Make the Club Work: The Forgotten Secret to Better Golf Swings

One of the biggest mistakes in modern golf instruction is where we place our attention.

Most golfers spend years trying to make their body work.

The great ball strikers often thought differently.

They made the club work.

That simple shift changes everything.

The Club Is Designed to Move

A golf club isn’t supposed to be carried through impact.

It’s supposed to move.

Your role is to create the conditions that allow it to accelerate naturally.

As Ernest Jones wrote more than a century ago, the golfer shouldn’t simply swing the club.

He should make the club work.

That philosophy remains just as powerful today.

Lag Is Meant to Be Released

During the backswing, the club naturally develops lag.

Many golfers then spend enormous amounts of effort trying to hold onto it.

Instead, think differently.

Create the lag.

Then aggressively—but fluidly—allow it to release.

The goal isn’t to preserve lag.

The goal is to use it.

That simple intention immediately changes the feeling of the golf swing.

Swish the Club

One of the easiest athletic intentions is surprisingly simple.

Build the backswing.

Create the lag.

Then simply swish the club beyond the golf ball.

The swish isn’t forced.

It isn’t muscular.

It’s an accelerating movement that allows the club to perform the task it was designed for.

This creates speed through freedom rather than tension.

Hogan Didn’t Just Swing the Club

My interpretation of Ben Hogan goes one step further.

I don’t believe Hogan was merely swinging the clubhead.

I believe he was constantly making the club work for him.

His grip, his release pattern and his intentions all encouraged the club to become increasingly dynamic through impact.

That concept became one of the foundations behind the Aggressive Fluid Release pattern.

The Club Determines the Shot

When you understand how to make the club work, something fascinating happens.

The same movement intention can produce different golf shots simply by changing where you direct the club’s energy.

Release slightly more toward the right…

You create a push draw.

Release slightly more left…

You begin producing Hogan’s famous controlled fade.

The movement remains remarkably similar.

Only the intention changes.

Movement Before Positions

This is why Forgotten Master Moves places so much emphasis on movement.

Positions are important.

But movements create positions.

Your brain understands intentions far more naturally than isolated body angles.

Instead of memorising dozens of checkpoints, you can often organise the entire golf swing with one simple objective:

Make the club work.

Build the Pattern First

Of course, this doesn’t replace sound fundamentals.

It sits on top of them.

Once your swing pattern is functioning properly, your only responsibility becomes remarkably simple.

Create the lag.

Swish it through.

Trust the club.

The body will organise itself around that intention far more naturally than most golfers expect.

Final Thoughts

The golf swing is often described as invisible.

You cannot photograph intention.

You cannot freeze acceleration.

What you can do is create better movements.

Making the club work is one of the oldest ideas in golf instruction.

It is also one of the most forgotten.

And perhaps one of the most powerful.

Learn More

Inside the Forgotten Master Moves membership, I teach four classic swing patterns—including the Aggressive Fluid Release pattern inspired by Ben Hogan.

Each is built around one simple principle:

Knowledge first. Movement second. Performance follows.

START THE JOURney – FIND YOUR OLD SChool PATTERN

Your inspirations and your subconscious view of the golf swing matter more than anything when it comes to making a lasting swing change. The goal is to find the pattern that fits you best. Take the quiz and check out the best choice for you below:

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