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Lagging or Casting In Your Golf Swing?

Lag vs casting and the power that is delivered to the ball can be explained simply as when that power is used.

By Gene Parente
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Are you lagging or casting in your golf swing?

Gene Parente from Golf Labs discusses the power delivered to the golf ball AND explains when that power is used.

Is it early in the swing, or is it at impact?

The longer we can store the energy in our golf swing (lagging) and the closer we can release it at impact, the more efficient our swing will be with the power we generate.

Lagging or Casting In Your Golf Swing?

As an example, consider two golfers who both swing the golf club at 100MPH.  One golfer applies the 100MPH early in their swing (casting) while the other delivers the 100MPH at impact (lagging). The golfer who releases the 100MPH of energy at impact will inevitably transfer more energy into the ball, and the ball will travel further.

Learn this important lesson and add distance to all of your shots.

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Gene Parente
Gene Parente

Gene Parente is president of Golf Laboratories Inc. and an expert on technology in the golf industry. Mr. Parente started Golf Laboratories, Inc. in 1990 and has built it to become the premier independent testing company in the golf industry. In 1992 he designed and patented the Golf Laboratories Computer Controlled robot. The robot has since become the standard testing robot worldwide for the golf industry. There are currently 40 robots in the golf industry and are used by the major manufacturers, the USGA and the R&A.

24 Comments

  1. George Turtle

    April 8, 2019 at 12:59 pm

    In the middle of the video there is a graphic instead of Gene. I really wanted to see him show how the left shoulder moves in the downswing to create the casting.

    Reply

    • Gary Lamb

      May 22, 2019 at 3:29 pm

      I’ve gotten that too in about the last 3 or 4 videos. Hopefully Gene can do something about it in upcoming videos

      Reply

    • Ryan

      July 29, 2022 at 10:37 am

      Agreed. It was the exact part I wanted to see and right as he says “watch this” there’s a graphic on the screen instead of him. Doh!

      Reply

  2. John Rosenthal

    April 8, 2019 at 12:59 pm

    love what you are saying about lag, but how to achieve this isn’t quite so simple – how can you achieve – what is your first move? Thanks John R

    Reply

    • Gene Parente

      April 14, 2019 at 2:57 pm

      John,
      Tricky question to answer in a text but here are some simple rules. One of the most common mistakes that most golfers make is that they think that power comes from immediate acceleration or jerking at the beginning of the downswing. It is almost instinctual to think that to do something fast you need to start fast.
      The reality is that you actually need to start slower and build up velocity so that it peaks right at impact.
      There is an adage in golf that says “slow to go fast”. It definitely applies to the swing.
      When you start fast or jerk it causes the hands to release the club head early which loses all of the energy potential of the wrist hinge acceleration. It also has the effect of causing your head to move which makes returning the club head to the impact position very difficult.

      Reply

  3. John rosenthal

    May 4, 2019 at 5:36 pm

    It sounds like you are saying develop a slow back swing. Is that correct – and I assume you need to start the swing with your hips and not your arms.

    Reply

    • Gene Parente

      May 5, 2019 at 2:31 pm

      John,

      The backswing speed is more of a personal preference. My comments were on the start of the downswing and that you did not want to “jerk” or start fast but instead starting slow and ramping up your speed so that your wrists can release at impact to maximize club head speed.
      Yes you are right that your power starts with your hip and should rotation.

      Reply

    • Bob Pegram

      September 19, 2020 at 4:23 am

      The backswing should always be slower than the downswing regardless of the overall speed of the swing. The body motion in the downswing should drag the arms and hands into impact. Centrifugal force will cause the wrists to uncock at the right time when you body slows down.

      Reply

  4. paul

    May 21, 2019 at 7:16 pm

    casting is a learned swing error caused primarily by starting the forward swing with arm swing instead of footwork.loss of balance,poor understanding of footwork or swinging arms forward before rotating torso forward are all symptoms of swinging over the top.swinging your arms forward with your weight still on the back foot gives you two choices.stick the club in the ground behind the ball or stand up and cast the clubhead.most golfers choose the latter and teach themselves another swing flaw.your explanation was incomplete with no real solution offered.balance,footwork,tempo and forward swing sequence work precede any meaningful solution to the casting issue.if you are willing to do the work,find a teaching professional with at least 20 years of teaching experience.

    Reply

  5. Raymond Chastel

    June 30, 2019 at 3:15 am

    The best image you can rely on is the one of a whip ;the clubhead must whip through the ball.Just observe how the best pro’s on the Tour do .They start slowly from the top and accelerate progressively ;The wrists must be the loosest possible to acheive such an acceleration ;Also strong wrists do help .That’s what the Spaniards do :They play “pelota ” young and develop a lot of power in the wrists

    Reply

  6. Gary Lamb

    July 1, 2019 at 3:18 pm

    Still getting Trackman graphics in middle of video. Isn’t there anything that can be done to eliminate that. Does anyone look at the video before posting it?

    Reply

  7. Ernest Modestino

    August 4, 2019 at 5:32 am

    Gene, does lag also apply for iron shots. Been working on this with my Driver with some success but having issues trying this with my irons.

    Thanks
    Ernie

    Reply

    • Gene Parente

      August 4, 2019 at 5:46 pm

      Ernie,

      Yes it does. The thing to remember about iron shots is that the club is heavier and shorter so that it will naturally lag behind the ball into impact. I would recommend if you haven’t already done it, to play with ball stance position. A ball further back in your stance will create a more negative attack angle and will provide you with longer iron shots.

      A word of caution though; as with everything in golf the better pro trajectory requires more consistency and can create larger misses. Also when you are practicing with a ball position back in the stance be prepared for shots to initially go to the right.

      Reply

  8. Michael

    March 28, 2020 at 12:07 pm

    Gene,

    What drills do you suggest for a high handicapper to help eliminate casting?

    Thanks,
    Michael

    Reply

    • Gene Parente

      March 30, 2020 at 1:33 pm

      Michael,

      A simple drill that forces your arms and hands inside is to take your trailing foot, right foot if you are right handed, and pull it back about 12-18 inches. This will force your arms to come inside which will reduce the casting motion. Try this on the range until you are used to the motion and then you can slowly bring your right foot back to even with your left.

      The other mental note for reducing casting is to remember “slow to go fast” mantra. Many players think they have to swing as hard as they can at the ball. This initial power creates a jerk which causes a cast. By starting slower you will reduce your cast tendency and actually create more of a lag swing that will create an overall increase in club head speed.

      Gene

      Reply

  9. Joseph W Colella

    June 19, 2020 at 12:54 pm

    Gene the information is great but your demonstration of casting is blocked out by the graphic so we don’t really see the example of casting.

    Reply

    • Gene Parente

      June 22, 2020 at 12:20 pm

      Joseph,

      Sorry about that. I will look to make it more clear in future videos.

      Gene

      Reply

  10. Neil J Soeder

    July 22, 2020 at 11:30 am

    This video is still showing graphics in the middle of the viewing.

    Reply

  11. Dennis Daly

    July 22, 2020 at 12:27 pm

    The absolute easiest way to prevent casting is to imagine swinging the butt end of the club. From the top of your backswing imagine that you are pulling down a rope attached to a bell 🔔 in the church belfry. You pull the butt end of it straight down. Perfect start! Then as your hands get lower aim the butt end straight down the target line. Your forearms, wrists, and hands will release automatically and the club end will come around full speed into the ball. That is the correct way, get used to it and you will never go back.

    Reply

  12. dave perry

    September 2, 2020 at 9:48 am

    Gene,
    Lag is part of the chain reaction in the golf swing. Trying to teach lag without making sure the golfer(student) is in the correct posture , distance from the ball and proper stance width is futile.
    The golf swing is built on the domino effect, find and fix the weak link(s) and everything will fall into place. Hogan said it best, “ the setup is like a cowboy and Indian movie. Set it up so that the good guys win and the bad guys cannot win. “

    Reply

  13. Lloyd Davis

    September 18, 2020 at 12:33 pm

    Clearly I’m not the only one, but it drives me CRAZY that at a crucial point of the video, you go to a static shot of the robot with meaningless stats on the screen. PLEASE re-do the video (you have the footage) and re-post it as “corrected”, so we’ll know to watch it again.

    Reply

  14. Van L Leighton

    September 18, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    I can measure clubhead speed with my radar gun….I’m a terrible caster, and generally my driver speed is 93-95mph. If I lag my swing, my speed is in the 78-82mph range. I confirm the lag with slo-mo video. Why is my lag swing so much slower than my casting swing? As an added failing, I’ve never had any success lagging when I’m actually hitting a ball.

    Reply

  15. Trevor

    July 3, 2021 at 10:57 am

    My guess is that you are forcing an artificial lag by stiffening your wrists and trying to hold the angle between forearms and shaft during the downswing. This is not possible to achieve at a high swing speed!
    Instead, you should relax your wrists and induce a natural lag by rotating your body to initiate the downswing rather than swinging your arms. This can generate phenomenal swing speed if you do it right!

    Reply

  16. Ryan

    July 29, 2022 at 10:39 am

    Everything you’re saying makes sense and I know it’s right, but I just get the complete opposite with real world results. When I work to not break my wrist hinge until later in the swing I lose about 30 yards of distance off even a mid-range club like my 7i.

    I am pretty sure I am casting in my swing. My club feels weightless at the top and my wrists hinge there. But when I do that I hit around 180yds with a 7i. When I focus on keeping my wrists steady until later in the down swing, I hit around 150yds with the same club. I can’t get it figured out.

    Reply

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