Wrist Hinge In Golf Swing:
Starting the downswing with wrists that are fully hinged will promote what is referred to as lag. Assuming that you are not allowing that hinge to unwind too soon ‘ before the club strikes the ball ‘ hands should travel past the ball ahead of the clubhead, a crucial component of a solid contact. At impact, your wrists should be square to the target line, allowing for a solid and square strike on the ball.
In my role as an on-course announcer I got to call the mega-watt Featured Group of Fowler, Thomas and Spieth. I called some Harold Varner III action too, and Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose were part of my Saturday mix. Indeed I was treated to an entertaining array of idiosyncratic golf swing techniques and the golf-nerd inside was wholly satisfied. Note that all of the instruction contained below is based on a right handed golfer.
Mastering early hinge promotes lag, speed, compression, and overall power. It also enhances control for more solid contact and consistency. It differs from the more extreme bowed wrist position that some golfers like Lee Trevino utilized effectively. The preset wrist drill is great for reinforcing proper wrist hinge positioning at the top of the backswing. Without sufficient wrist hinge, it’s almost impossible to create good lag or fully release the club for speed and power. Excessive wrist hinge in golf swing can lead to a challenging or hard position which often puts you on a too-upright plane.
Morikawa is blessed with a beautifully reliable and repetitive golf swing. He is technically sound and exhibits elements common to many leading iron players throughout the ages. Not the most powerful guy in the game, he does compress the ball effectively, shape it comfortably, and vary the trajectory easily. He is fiercely creative and plays the game from the middle of the green to either left or right hole locations.
If you are a left handed player, the directions will simply need to be reversed. Massaging and swinging a weighted club pre-round also helps loosen up the wrists and forearms. Make a slow, rhythmic transition shifting your weight and initiating the downswing. This swing key can be implemented for all types of full swing shots. Only for shots where the club is not brought all the way back up can you safely ignore the advice presented here.
I’ve had more success in teaching where I want players to get to post-impact than in drawing attention to the impact position. You are almost guaranteeing impact would have been correct if your left arm and shaft are in this position such a good point just after the ball has gone. This swing key promotes hitting down on the ball, or in other words compressing the ball at impact, or trapping the ball. This is in contrast to seeing the clubface simply colliding with the ball.
Continue to develop your technique by learning the proper takeaway and adding wrist hinge. Create depth and control in your backswing with Travis Fulton’s point-to-point system. Finally, learn his favorite drill for getting the club in the perfect delivery position to compress the ball at impact. Think of the power that you have stored up in your wrists during the swing as your last chance to add speed to the club before it hits the ball. Much of the speed in your swing is generated from the rotational power of your lower body and torso during the downswing ‘ but that is all finished by the time you are getting close to impact.
Primarily, it is done through the rotation of the hips and shoulders as they are coiled back during the backswing. While those movements use big muscles, generating extra energy can be achieved using the movements of the wrists through correct and carefully executed hinging. Furthermore, making sure your wrists are fully hinged will promote a whipping motion at the ball as the club travels towards the ball for impact, promoting ideal distance and ball flight height. By limiting your body rotation, the only way to generate speed in the swing ‘ and flick that imaginary mud towards your target ‘ is to allow your wrists to hinge early. A few years ago, some professionals popularized early wrist setting which caused confusion for the beginners. In golf, the position of your left wrist at the top of your swing can greatly impact your shot.
However, the cupped wrist position, where the front wrist is bent backward at the top of the backswing, is less than ideal unless you have excellent hand-eye coordination. This position adds another significant moving part to your swing and can be challenging to execute properly. Three wrist hinge positions refer to the different angles at which the wrist can be flexed or extended during a golf swing. These positions can have a significant impact on the direction and distance of the shot.
Your flexibility will ultimately determine if you get 90 degrees or more of shoulder turn. The Hanger Golf Aid is one of our favorite and most inexpensive training aids to get the golf club in the right positions throughout your swing. On the downswing you want to maintain your wrist angle as long as possible to get the most clubhead speed. Regardless of which position you choose, it’s important to make sure that the back of the front wrist and the angle of the club face stay relatively parallel. This will allow you to hit straighter shots while still maintaining plenty of distance.
If you want even better feedback, The Hanger Wrist Training Aid (pictured above) is the perfect option. You’ll notice as you try this and turn your shoulders about 45 degrees that if you don’t hinge your wrists these details the club will feel heavy and uncomfortable and this is not a position you want to remain. Grab a club in a relaxed position at set up and begin shifting your weight to the rear foot and turn your body.
This results in a cast, with the clubhead passing the hands too quickly through impact. Instead, your wrists will release naturally, that is if you were able to maintain the correct hinge position during the downswing. For a shallow angle of attack, keep your weight evenly distributed throughout the swing. For a steeper attack angle, be more aggressive with your weight by shifting it more to the lead side all the way through impact.
You want to reach a point with your swing where the wrist hinge happens naturally. That is easier said than done, of course, but you can do it if you put in the practice time and be sure to understand the mechanics that are behind it. A relaxed and comfortable grip pressure is good for a lot of things in golf. Not only does it help you use your wrists properly throughout the swing, but it also gives you a better feel and control over the club head. When you watch professional golfers on TV and you see how easy they make the swing look, part of that ease comes along with a light grip pressure.
While everyone loves to get out on the course and play a round of golf, not all golfers understand the value of quality practice time and swing repetitions. On the driving range, you don’t have the same distractions ‘ or nerves ‘ that you might have on the course. This allows you to focus on your technique, and simply do it over and over again until it is natural to you. Repetition is crucial for many parts of your swing, but perhaps none more than the wrist hinge and release. It is generally preferred to maintain a neutral wrist position at the top of the backswing in golf.
The clubhead should lag behind your hands, creating effortless speed. You’ll then snap through, or straighten out, your wrists when they get back to about waist-high. The angle created between your forearm and the shaft of your golf club is one of the ways you create learn here clubhead speed, which translates to more distance. The longer you can keep that angle, the more snap or whip you’ll get from the club head at impact. As the club is moving down toward the ball, you want to delay the release of your right wrist as late as possible.