Wrist hinging on backswing - Questions.

[twotacosfor99cents]

So... i've ben undergoing a tough swing change, I would roll my left wrist upwards and slide my hip away to bring the club down, and swing with my arms - that's my old swing.

New swing is proper - turning with the shoulders to 90 degrees, hips to 45 degrees, and flat left wrist.

However, if I keep my left wrist turned to the left to promote a flat wrist on the top of the backswing, it feels extremely awkward on the way down and actually hurts on impact. The only way I can get a proper downswing is if I turn my left hand over to the right on the grip until I see a solid 2 knuckles. However, when I do this, my wrist wants to break a bit on the top of the backswing. Should I slighty cup the left wrist on the top of the backswing or should it be flat?

What say you, Sandtrapper swing gurus?

[Avid Golfer]

So... i've ben undergoing a tough swing change, I would roll my left wrist upwards and slide my hip away to bring the club down, and swing with my arms - that's my old swing.

First seeing two knckles on your left hand is what many people consider a neutral grip, and is the advocated position to have at address. If your right wrist hinges properly (like the swinging of a door) instead of cupping at the thumbs (like is done when using a hammer) the left arm and left wrist should automatically become flat. That being said there are some pros that cup their wrist at the top (like Fred Couples), so its not necessarly a bad thing that will limit your swing. The backswing wrist position isn't as important as the position the wrist is in on the downswing. A good dropping and shallowing of the club in the downswing will help the wrist retain its hinge.

To see a good hinged position look at Charles Howell III in the picture below: http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/1...ngplanenb2.jpg

[wrx_junki]

I should add this in while overhauling my swing. I forget to keep my wrist flat often times.

[RyderSim]

One of my biggest faults in my swing is when I start to think about what my wrist is doing. I have found that if I have the proper posture and a smooth back swing, the wrist take care of themselves. Also, I found out through video that what I THINK is cupped at the top is really flat, and what I THINK is flat at at the top is really bowed. I am talking about my own swing and your may not be the same, but may be something to look in to. Good luck with the changes and be patient.

[dkbmusic]

One of the issues I have as a relatively new golfer is understand all of the jargon. I thought I was hinging my wrists correctly, but after reading these posts and spending some time on the range, I'm thinking that I don't. Does anybody have any good visual (pics or videos) of exactly what a properly hinged wrist looks like?

[beung]

One of the issues I have as a relatively new golfer is understand all of the jargon. I thought I was hinging my wrists correctly, but after reading these posts and spending some time on the range, I'm thinking that I don't. Does anybody have any good visual (pics or videos) of exactly what a properly hinged wrist looks like?

This is very common....

When you say hinging your wrists, I think of a hinge on a door. It allows for rotation in a vertical axis. If you make a fist with your hand and stick your thumb up like you are giving the "thumbs up" signal and then then hinge your wrist the thumb basically doesn't move, it is the axis of rotaion. That is what I think of when some one say hindge the wrists - to me that is improper, that is where people I think get flippy with their wrists. I would rather you cock your wrists, like when you cock a gun. If you make the same fist with the thumb up again but instead of hinging your wrist pull your thumb back toward your forarm like the cocking the hammer of a gun. Think if it like you are casting the fishing rod. You cock your wrists (set your wrists) at about half way up your backswing, and then uncock them and release your hand through impact which should square up the face of the club. There is not really any wrist hinge IMO.

[kehanra99]

I had a problem pretty similar to this and I had to take 2 steps to correct it.
1. I adjusted my grip...it was too weak to begin with. After that nothing about my wrists felt forced going back or forward.
2. I stopped trying to force my shoulder and waist to turn as far as possible and left it turned just to the point where resistance began, and that let me turn back to the ball much more consistantly and with a better weight transfer so my wrists would be at a better position when my club strikes the ball.

[Avid Golfer]

This is very common....

I agree with brung's defination of cock vs. hinge motion, but I disagree with his opinion that cock is desired over hinge. Some players who show a distinctive hinge are Ernie Els, Charles Howell III, Nick Faldo, and Trevor Immelman among others.

In the image linked below notice the hinging back of Charles Howell's wrist back toward his arm in both the backswing and downswing (images on the right side). http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/1...ngplanenb2.jpg The face on view gives an illusion about the wrists. The best angle to look at wrist activity is the down the line view. If you look at the down the line view on the downswing (near hip high specifically) you'll see that the right wrists of pros are hinged back. The thumbs are not in the cocked up position that some people think when they mistakenly draw conclusions from the face on view. Look at the pros in the image below. Specifically look at the bottom row that shows the shallow (diagonal) approach (which helps maintain wrist hinge), and how the the right wrist is folded back toward the arm. http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/4...wnswingev5.jpg As far as the wrists on the backswing it isn't as important when they hinge on the backswing as it is important to approach in a way that helps retain hinge on the downswing. Below are pictures of pros during the backswing (at hip high back, and left arm parallel back). As you may notice some of the pros set the wrists early (Els and Howell) while others hinge later (or less) (Norman and Goosen). When they hinge on the backswing doesn't effect how much hinge they have on the downswing. http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/9...ckswingfj8.jpg

[beung]

Are you talking about his right wrist or left wrist?

I think the hand in question for this post it the left wrist? The right wrist has to hinge inorder for the club to swing from the inside but I would suggest that the left wrist should have minimal hinge.

[twotacosfor99cents]

Are you talking about his right wrist or left wrist?

Left wrist. As you can see in the video, it hinges pretty badly.

[AndreasS]

I have basically taken 6 months off work with the aim of getting down from a 24 handicap to a 4/5. I'm currently playing off a 9 after 3 months hard work at the range and on the course. I usually spend anywhere from 2 to 8 hours at the range 5-6 days a week! Crazy hey!!!

Anyway, after trying various teachers I have found them to be pretty useless... they only seem to have the ability to record your swing and show you how different it is to Tigers... like I didn't know that to begin with. So I am basically self taught and have found that I have been picking up important snippets along the way and steadily building my swing. I had a pretty steady swing but wasn't content with mediocre distances and really strived to swing like a pro (my previous 'casting' swing was very reliable but lacked distance).

Anyway, to cut a long story short... one of my biggest and latest discoveries to accuracy, distance AND the ability to 'lag' was to get the proper wrist cock.

I have only ever been told/taught to cock the left wrist up.... this left it cupped at the top of the back swing... I now cock the right wrist back on itself (which straightens the left wrist). It was very awkward at first but that was trying to get rid of old muscle memory. I instantly scored in every area of my swing... distance, accuracy, reliability and crazy back spin when landing on the greens. You can actually hear how sweet the strike is.

Try it out????

[jambalaya]

I won't step on any of the good adice you've been given but keep at it. The flat left wrist (for right handers) a the top of the backswing is a good fundamental to pursue. It certainly helped me understant the swing better, make better contact and led to a better understanding of swing plane. Avid is focusing on your right wrist hinge because it makes the flat left wrist possible and will cock the left wrist for you so don't be confused.