Best Advice I Have Had

[Kirma]

 

This advice was the game changer for me. Made my golfing easier and more enjoyable. Got to keep working at the short game.

 

 

proper wrist hinge helps you swing your club back on the correct plane and hit your ball far and straight. To hinge your wrists properly, you need to avoid rolling your hands and your wrists clockwise, swinging your club back. This seems to contradict the forearm rotation stressed last week. But this may fit and suit you if you take a bent posture. You have a bent posture if you tilt your spine 35 to 45 degrees forward from the vertical.

Rolling your wrists and hands when you start your backswing, you'll let your left hand roll over your right hand. Put differently, you will swing your club back too much to the inside. Failing to take your club away from your ball properly, you cannot reach an ideal position at the top. When that happens, you need to adjust your swing on the way down to hit your ball decently. Adjusting your swing on the way down deprives you of your chance to hit your ball consistently.

To whack your ball solidly, you need to make sure the back of your left hand does not turn upwards to face the sky. Similarly, you need to prevent your right wrist from rolling or cocking straight upwards as you swing your club back.

Toward this end, make sure the palm of your right hand matches your clubface as you grip your club. Granted, you need to let the back of your left hand represent your clubface. Critically, let your club rest firmly or securely between your right thumb and your right forefinger. Also, you need to grip your club firmly with the two middle fingers of your right hand.

Then, just focus on hinging your right wrist backwards, and your wrists will hinge correctly by themselves.

To begin your backswing smoothly, you need a trigger move. Gently kick your right knee in toward your left knee just before you begin your swing. That will let you start hinging your right wrist straight backwards roughly at the end of your takeaway. Your takeaway ends when your left hand comes in front of your right thigh. At that stage, you will get your club shaft resting horizontal and parallel to your target line.

Once you've hinged your right wrist correctly, all you have to do is simply turn your shoulders to complete your backswing. Finish your backswing as you mutter "one." 

Keep your head staying still as you start your downswing as you whisper "two." Keeping your head steady, you will start your downswing correctly with your lower body. Beginning your downswing with your lower body lets your arms drop to slot your club into a correct downswing path. Put differently, that will put you in position to swing your club properly from slightly inside the target line.

Turn your belly toward the target through whacking your ball as you murmur "three." Your belly turn toward the target allows you to maintain your bent right-wrist angle longer on the downswing. This, in turn, helps you preserve the correct loft on your club, enabling you to hit your ball the proper distance.

Critically, losing your right-wrist angle too early, you will have difficulty hitting your ball solidly. There is no way you can restore your forward-leaned club shaft angle when you hit your ball. Remember you need to make sure your club shaft stays leaning forward at impact. Toward this end, your right wrist needs to remain bent backwards when your club meets the ball. If your right wrist straightens too early, you lose the power of your right arm pressing your left arm forward.

Incidentally, you need to unleash your power into your ball without overpowering your swinging motion. Take care to suppress violent or wild hitting action by subduing your instinct to pound your ball with your hands.

Succinctly, hinging your right wrist properly, you will start whacking your ball solidly. You will hit your ball strikingly longer, more accurately and more consistently. The secret of increasing your distance and accuracy is hinging your right wrist backwards, not upwards.

Your left-wrist position at the top will differ depending on how you grip your club. Adopting a strong grip, you will have your left wrist cupped. Employing a neutral grip, you will leave your left wrist staying flat or slightly cupped. Using a weak grip, you will keep your left wrist flat to slightly bowed. To hinge your wrists properly, you'd better focus on your correct right-wrist hinge rather than your left wrist position.

To learn to hinge your right wrist correctly, hold your right hand in front of you. Extend your fingers, your thumb sitting up and your palm squarely facing the left. Now, bend your hand to your right side so your fingers move back toward the outside of your wrist. That way you will create roughly a 90-degree angle between your hand and your forearm. That is your correct backward wrist hinge.

To feel the proper backward hinge of your right wrist better, curl your right-hand fingers. Hold your fist in front of you. Picture you are gripping your club with your right hand or holding an egg in your right hand. Then, bend your knuckles backwards to your right side. Your right forearm and your fist will form nearly a 90-degree angle. That is how you need to hinge your right wrist backwards as you swing your club back.

You can compare the backward right-wrist hinge to the way your hand moves during a slap. Your right-wrist hinge resembles your wrist move you make when you carry out a slapping motion. Just picture you slapping a wall with the palm of your right hand. Your right wrist will hinge properly backwards by itself. Your right wrist will bend backwards and stay bent on the downswing until you hit the wall.

Incidentally, if you hinge your right wrist straight upwards, you'll have difficulty restoring your address shaft angle at impact. At address your club shaft is leaning forward to your left side, your driver apart. Failing to return your club shaft to your address position, you cannot properly compress your ball with your clubhead.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Kirma

[David in FL]

Huh.  I just grab a stick, and hit the ball...

My head hurt just trying to read all of that!

[Patch]

My wrists hurt after reading that.

However, if explained a little more fully, some of it actually makes sense.

 

[Kirma]

For me it was the takeaway, right hand hinge backwards. To the top then swing through with the speed at the bottom of the swing or just after. Lovely bacon divots with a baby draw consistently.

[Vinsk]

5 hours ago, Kirma said:

Adjusting your swing on the way down deprives you of your chance to hit your ball consistently.

Tell this to Furyk, Moore, Peete, Trevino, Rodriguez, etc....Glad you got something out of this. I can say being a leftie it was a painful read.😖

[saevel25]

10 hours ago, Kirma said:

For me it was the takeaway, right hand hinge backwards. To the top then swing through with the speed at the bottom of the swing or just after. Lovely bacon divots with a baby draw consistently.

There is the key part of this whole thread, all of this is just you finding something that works for you. I can tell you right now none of that stuff I would even want to approach.

It's must better for a golfer to be specific with what they want to work on (single piece of the swing) and keep it simple. Sorry to say, posts like above are way to convoluted.