Early Release Struggles

[A.Princey]

What is the main cause of early release development in better players? It seems to happen(gets worse) to me as I play more often. Are forearm/grip muscles building up strength and starting to “over power” my hip turn? Closed club face, to path, is creeping into my swing yet again. I’ve always been more of a hitter than swinger, FWIW and I’m completely overhauling my grip, once again, to mitigate the problem. The main issue is closure rate, as I tend to roll my hands very fast through impact, RH’d. I’ve tried countering the issue by consciously turning my trail hand under through impact, but it feels way too forced. 
 

A little about me. I started 30ish years ago, and adopted the interlock grip. Played that way into single digits quite well, developed a slight draw. Took some time away in college, played very little. Came back to the game and took off where I left it, slight draws and overall good ball flight. A few years on from there, hooks became a never-ending battle for 2 years. I managed it, but made a serious effort to get rid of them. I went to a 2-finger overlap, to quiet my trail hand, as I suspected it was steering the face closed prematurely through the zone. This worked wonders once the feeling became natural. Well, about 5yr in now, the old familiar hooky ball flight is rearing it’s ugly a** head. This time, my lead hand is turning over and creating the closure problem. My new fix is to go full right hand grip(neutral-strongish) and lead hand index overlap onto my trail finger. Basically, interlock placement, but pinky is on the grip and lead index is overlapping atop that trail pinky. Think Tigers putting grip, somewhat(or reverse Vardon fingers). I feel like I can really control my trail hand these days, as I’ve really worked hard to keep my trail elbow connected well via the Faldo preset drill. I check my club face angle a lot, and even use this drill on-course a lot. I’ve attempted interlock again, and it works just OK here, but the NEW grip works even better and gives me clubhead speed I haven’t seen in YEARS. 

Edited July 10 by A.Princey

[sundaypins]

1 hour ago, A.Princey said:

What is the main cause of early release development in better players?  

 

Sounds like a Steve Jones reverse overlap if understanding your description properly, go with it, many do on green side work too.    Given your personal description of being more of a hitter might suggest too much hands and not enough ground up activity.    

[rsballer10]

Post a video of your swing. There's probably a technical reason you are hooking that goes beyond unusual ways of gripping the club.

[A.Princey]

2 hours ago, sundaypins said:

 

Sounds like a Steve Jones reverse overlap if understanding your description properly, go with it, many do on green side work too.    Given your personal description of being more of a hitter might suggest too much hands and not enough ground up activity.    

Yeah, that's definitely the same grip, reverse overlap it is. Good catch!

[virtuoso]

7 hours ago, sundaypins said:

 

Sounds like a Steve Jones reverse overlap if understanding your description properly, go with it, many do on green side work too.    Given your personal description of being more of a hitter might suggest too much hands and not enough ground up activity.    

Sunday, have you ever come across any pure tgm hitters other than Ted Fort?

[Pnwpingi210]

On 7/10/2025 at 10:59 PM, virtuoso said:

Sunday, have you ever come across any pure tgm hitters other than Ted Fort?

Lee comuex? (Sp?)

[virtuoso]

36 minutes ago, Pnwpingi210 said:

Lee comuex? (Sp?)

He wasn’t a hitter, he was a trapper.

[ShowMe]

On 7/10/2025 at 5:29 PM, A.Princey said:

What is the main cause of early release development in better players? It seems to happen(gets worse) to me as I play more often. Are forearm/grip muscles building up strength and starting to “over power” my hip turn? Closed club face, to path, is creeping into my swing yet again. I’ve always been more of a hitter than swinger, FWIW and I’m completely overhauling my grip, once again, to mitigate the problem. The main issue is closure rate, as I tend to roll my hands very fast through impact, RH’d. I’ve tried countering the issue by consciously turning my trail hand under through impact, but it feels way too forced. 
 

A little about me. I started 30ish years ago, and adopted the interlock grip. Played that way into single digits quite well, developed a slight draw. Took some time away in college, played very little. Came back to the game and took off where I left it, slight draws and overall good ball flight. A few years on from there, hooks became a never-ending battle for 2 years. I managed it, but made a serious effort to get rid of them. I went to a 2-finger overlap, to quiet my trail hand, as I suspected it was steering the face closed prematurely through the zone. This worked wonders once the feeling became natural. Well, about 5yr in now, the old familiar hooky ball flight is rearing it’s ugly a** head. This time, my lead hand is turning over and creating the closure problem. My new fix is to go full right hand grip(neutral-strongish) and lead hand index overlap onto my trail finger. Basically, interlock placement, but pinky is on the grip and lead index is overlapping atop that trail pinky. Think Tigers putting grip, somewhat(or reverse Vardon fingers). I feel like I can really control my trail hand these days, as I’ve really worked hard to keep my trail elbow connected well via the Faldo preset drill. I check my club face angle a lot, and even use this drill on-course a lot. I’ve attempted interlock again, and it works just OK here, but the NEW grip works even better and gives me clubhead speed I haven’t seen in YEARS. 

 

 

Interesting.  I would think that your "full right hand grip" would lead to even more of a hook unless you were purposely holding-off on the downswing.

[A.Princey]

27 minutes ago, ShowMe said:

 

 

Interesting.  I would think that your "full right hand grip" would lead to even more of a hook unless you were purposely holding-off on the downswing.

I think some of it might be from my lead hand getting ever so slightly strong/er, at address, and me not actively working to keep it more neutral. 
 

These aren’t snap hooks, just 1-1.5* closed to path, high “overdraws”. I just know, that if I play the curvature, it will get worse. 

[RayPlan]

On 7/10/2025 at 5:29 PM, A.Princey said:

What is the main cause of early release development in better players? It seems to happen(gets worse) to me as I play more often. Are forearm/grip muscles building up strength and starting to “over power” my hip turn? Closed club face, to path, is creeping into my swing yet again. I’ve always been more of a hitter than swinger, FWIW and I’m completely overhauling my grip, once again, to mitigate the problem. The main issue is closure rate, as I tend to roll my hands very fast through impact, RH’d. I’ve tried countering the issue by consciously turning my trail hand under through impact, but it feels way too forced. 
 

A little about me. I started 30ish years ago, and adopted the interlock grip. Played that way into single digits quite well, developed a slight draw. Took some time away in college, played very little. Came back to the game and took off where I left it, slight draws and overall good ball flight. A few years on from there, hooks became a never-ending battle for 2 years. I managed it, but made a serious effort to get rid of them. I went to a 2-finger overlap, to quiet my trail hand, as I suspected it was steering the face closed prematurely through the zone. This worked wonders once the feeling became natural. Well, about 5yr in now, the old familiar hooky ball flight is rearing it’s ugly a** head. This time, my lead hand is turning over and creating the closure problem. My new fix is to go full right hand grip(neutral-strongish) and lead hand index overlap onto my trail finger. Basically, interlock placement, but pinky is on the grip and lead index is overlapping atop that trail pinky. Think Tigers putting grip, somewhat(or reverse Vardon fingers). I feel like I can really control my trail hand these days, as I’ve really worked hard to keep my trail elbow connected well via the Faldo preset drill. I check my club face angle a lot, and even use this drill on-course a lot. I’ve attempted interlock again, and it works just OK here, but the NEW grip works even better and gives me clubhead speed I haven’t seen in YEARS. 

 

A video would be a faster way to get some clues to the answer.

 

Edited July 13 by RayPlan

[getitdaily]

57 minutes ago, A.Princey said:

I think some of it might be from my lead hand getting ever so slightly strong/er, at address, and me not actively working to keep it more neutral. 
 

These aren’t snap hooks, just 1-1.5* closed to path, high “overdraws”. I just know, that if I play the curvature, it will get worse. 

What's your path?

[A.Princey]

Ever so slightly in to out. I’ve been consciously “attacking” the ball with my trail palm lately, flexing my inner forearm  to keep the face square past impact, and point more skyward vs rolling closed. It is working great, and swing speed is up at least 5-7mph. Really working to “throw” the club face at the ball instead of twisting. Kinda like a Vijay release feeling but not coming off the grip like him. 

Edited July 13 by A.Princey

[Pnwpingi210]

15 hours ago, A.Princey said:

Ever so slightly in to out. I’ve been consciously “attacking” the ball with my trail palm lately, flexing my inner forearm  to keep the face square past impact, and point more skyward vs rolling closed. It is working great, and swing speed is up at least 5-7mph. Really working to “throw” the club face at the ball instead of twisting. Kinda like a Vijay release feeling but not coming off the grip like him. 

Based on this, trying to throw the club face at the ball could be causing your early release?

[A.Princey]

On 7/13/2025 at 1:17 PM, Pnwpingi210 said:

Based on this, trying to throw the club face at the ball could be causing your early release?

The "throw" that I'm initiating now is solving the issue, actually creating somewhat open face to path. The "new" impact move I'm making is one in which causes the face to point skyward the first half of my follow through. Before I was inadvertently rolling my arms through impact, and too early at that. It's utilizing the same motion one makes when imparting fast spiral spin on a football.

Edited July 15 by A.Princey

[getitdaily]

10 minutes ago, A.Princey said:

The "throw" that I'm initiating now is solving the issue, actually creating somewhat open face to path. The "new" impact move I'm making is one in which causes the face to point skyward the first half of my follow through. Before I was inadvertently rolling my arms through impact, and too early at that. It's utilizing the same motion one makes when imparting fast spiral spin on a football.

If you can groove it then rock on. Expect to see a 2way miss while you're grooving that right hand move....and some wicked slices at times too. 

 

I do wonder...if you just need the face to not close as much/quickly...have you tried just keeping the back of the lead hand pointed at the target a bit longer through impact?

[A.Princey]

1 hour ago, getitdaily said:

If you can groove it then rock on. Expect to see a 2way miss while you're grooving that right hand move....and some wicked slices at times too. 

 

I do wonder...if you just need the face to not close as much/quickly...have you tried just keeping the back of the lead hand pointed at the target a bit longer through impact?

Hopefully not, but I've always been a player that can barely fade the ball unless I absolutely exaggerate things, so hopefully my natural tendencies will override any serious right misses.

 

Also, something I've settled on now is standard interlock. I was hitting pretty darn well with the reverse overlap, and getting more accustomed to the feel of it, but every once in awhile I'd get a loosey goosey swing and shank the heck outta one. With interlock, my hands operate much more in sync. It gives me similar trail hand control, and more reliability. In the past, with interlock, I'd put my trail thumb on top of the grip, super tight against my index knuckle of the same hand. Now, its much weaker, completely over the grip and resting on tip of my index as it comes up from underneath.

 

I haven't really tried manipulating my lead hand at all, aside from address. At impact it always seems like it's just holding the club, along for the ride so to speak. 

Edited July 15 by A.Princey

[Golfbeat]

My cure from an early release came from this video. In particular when using the left arm. Keeping pressure of the left pec with the upper rib case.

 

 

 

Edited July 15 by Golfbeat

[BladesOShanter]

On 7/10/2025 at 5:29 PM, A.Princey said:

I feel like I can really control my trail hand these days, as I’ve really worked hard to keep my trail elbow connected well via the Faldo preset drill. I check my club face angle a lot, and even use this drill on-course a lot.

I often pause the clubhead on the backswing briefly to emulate his P2, but when I get to P6 it's all over for me, whereas in his video (which is a bit SD blurry) he's able to hold onto the angle, which I 'think' is part of your original question[?]

[A.Princey]

I think I've really nailed down the root cause of my issue. My swing has been lengthening, for the worse, not better. I've always played from a pretty compact backswing, but my increased level of activity lately, combined with more golf, has got me taking the club too far back. I've always exhibited some EE, so this extra "time" to square the club has me completely ahead of impact. I started forcing a 2/3 backswing, and contact/flight was so much better once again, without having to manipulate anything. I've gotta keep an image of Jon Rahm in mind when things get hairy.

 

This could also explain why I sometimes lose connection late in a round, as my muscles & ligaments have fully warmed up and are allowing my body to rotate and enter way too deep into the backswing.

Edited July 25 by A.Princey