ball. Makes the club whip through impact.

[@gcoffey223]

Great tip

[@lenardtan7169]

Great Advice drill video tips

[@parmanduke]

It's incredible how much speed you generate and it doesn't look very fast on youtube. Very impressive

[@ZachAllenGolf]

Thanks I still have some in the tank 😂

[@ryanalley2446]

Nice explanation!

[@ZachAllenGolf]

Glad it was helpful!

[@michaelburke4891]

Why does every golf coach I see on KZbin that demonstrates this split hand drill stop at the deliver position and then just assumes everyone knows how to go from delivery to impact? I sure don't! Just saying that the club is going to "angularly kick out" gives me know idea how to make that actually occur. Perhaps another video where you focus on delivering the club into impact and a further explanation of the angular kick out.

[@ZachAllenGolf]

Not a bad point

[@russellhoguephd7925]

Funny. I have been researching that. I know from DeWiz data hands are supposed to slow down well before impact. But not sure how to make that happen.

[@ToraxReborn]

I know how that works.. but yeah not going to say, trade secrets 😊

[@moledog88]

Really good 👍

[@jeromekim1221]

I just tried the drill, and I really felt synced up. My timing and everything just felt great, and my club head speed jumped as well.

[@ZachAllenGolf]

That's Awesome, well done

[@KMSchriver]

Awesome video. I have not found much about working on hand speed drills and it being explained this clearly. Thanks so much-this is super helpful!!! Not many others are talking about these details. Thanks.

[@ZachAllenGolf]

Ya it actually measures things that you can’t even perceive with slow motion video.

[@1snaj]

Great video…Don’t forget the new irons are made stronger..A seven iron is really like a 6 1/2 iron..😎

[@stuboy13]

I love your golf trousers mate. Where are they from? Great video ad always. Still trying to get thid fast hand soeed whip action swing... Its coming!

[@TeddyCavachon]

The underlying cause and effect is Newton’s Third Law of equal but opposite reactions. During the initial phase of hip rotation and acceleration the shoulders arms and hands also accelerate at about the same speed. But as the hips return to parallel keeping the trail foot grounded will arrest the hip rotation causing hips, shoulders, arms and hands to abruptly slow down. What then happens to the club head mass is similar to what happens in a car to an unbelted occupant it a crash. The mass of the body stops but the club head reacts by whipping down around the hands. One also needs to consider how the mass of the lead arm is reacting in the downswing. That’s really the keep factor in Rory’s split hand drill. At the point the arresting of hip rotation via keeping the back foot grounded brings the club shaft horizontal and club head mass on the end of it to where it gravity and momentum can whip it down around the hands the mass in the lead arm which is pulling to club has nearly bottomed out in its swing arc the force vector of that lead arm mass will influence the direction the club head mass gets pulled down to the ball. This is where I think side bending of the spine in the downswing is a factor because some degree of side bending at that point in the swing is necessary for the mass of the lead arm to swing out towards the target, dragging club head mass in the same direction. I useful analogy here is how a fly fisherman casts or someone cracks a whip. The mass of the arms hold in the rod or whip are directs towards where the fly or tip of the whip need to wind up. The golf swing is an upside down version of this because the mass of the lead arm hangs down at this point in the swing. The next critical element is the releasing of the back foot to allow the hips to turn to the finish. I’ve studied Hogan’s swing frame by frame watching the movement of hips, hands and his back foot in the downswing and tried to emulate it. Hogan appeared to ‘peel’ his trail foot off the ground is a very controlled way as if were stuck to the ground with velcro or a zipper and didn’t try to turn the foot on the toe until late into the finish. I had been lifting and turning much quicker and slicing. When I emulated Hogan’s ‘velcro’ release of the back foot I discovered the acceleration of my hips in the finish was much more gradual and the direction mass if my lead arm moved changed from swinging left around my feet to one of swinging more towards the target giving the club head the time needed to completely swing around the hands in the finish to the point of the club head force being felt in my trail shoulder socket because club force was pulling shaft straight in line with the trail arm. I’d never felt it before because I’d been lifting and turning my back foot to soon. Allowing the club to extend like that in the finish is like the arresting cable on an aircraft carrier slowing a landing plane from 160mph to 0. Only a fraction of the potential energy in the club head mass gets transferred to the ball and what is left after impact makes it difficult to finish in balance. Slowing the lifting of the back foot to give the club head force time to pull both arms straight in the direction which will make the ball leave the club face in the desired direction will cause all that excess unbalancing force to move from club head, down arms and body to the ground just like the arresting cable of the carrier transfers the kinetic energy in the mass of the landing jet into the mass of the boat. The takeaway I got from studying the movement of Hogan’s hands, back foot and club head was that keeping the back foot grounded was critical for the release of the club head down around the hands because it is what “puts on the brakes” in the middle of the downswing and that how the back foot is lifted and turned allowing release of the hips influences the force vector the lead arm mass and how to club head and face get delivered to the ball. The action of the back foot controls the speed of hips and hands.

[@joeyl6911]

Geez, I need lessons! Avg handicap is me. Hit my 7 iron 150 like you but swing 3 times harder then you just did lol! Thanks for tip sir.

[@crownator]

What’s the name of that training app and can you please provide a link? Another great and helpful video lesson Zach - thank you!!

[@andreatorricelli5847]

DeWiz.. wearable + app

[@dalecleece389]

Cool video , will give this a try as my clubhead speed is lame 😂

[@ZachAllenGolf]

Let us know if you see a gain in speed.

[@ethanaderemi]

Good video. On a technical note, I believe the clubhead is actually at its fastest just after impact.

[@user-ni4hv7oy3t]

The question I have Zach is I would ingrain this method, or releasing of the club the same with the driver as well as my irons ?

[@cluman1]

Game changer drill. I've been doing this drill for years. Admittedly not for hand speed but to stop my over the top swing plane. There's too many good things going on with this drill.

[@golfdoc1950]

I’ve seen Rory’s drill and the guys on AMG do a good treatment of the importance of hand speed. I’ve tried to work out on my own the optimal acceleration/deceleration pattern. I can tell if I focus too much on the ball my speed peaks early and I scoop the ball. Better if I try to get the handle all the way to my lead thigh. I’m open to suggestions.

[@ZachAllenGolf]

Ya it’s better to achieve the optimal release point first, then try and gain more speed in the hands. Sounds like your peak speed occurs to early

[@russellhoguephd7925]

You can only tell that if you are using DeWiz. I always had the belief I wanted by hands to accelerate past the ball. That brings my max hand speed way too close to the ball. I checked with two + handicap golfers today. He was 20” from impact. Good golfers do this without any idea that they are doing it.

[@michaelsliwinski8044]

Zach, what about old guys with a shorter backswing than you... and can only get the lead arm parallel with the ground at the top of the backswing? Any adjustments?

[@ZachAllenGolf]

You have shorter distance to accelerate the hands but it can still be done with practice. Think John Rahm or Tony Finau.

[@djl9154]

Very similar down swing mechanics are used in a Moe Norman single plane type golf swing, no wonder Moe could still drive the ball 280 yards seemingly effortlessly in his older age.

[@TeddyCavachon]

Hands decelerate if back foot stays grounded which restricts hip turn to 45° open, described as feeing like hitting a wall with lead hip. The physics is like driving a car 20mph and hitting the brakes and your butt comes off the seat. That is what triggers the lead arm to separate and accelerate faster than shoulders and club head starts accelerating down around hands. You will not flip the club if you coordinate the lifting of the back foot with the club head coming around the hands. If the back foot is not lifted with a fulls swing the shaft will bow forward to the point the head snaps off at the hosel. The point where the club shaft starts to bow forward can be felt by separating trail index finger and curling it around shaft like a trigger. Loss of pressure on the trigger finger is the point the back foot needs to lift to speed up hips/shoulders/hands. A big difference between pros and recreational golfers is the amount of spine side bend they have at impact. Just stand with club at the top and do nothing except side bend and observe how it moves the hands and club head. The point to start doing it in the down swing is after the foot-down hip turn restriction slows hands and starts club head around hands. Side bending at that point moves shoulders back but hands forward relative to target.

[@JohnKeeling]

re the last paragraph, the side bend also provides the ability to have a longer flat spot in the bottom of the swing arc and shaft lean, which is another reason that the pros and Zach was able to get 176 yards out of that smooth 7 iron . Great video, i will try this . i use the split hands drill to work on side bend as i fight decades of being an early extender...

[@TeddyCavachon]

@@JohnKeeling Great observation about side bend and actually something I immediately realized when I added it to my existing ‘turn as if inside a barrel’ swing which was literally what was suggested in the golf instruction books I read in the mid-80s. I’ve improved the swings of several of my senior golf partners by simply showing them statically where the club and all the body parts are at the moment the ball releases with slight draw action in a pro swing then have them move-slowly-from the top of the backswing to there a few times then try hitting a ball that way. The immediate difference in everyone of their swings was nothing short of amazing. It not only immediately eliminated their chronic open face / outside-in slice but caused them to start push-hooking until I next showed them how to let the club head mass momentum pull the trail arm straight and fold the lead elbow to automatically guide it on a balanced path in the finish. It made me understand how Count Yogi (Harry Frankenberg) was able to to teach someone how to hit straight shots (and why he got banned from the ranks of PGA tour pros)

[@normandowd123]

Very interesting but I find the opposite is true, slowing my hand speed but increasing my angular speed, seems to work better for me. But I will try this concept and hopefully it will help.

[@seanm3226]

Not a rhetorical question. But on a full swing, why would you ever slow your hand speed?

[@allanmei4221]

I think the other advantage of the drill is to provide good and shallowed swing plane, cuz putting hands down rather than rotate at the start of the downswing will avoid outside-in swing plane.

[@maurimyllymaki5087]

What is the device you use to measure hand speed?

[@deWizGolf]

👋👋👋

[@jjcampbell3654]

Hi Zach I thought from the top in the transition I was supposed to let gravity drop my hands and arms to right hip level without creating speed it seems you're saying that I should consciously create hand speed to the right hip or thigh area let me know thanks for your help Jack

[@ZachAllenGolf]

You want to create more hand speed but the hands need to be moving in the correct path. Sometimes it’s good to feel gravity or your hands drop for those that really kick their hands out over the top to start the swing.

[@jjcampbell3654]

Hi Zach thanks for your prompt reply how does this fit in with dropping your hands in the slot kindly advise thanks for your help Jack@@ZachAllenGolf

[@MsRocketRoy]

I did break my shaft doing this drill!!

[@ZachAllenGolf]

Man that is some strength!

[@anandshah71]

What’s the software and hardware you use for showing swing data and distance of ball going

[@jim60631]

I don't know which model he has but that's flightscope software/data. I have an older Tour Xi version with full ball/club data & my software matches this.

[@jackyban]

Wonderful. I just snapped my driver’s shaft doing this drill.

[@ZachAllenGolf]

Man that is actually really impressive and really funny at the same time. How it wasn’t an expensive exotic shaft. 😢

[@jackyban]

Zach this really a great drill but I am only laughing because it’s just my spare driver I have laying around. I held it almost the same spot you were holding the shaft in your video but I suggest not even touching the graphite. Both hands on grip with some distance apart is more than enough to get that feeling. My practice swing has never felt or sound faster after doing this drill. Thanks for the video 😢😂😢😂

[@freddym6643]

@@ZachAllenGolf I did this drill once last year and broke a 350$ shaft immediately, luckily got it replaced. Certainly think it's not a drill you should recommend people doing, at least not with an expensive club

[@PaulSmith-uj6qv]

same here, glad I did not use my regular one

[@rapidcabin]

At 6:08 do you actively/consciously do anything to start that hand speed slowdown?

[@azcharlie2009]

Wow! I'd take 176 yards with my 7 iron any day. I used to get about 150, but anymore. I hit a 6 iron from 150 yesterday, and still ended up in the front sand trap.... Golf stinks....

[@RangerReview]

The m-tracer app was light years ahead of its time.

[@HTSTANLEY]

I totally get the drill, and right hand abruptly stops the club, ('slowing the hands") at the proper point...Question: what slows the hands in a real swing?

[@davidburchfield7317]

What Ap are you using?

[@dj-flights7376]

Zach, how do you purposely decelerate the hands? Do you imagine a stopping point later in the hand path? I have been experimenting with a spot to begin deceleration followed by a stopping point later along the hand path. This works well but I’m not sure where the point should be. Some days it feels like I should accelerate to the left hip, other days center of belt or even right pocket. Thoughts? Maybe I need this device to measure it. (frustratingly enough, I literally mentioned the concept of deceleration at a recent club fitting, and the guy talked to me like I was an idiot. He said “why would I ever think about deceleration?”)

[@mikerodrick2430]

That's what I find really puzzling as well. I understand the concept as it's explained as far as something slowing to have something else gain speed like snapping a towel but it seems that it would be really difficult to properly time for it to work.

[@dj-flights7376]

@@mikerodrick2430 Exactly. Snapping the towel is literally a backwards pull of a flexible object. How do we do this in a golf swing since the hands move in an arc while holding a solid rod? I believe it has to do with a few things at once - wrist hinge/flexion action, slight rolling of the wrists, and deceleration. I just don't know when to do each to optimize. If I had a simulator, I could experiment with different points to apply each and literally make a table of results. I guess I'll have to spend the money to do it at the range.

[@mikerodrick2430]

@@dj-flights7376 Please get back to me if you can figure it out. I just want to be able to swing longer clubs as well as wedges. As soon as I go to longer clubs on the range, I start to swing harder & I swing more with my arms & get out of sync. Frustrating as *ell!

[@dj-flights7376]

@@mikerodrick2430 Yeah I hear you man, sometimes golf made me want to destroy my clubs. In general you have to have faith in the physics and the clubs. Just know that longer clubs will go longer because of torque and not any extra special effort from the swinger. You could try an experiment where you buy a medium sized bucket and allow yourself to only hit 6 iron with your hands going back to 9 o'clock and make them stop at 3 o'clock out in front of you. I bet halfway through that bucket you surprise yourself on how far you can hit with that effort. In general I recommend Saguto Golf as my favorite KZbin golf channel, though there are many great ones out there (Zach Allen, Scratch Golf Academy, Chris Ryan, Eric Cogorno, and Top Speed Golf. Also Paul Wilson and Athletic Motion Golf). As for the whip we're trying to figure out, I once had great distance thinking of 2 spots - one where I begin the roll (at the right pocket) and a different spot where I try to max out hand speed (left hip). I was crushing it, but many of the shots went left so I stopped doing it. I also couldn't get it to work when trying to bow the left wrist, so I went with a more "square" release instead of a roll release. I'm still experimenting, I might bring back the roll. Maybe bring a notebook to the range and try 10 swings each with different deceleration and stopping spots picked out. Scratch Golf Academy has 2 videos about how to release and talks about trying to stop the hands and roll them a bit just after the left hip. I hope this helps!

[@ZachAllenGolf]

Might be good to have a device like DeWiz to accurately measure where yours is occurring. As far as your peak hand accel and your decel timing. Or else it is just anyone’s guess.

[@jjcampbell3654]

Hi Zach sorry to bother you again but you say that most of our hands speed should be from the start of the downswing to the right hip area and then continue through the shot I thought my greatest hands speed should be out front or at the 45° angle if the hands speed is greatest to the right hip what creates the speed of the clubhead let me know thanks for your help Jack

[@chachifeere]

Does the model in the training aid app actually replicate your swing so if you had a chicken wing flip. It would look like that on the app?

[@deWizGolf]

This is a great question... the avatar itself is not meant to be an exact representation of your swing. It is simply a model to illustrate the hand path (blue and green lines on the screen). deWiz is tracking everything that comes from the device itself on the wrist.

[@ZachAllenGolf]

Does not represent your swing like 3D would just generic, but most importantly it is giving you all the hand speed data.

[@michaelcangey2406]

The kinetic chain leads to the hands... I'm skeptical about worrying at all about hand speed...i say this as a handsy feel player btw. The hands should just drop following the right hip clearing athletic move. Nothing else needed. Watch Fred Couples. Butter. If the chain is efficient... bingo.

[@steveng8727]

Fred Couples said he feels like a giant pair of scissors is cutting the shaft in two thru impact.

[@gregorysivik5044]

If you were really trying to decelerate and come to a sudden stop when the shaft is parallel to the ground, wouldn’t you have a greatly shortened follow through?

[@ZachAllenGolf]

These are just drills to encourage the proper sequence on the downswing. Rory does this drill quite consistently, and still has a great follow thru. Obviously some other things need to occur from impact to your finish, but done correctly it should improve your ability to finish.

[@jim60631]

No because most of the follow through is the speed/force of the clubhead pulling you around. There are plenty of instances where clubs have snapped off shafts & the ball still towards target at your typical speed. For fun with a old club hit a shot and attempt to let go through impact (assuming you can do it somewhere safely). You might be surprised.

[@dlweller7359]

Tried the drill--broke my driver shaft.

[@linski561]

A very good explanation of the mechanics but your 2nd swing was much quicker than the 1st.

[@ZachAllenGolf]

It did produce over 25 more yards than the 1st. My average 7 iron is 165 to 170.

[@dry509]

30 handicap…7 iron 110-120 when I hit the ball? Hit behind the ball 9 out of 10 times. Help.

[@petecross22]

I totally understand what Zach is saying. But how can a golfer slow down, speed up, and slow down his hand speed in less than a second?

[@merkeva1841]

no dont brake with your hands you brake with your pivot dont ever brake with your hands you will hit fat shots with irons and pulls with a driver if you break with your hands

[@ZachAllenGolf]

Not true your hands and body are both important parts of the process. As the club begins to release down and out, by your trail thigh, your hand are pulling the handle up and around , with the help of the pivot.

[@navrajbajwa6067]

literally snapped my driver shaft doing this LOL. DO NOT do this with the force he is showing here.

[@lakmalliyanage4935]

Be careful with this drill… I snapped my x flex driver shaft doing this.

[@jeffnorman8644]

Stop using a driver for this drill. Use an iron. Your driver (that's not broken) will thank you!

[@timothyslaughter476]

Clubhead speed without hand and arm speed is a cast/flip