Bulletfade believes that the ABS technique of "holding shaft flex" is the only viable method of efficiently controlling the club during the downswing and early followthrough and he wants me to describe how I believe a golfer, who is a TGM swinger, should control the club during the downswing and early followthrough. I will now accept his challenge and describe how I think that a TGM swinger should perform a hand release action through impact.
First of all, let me describe how I mentally comprehend the ABS "holding shaft technique".
Bulletfade described the technique as follows in that thread-: "I also think you see holding shaft flex, eg against an impact bag, as TGM handle dragging. Nursing the deadweight, drag the wet mop et. Whereas I interpret what lag as saying is the whole of the profile of the club is eg against an impact bag, pinned against the bag. The hands are aggressively rotating the clubhead end into the bag, the pull of the torso rotation is creating stress at the grip and the entirety of the club is pinned. Without pull it’s a flip. Without clubhead being rotated in it’s a less forceful drag."
Note that he is seemingly comparing the TGM handle dragging technique versus the ABS "holding shaft flex" technique. He seems to be implying that there is distinction between the two techniques when he states that his mental conception of lag tension ("holding shaft flex") implies that the whole of the profile of the club is being pinned against the impact bag. I don't really understand what it means to say that the "whole of the profile of the club is being pinned against the bag". According to the TGM concept of the lag tension (handle-dragging) technique a pulling force is being applied by the lead hand (+/- with assistance from the trail hand that is applying a positive push-force against the lead hand's PP#1, which is above the coupling point) throughout the entire downswing into impact so that the peripheral clubshaft is continuously bent-back throughout the entire downswing, which implies that lag tension is continuously present. The TGM intention of having lag tension at impact also incorporates the idea of accelerating the clubhead through impact into the early followthrough. If one placed an impact bag at the impact location, the TGM handle-dragging (lag tension) technique would result in the whole clubshaft being pinned against the bag. From my perspective, the main difference between the TGM handle-dragging technique and the ABS "holding shaft flex" technique is that in the ABS "holding shaft" technique the "force" being applied by the hands at the level of the club handle through impact into the early followthrough comes from a continued rotation of the upper torso/two arms whereas in the TGM handle-dragging technique the "force" being applied by the hands at the level of the club handle could only involve an active lead arm/hand pulling motion. There is no absolute specification in the TGM handle-dragging technique that implies that the "pulling force" being applied at the level of the club handle between ~P6.5 => P7.2+ (or beyond to P7.4+) must come from the pivot motion. John often talks about the importance of "saving the rotation" for later and he seemingly implies that an active pelvic/upper torso rotation between P6.5 => P7.5+ is needed to ensure that an efficient amount of "pulling force" is being controllably applied at the level of the club handle through impact into the early followthrough.
I presently do not believe in the validity of the TGM handle-dragging (lag tension) technique so I will not defend it. However, I do believe in the value of the TGM swinging technique from a swing power source perspective where maximum clubhead speed at impact comes from optimising the efficiency of release of PA#4 (via a pivot-driven PA#4 release action) => then optimising the release of PA#2. My personal swing technique recommendation modifies the TGM swinging technique by clearly specifying how the hand release action should be performed through impact into the early followthrough.
Here is a well-known image showing John Erickson comparing his ABS technique to a TGM swinging technique.
The left-side image shows JE demonstrating his ABS-Hitter technique. Note that he is rotating his pelvis/torso more counterclockwise through impact and his hands are being directed inside-left during the early followthrough. Note that he keeps the clubface square to the clubhead path during the early followthrough.
The right-sided image shows JE demonstrating his mental idea of a Swinger's technique, which he calls a "dead hands" technique. Note that the pelvis/upper torso is not rotating actively counterclockwise through impact and the arms are swinging uncontrollably passed the body in a targetwards direction. Note how much the lead hand, and therefore clubface, has rotated counterclockwise through impact, and note that the clubface has rolled closed relative to the clubhead path. JE correctly implies that this hand release technique (which he calls a "dead hands" release technique and what I would call a "non-DH hand release action" technique ) indicates that the golfer is not in control of his club through impact. I agree with John's opinion that the "dead hands" type of Swinger's release is a very sub-optimum technique where the clubshaft is not being optimally controlled through impact.
Phil Mickelson often manifests that "dead hands" type of non-DH hand release action in his driver swing action.
Note that PM's upper torso is roughly parallel to the ball-target line through impact and that his arms are being swung very fast/uncontrollably passed his stalled rotary body motion through impact.
Note that a failure of upper torso rotation through impact also means that his trail shoulder is too far back and that he "runs-out-of-trail arm" (a term I use to describe a scenario where the trail arm fully straightens through impact, and where the trail wrist fully straightens, and where the straightening trail elbow allows the trail forearm to pronate through impact causing the trail palm to roll-over the lead hand).
Note that PM's lead arm is stalling through impact and it cannot keep up with the club's gained momentum and that causes the clubshaft to bypass his lead arm (from an angular rotational perspective) during the early followthrough. There are three subtypes of non-DH hand release action - where the clubshaft bypasses the lead arm (from an angular rotational perspective) - during the early followthrough - i) flipping subtype due to lead wrist breakdown (rapid lead wrist extension); ii) rolling subtype where the lead wrist remains structurally flat but where the lead forearm continues to supinate very fast through impact (as seen in that PM animated gif) and iii) flip-roll subtype that is combination of both flipping and rolling biomechanical features.
My personally recommended hand release technique is to use a DH-hand release action where the clubshaft does not bypass the lead arm (from an angular rotational perspective) between impact and ~P7.4. There are different subtypes of DH-hand release action and I highly favor the no-roll subtype, which should preferably be used in conjunction with a a CP-arm release action (and not a CF-arm release action).
Here is an example of a pro golfer - Joaquin Niemann - performing a CP-arm release action combined with a no-roll DH-hand release action.
Image 1 is at P6, image 2 is at P6.5, image 3 is at P7 (impact) and image 4 is at P7.4.
When I talk about a DH-hand release technique I am only referring to the P7 => P7.4 time period and I am not talking about the pre-impact time period between P6 => P7. During the P6 => P7 time period, the golfer has to successfully complete the release of PA#2 (club release action) so that the clubshaft nearly catches up to the lead arm by impact and also successfully complete the release of PA#3 (which is biomechanically due to lead forearm) so that the clubface can become square to the clubhead path by impact. The amount of lead forearm supination required is inversely proportional to lead hand grip strength.
The purpose of a DH-hand release action is that its allows the golfer to controllably keep the clubface square to the clubhead path during the early followthrough and there are a number of biomechanical elements that have to happen during an efficient CP-arm release action combined with a no-roll DH-hand release action.
The first requirement is that the upper torso has to be open at impact and continue to open even more during the early followthrough so that two shoulder sockets can continue to rotate more counterclockwise in an opening direction. That allows the golfer to more easily/efficiently move the two arms/hands inside-left during the early followthrough (as seen in JN's early followthrough CP-arm release action). The 2nd requirement is that the lead's arm's angular motion in an inside-left direction must not stall and its angular degree of forward motion in an inside-left direction must be perfectly matched relative to the angular forward motion of the clubshaft (from an angular rotational perspective) in the same inside-left direction and that will prevent the clubshaft from bypassing the lead arm (from an angular rotational perspective). For that "perfect match" phenomenon to happen there is no requirement that the lead arm must be accelerating through impact. However, the golfer has to clearly understand that the clubshaft has already gained a considerable amount of forward momentum at impact which will carry it into the early followthrough phase and he has to ensure that the lead arm's forward motion is perfectly matched relative to the forward motion of the clubshaft (from an angular rotational perspective) during the P7 => P7.4 time period. There is no requirement that lag tension (peripheral clubshaft being bent backwards relative to the club handle end of the club) be present during the P7 => P7.4 time period.
It is readily possible to perform a no-roll subtype of DH-hand release action using only a single-arm (lead arm-only) swing action if the golfer does not have a trail arm. However, to efficiently perform a no-roll subtype of DH-hand release action a number of biomechanical features must be present with respect to the lead arm (as seen in those capture images of Joaquinn Niemann's no-roll subtype of DH-hand release action) - i) the lead humerus must retain its rotational alignment constant between P7 => P7.4 and it must not externally rotate more; ii) the lead forearm must maintain its rotational alignment (relative to the lead humerus) constant between P7 => P7.4 and it must not supinate more between P7 => P7.4; iii) the lead wrist must maintain its firm structural integrity between P7 => P7.4 and it must not breakdown (rapidly extend) between P7 => P7.4. My term "no-roll" reflects the fact that the lead upper arm/lead forearm must not roll more during the P7 => P7.4 time period than the amount that is necessary to keep the clubface square to the clubhead path.
To use the trail arm/hand efficiently when performing a CP-arm release action combined with a no-roll subtype of DH-hand release action during the P7 => P7.4 time period, the trail hand must move forward at the same speed as the lead hand during that early followthrough time period. The trail arm must not straighten and the trail wrist must not straighten because it may cause the trail hand to push the lead hand too fast through impact; or it may cause the clubshaft to flip passed the lead arm if too much push-pressure is being applied by the trail hand against the aft side of the club handle below the coupling point; or it may cause the club handle to rotate too much counterclockwise if the straightening trail arm/wrist causes the trail hand to roll-over through impact secondary to a trail forearm pronation phenomenon. Note how JN i) keeps his trail arm bent, ii) his trail wrist significantly extended, and iii) his trail forearm neutral (slightly supinated) all the way between P7 => P7.4. To make that biomechanically possible the trail shoulder must continue to move downplane between P7 => P7.4 and that is only possible if the upper torso continues to rotate counterclockwise in a more ferris-wheel manner (and not a merry-go-round) manner between P7 => P7.4.
Another great advantage of maintaining an unchanged bent (extended) trail wrist between P7 => P7.4 is that it allows the two hands to work as a negative hand couple through impact.
Here is Bertie Cordle's image showing how the two hands would work as a positive hand couple through impact.
Bertie Cordle wants the condition of lag tension to be present at impact, and he believes that it requires that lag pressure be exerted by the lead hand and trail hand in the direction of the green arrows through impact - where the lead hand is pushing against the club handle in an away-from-the-target direction while the trail hand is pushing against the aft side of the club handle in a targetwards direction. That will induce a clockwise rotation of the club handle around the mid-hand's point (coupling point) - see yellow arrows - and that represents a positive hand couple phenomenon.
I am opposed to the "idea" of the two hands working as a positive hand couple through impact, and in my recommended no-roll subtype of DH-hand release action through impact, I want the two hands to work as a negative hand couple through impact => P7.4 - where the lead hand is applying lag pressure in a targetwards direction while the trail hand is applying lag pressure in an away-from-the-target direction. That negative hand couple phenomenon is biomechanically-achievable between P7 => P7.4 by ensuring that that the lead arm is still actively pulling the club handle forward while the trail wrist remains significantly bent-back thereby applying lag pressure in an away-from-the-target direction. I believe that by ensuring that the two hands work as a negative hand couple between P7 => P7.4, it adds an additional amount of mechanical structural integrity to the lead wrist through impact and more efficiently prevents lead wrist breakdown (rapid lead extension) through impact.
If you have any questions/disagreements about my recommended "CP-arm release action + no-roll subtype of DH-hand release action" swing technique, feel free to bring them to my attention.
Jeff.