I wish more instructors would talk about how there are two different swings because I fell into the trap of trying to implement elements of the modern swing into my traditional swing and it really messed up my swing. Once I learned I was a traditional swing, I stopped worrying about body rotation and just swung however felt natural and shot even par on 9 holes (I’m a 6.7 index so not out of reach but not the norm for me).

I don't have the words other than One Can't judge a book by its cover . Looking at your back drop and practice area I had no idea such quality principled golf instruction would insue. Thank you for posting this fantastic video . Also refreshing omitting the choreography common to many posts. Well done , Thanks from Texas ⛳️

This guy is a genius at explaining how the swing works. I've been looking for this explanation my whole life! Thank you!

THANK YOU I’ve been searching for this answer for over 2 years now. I’m 55. I strike the ball very solid but, even well aligned, my shot is going left to the target. I mixed the hand release technique and the body rotation. Can’t wait to practice with this precious lesson. Thank you again.

1990s swing theory killed my game for so long. Thanks for clarifying things!

What a brilliantly clear and enlightening description. This perfectly describes how I was taught and why coming back to golf now feels so different.

Love your videos,make so much sense,im 67 and play off 4 and was taught the old way which was ok if your timing was good but now using the big muscles and way more consistent under pressure...keep the videos coming...regards neil

Your videos are so simple, so intuitive, so on point, I love them. The thought that resonates in my mind is: control the low point, control the path and control the club face. Those 3 things are truly all that matters in developing a good golf swing. Thank you for the time and effort it takes to make us all better golfers.

this video and lesson really really helped me and was my 'lightbulb' moment. I was taught the hand release (in the 90s as a kid), but I didnt really know that. Ive struggled as a 15-18 handicapper for nearly 20 years. And this year, with some coaching, I've made my backswing deeper and that was the first major improvement. I still wasnt always getting the contact and compression I wanted and I just didnt 'get it'. After seeing this video and immediately going to the driving range, I think I now 'get it'. Thanks so much for your help and knowledge. It is MUCH appreciated!!

J - This is going to sound weird, but I have watched dozens of videos from other people who talk about "releasing the hands" but NEVER explained what that actually is, or looks like. Thank you for FINALLY answering the question for me.

I realized that I’m hand release golfer after learning there are two different swing styles. I’ve always been good at touch and timing with sports in general so I’m def sticking with the old school release. Before I even knew there were two different styles, I was struggling because I’d try to implement pieces of the modern swing and it would screw me up.

After watching this video I have played so well! Makes the swing so much more consistent and accurate. Enjoying golf so much more. Playing so much better. Has made me very confident! Thank You so much for your great video's!

Phenomenal video. Great explanation of how the modern swing differs from what used to be the norm.

It’s worth noting that keeping a passive hand release through impact simply just moves your hand turn over release later in your follow through. I really like this because it’s so much easier to predict where your club face is at impact and you get that pure iron strike way more often.

Agreed!!! Stopped playing in early 2000 and just got back in golf last year and had to re-learn everything. SLICE it like crazy at the beginning of last year, now better. JC's vdo helps in a big way, makes everything easier to understand. Thank you 👍😁

Really enjoyed video. I've really worked on rotation lately but didn't alter hand release. Everything going left and hooking even more. I can't wait to try your way.

This video was tremendously helpful to me. It's my second year playing golf and my first year I shot over 100 every round. I put in a lot of effort and practice this year and by July I was consistently scoring in the 80s with my best being an 82 along with several right around there. In September something terrible happened to my swing and I started slicing the ball and making poor contact like I did my first year. My last two rounds were back over 100 and I think I spent more time looking for my balls in the woods than actually playing golf. I have been so frustrated that I considered hanging it up for the year and trying again next spring. After watching this video I tried the drill and am now hitting it straight and drawing again. I'm very pleased with the quality of instruction here and the results speak for themselves. I had gotten a tip from another golfer to turn my lead shoulder during the backswing which is all good and well, but when I started doing that I unconsciously stopped turning my hips leading to an outside in swing and thus the slicing the ball. The hip turn is absolutely crucial. Besides allowing a passive squaring of the club face, it pulls the club inside on the backswing so your swing path naturally becomes inside to out, producing beautiful straight and drawn ball flight. The third thing I noticed about bringing the hip turn back into my swing was the easy power it provides. I didn't have to swing fast or hard at all to get desirable distance. Love it! Thank you for helping me get my enthusiasm for golf back.

Thank you for this excellent description of the two release patterns. Very clear.

Really dig your instruction. You teach what a few other top instructors are teaching but in a clear and concise way without the ADD. Thank you.

I've seen your videos floating around out there on KZfaq and never bothered to watch one until now. Very glad that I did. Your video How to release the golf club hand release versus body rotation release is easily the most comprehensive and accurate description of how to get the body rotation release swing and why one should. My buddy from high school is a state open Champion, a state PGA champion and an NJPGA hall-of-famer and he advocates what you teach I am happy to say. Subscribing to your channel now keep up the good work and thank you! Keith from New Jersey

Over the years, I have found a few golf coaches on KZfaq and they really help me developing better skills. Since a few weeks ago, I came across J Chan and guess what you help me a step further that I could never imagine I could. Best coach, absolutely!

Hey I just wanted to say thank you for uploading this video. Not knowing the difference between the two, I would get extremley confused watching other youtube instruction videos because different people would seemingly say two completely opposite things about a golf swing!

Great explanation! I was a very arm swing golfer. Recently a pga pro instructed me to use more body rotation. When I do this body rotation as best I can the swing is smooth with some speed. And the ball goes further. Will have to watch this vid many more times. 👍

my coach has been teaching me the same thing for some time now but I never understand the why the flipping will produce a fade or slice sometime and body rotations produce draws, now I know. Thank you very much, very well explained

I've watched a billion golf videos on KZfaq and you have the best lessons!

Good video. This is a topic not many Pro's discuss. I think it is very important to inform the average golfer that there are many different swings happening on golf courses, and on tour, and each has its own set of unique components. Which is why most golfers are confused about what to do to improve their golf swing. I applaud you for bringing this to their attention. I am a PGA member in Canada and have played most of my life as a hand release player, which, as you stated, requires excellent timing. I now mostly play as a body release player since it is more accurate and requires much less practice because timing is not a major factor in that swing. That said, the hand release swing is very good and very easy at creating club speed and ball distance, because the arms move independent of the body, and the arms can move much faster than the big muscles of the body. Like you, I teach numerous different golf swings, all depending on what the students talents are, and their physical ability. I am curious though, have you measured your club head speed on a launch monitor comparing both releases using the same club? I would like to see a video of that. Thanks for the great video, and keep up the good work.

Very nice vid. Excellent demonstrations and explanations. I appreciate the fact that you’re not a raving disciple that your way “is the one and only way”. For you it works best. You believe it’s a better technique for most folks (which I absolutely agree with). Kudos.

Fantastic video and very well explained. This could help any amateur golfer improve . Thanks for the post!

One of thr best gold videos I've seen 👍🏻

Hands down (no pun) best explanation of this I’ve ever heard. I understand some things about my swing now, that I could never grasp before. Thanks!!!

Solid Gold advice. The clearest explanation and great drill. THANK YOU!

Really good summary here. I've been playing for a long time and have gotten really locked into an overswing with an over-hinged, cocked left wrist at the top and a big flip through the ball. My distance is good and I don't think I add loft, but my dispersion has been so bad for so long. I've tried to get the wrists out of the swing and shorten my backswing for a while now. This video and drill seems really accurately targeted at my issue and I think this will help me a lot. Thanks again.

this is so enlightening for someone who learned golf in the early 2000's and struggling to switch to the new ways thanks

I just came off a lesson working on changing this 😳 everything is flying right at the moment. Determined to get this down!!

I had started figuring it out on my own and had started implementing it with more consistency in my game and our video has given me a greater scientific insight into it. Thanks also for the nice drill.

Thank you for clearing that up... an excellent lesson!

Super great drill.... Thank you, now I know stopping hand release and body turn....

Never heard this before. Eye opening.

Excellent description between the two methods and straight to the point, thanks.

This is a fantastic tip, and what a difference it has made for me. Thank you

I have struggled with separating both swing concepts forever. That is without doubt the best lesson I have seen. Thank you

Excellent- just excellent instruction- thanks soooo much

Wow thank you so much for 0:04 I now know why my hands keep going up so vertical when swinging through after hitting the ball. I was just at the driving range eariler trying to fix my hand from being so vertical but couldn't fix it. Then this video pop up on my recommended videos I don't know how but God must of want me to see this. I was recording myself swinging at the driving range and I notice the left side at 0:04 look exactly like my swing. Now I know what to do and swing like Tiger Woods thanks alot again.

Great explanation, been playing over 25 years and its only taken me about the last 5 years to work out the modern way mostly watching my kids’ swings and and why my old hand flipping flipping drills don’t benefit me at all anymore. This is an explanation v few pros give you!

Spot on mate. Just had a lesson on this very thing today

this answers a lot of questions for me, thanks!

This guy is a really good golf instructor. I have learned a great deal from him. Will likely purchase his more in-depth coaching videos.

Well explained. it certainly helps seniors like me a lot. Thanks

Well done, the old swing versus the modern swing fully and clearly explained

Excellent video. I had recently watched a video on improving wedge play, illustrated by Trevino. He was suggesting that , when you take the club back, you should lift the club, rather than cock it, since you will maintain the same loft that you started with, and get better accuracy; pointed out that is how Steve Stricker plays, with no wrist cock, just a slight rotation of the shoulders. I found this video excellent re: the hand vs body rotation release. My accuracy really improved , with my short game, by not cocking my wrist, but rather lifting the club

Thanks this is just the drill I need to help with my push slice, plus making sure my club toe angle matches my spine angle at the 9'Oclock position in the back swing rather than be at 90 degrees. The only thing I would quibble with is your history, body release has been around for a long time, for example as explained in books like: The Golfing Machine by Homer Kelly (1979), The Natural Golf Swing by George Knudson (1988), and the Golf Swing by David Leadbetter (1990). These ideas were put into print at least a decade or more after the authors started practicing them. In particular Sir Nick Faldo who used Leadbetter's body release from the mid-1980s to 1998.

Very interesting. Im a body swinger who has spent the last few years trying to use my hands also. Lol. I haven't watched this yet but got excited about the opening side by side. The body release already looks like not nearly enough face rotation IMO. I went to a slightly stronger grip this year and it fixed it. Excited to actually watch this.

Great video. Body release here. Golf Channel and Scratch Golf still teaching inconsistent hand release though. Body release adds momentum/mass at impact, hand release can increase speed (and inconsistency) but also decreases momentum.

Man!!!! u solved the confusion i have had !!!! big thanks

Super description Thank you so much Much easier than the flip

@JChownGolf is some of the best golf content instruction on KZfaq. His explanations are simple and the drills proposed directly relate to the skill being explained. Thanks @JChownGolf and keep the great golf content coming!

Great explanation of follow through methods and drills to work with!! Thanks :-)

I used to teach kayaking and it's the same principle of using the large muscles in the back to rotate when paddling rather than the arms. Like in golf it's so much easier on the body and way more powerful. I love your vids, they're helping my game hugely!

Realized i was a hand release guy, kept shanking the ball. Just changed to body release and hit them dead straight, even my fairway wood. You’re a legend.

Thanks Jonathon. Your channel popped up on my front page in a timely fashion. I did a Mizuno fitting last week and the guy who was no more than 30 was trying to tell me to hand flip through the impact, I understand to give more speed but it goes to show how ingrained this approach is in teachers. Tom Saguto got me onto S&T which has been good except he doesn't go into rotation much. That is where I'm blocked, my brain just does not connect itself to my left hip. I did your rotation impact drill today with good results, not a difficult position so there's hope that I can actually get there in a full swing!

So hard to change from flipping the wrists, but im practicing like mad to get more body rotation! Thank You :)

thank you - very well summarised and presented!

Thank you, I was told that my body release was wrong and that I should be trying flip it in my lesson yesterday.

Hi just started to watch your videos 🤩 wow. You don’t get enough credit for your brilliant coaching. Keep bringing them out and you will soon be the number one on KZfaq. I have been following KZfaq for 3yrs and your one of the best by far. Thank you. This drill as really improved my game 🥰

Great video. I'm in my 70's so the last bit said it all. i.e. if you just do the practice drill position, you'll hit it straighter and almost as far as a "full" swing. So that drill for me will become my everyday swing, I won't be bothering trying to do a full swing because it'll never work. Thank you

Excellent, very helpful!

Great explanation. Now I'm convinced to master the golf swing using the body rotation release for better consistency. Thanks!

I've been using the hand-release method as that's how I was taught in my lessons and to be honest it has been good for getting that distance, although consistency is the thing that makes it hard on a bad day. I think this body release method looks interesting and I'm going to give that a go and see if that gives me more consistency in my direction, I assume this also applies to hitting driver and that's the one I struggle with the most when using a hand release timing method and the direction that the ball takes once struck. There is a chance I may be mixing the two techniques a little by accident, I will test this out next time I'm out on the range. Thanks for the video!

Fantastic video and great explanations - thank you Terry

super topic and explanation dude. love it

This has confused me for a while. And finally someone clarifies it. No wonder I can’t creat bawl wrist with my traditional hands release. Feel Lucky to see this video.

i really like your drills, i'm just back into golf after a 25yr spell/break. Enjoying it but when i started up i tried to swing the old way of flipping the hands and tore the left Rhomboid.(coming over the top and hitting the ground hard) Then discovered "set up at impact" and it made a big difference rotating the body BUT getting the club face square is a huge challenge!

I couldn’t figure out why my god Swing was so wrong when I went to a golf pro today! They changed the swing on me!

New golfer here at age 53, about 6 months now. Been experimenting with both methods, the “body rotation” is what I started with but my carry distances are awful.. I’ve been trying the “hand release” but, as you’ve stated, have much less accuracy. I’ve always been fit and fairly strong, but I can’t find a way to get any distance with the body release. I’ll keep trying, but it’s disappointing so far. Beautifully explained in the video by the way!!

Today's teaching in a nutshell, this is such good advice, don't hesitate to give it a try.

You have touched on a very “ flippy” subject mate, highlighting the different releases of the club, an area of my room for improvement. This is the first very well explained lesson on this subject and I believe this will help myI blocking my drives to the right. Thanks for this one. Keep up the great work!

Great explanation 👌. I have to try this on the Range

Excellent instruction!!!!!!!!!!

Another cracking lesson mate.

I finally successfully executed this swing today on the range. It was so much fun seeing the balls fly high and long. Once you got it down, it translates easily to the long irons.

I like this kind of lesson. great thoughts

First time watching your videos, great explanation! Though I couldn't stop staring at the pink ball...

YES! Very good explanation.

Brilliant! I needed to be explained the difference between this, I have been using mixed perspectives to govern my swing checkpoints, and I’m hitting weak pull hooks

Very insightful excellent instruction!

Amazing explanation thanks

glad you explained it. didn’t know that was an old school method so we don’t mix them with the new. methods combined

I remember in the old days some golf instructions went as far as saying you cannot hit the ball straight except by chance but can only draw or fade it because of the hand release teaching.

Brilliant explanation

Love your videos bud! Can you comment on the difference between club path and swing path? My understanding is that club path is where in the swing arc the ball is contacted and swing path is the overall direction of the that swing arc. I hear these terms used interchangeably by different teachers a lot and I just want to make sure I got them right. I think it’s important to understand that difference to get to what we’re trying to achieve.

Great comparison, I hooked it, blocked it and hit some fat shots, this answered many questions!! Thank you...... So a person like myself.........moving away from the hand release, can you highlight the differences between driver release and irons, especially after impact?

I've just started doing the body swing, yeasterday on the golf course, and way better, hitting the ball alot straighter and way longer , it's night and day as you said

Excellent golf instructions and will practice it.. Just a suggestion to change the color(s) of the words annotation from gold to give better contrast with the background and easier to read.

Off to the Toptracer tomorrow to try this out❤️

Great video 👍

Awesome explanation

This video has helped me a lot. I'm 60 years old with VG mobility and rotation ability. I was rotating and turning the hands over, and everything was going left. This tip goes against everything that I've ever learned, but works wonderfully! Much better control of the club face, I will be practicing this every day. So, would you say that essentially, the hands don't turn over until well past impact?

Hi Jonathan, interesting topic that I struggle with. Nicklaus famously said keep your back to the target as long as possible and to let the club beat the shirt buttons to the ball. We also see Rory doing a pump down drill limiting his rotation in the early downswing. Is it that body rotation is a release mechanism and not a from the top move?

Honestly I have taken a lot of lessons over the years and YOU are the ONLY ONE who has brought clarity to a lot of them that were never explained properly . How do I contact you ? Thank you so much !

Mmm! Interesting I like it good drill to do body rotation swing. Thanks