Flat Left Wrist at the top of Backswing: Really Necessary???

[verse214]

My question is whether it is truly necessary to have a flat left wrist at the top of your backswing with your right hand pretty much underneath supporting the club.

The reason why I ask is because it is extremely uncomfortable for me to do this and I have heard contradicting opinions on this.

What do you do and should this uncomfortableness be something that I should strive to overcome?

Thanks,

[golfdad]

to a large extent, it depends on your grip i think and also, what you try to accomplish or correct. tough to generalize.

anatomically speaking, a "flat wrist" (where it is a straight line on the dorsal side of your wrist), is actually not an anatomically neutral wrist which has a slight cupping.

then again, a bony wrist vs a meaty wrist, even at anatomical neutral, may "look" different.

[verse214]

to a large extent, it depends on your grip i think and also, what you try to accomplish or correct. tough to generalize.

To remove what you may consider anatomically neutral from play:

By flat I mean flat with no cupping whatsoever; so that the back of your hand and back of your wrist form a 180* line. And of course this is all with a neutral grip in mind. Do you cup your wrist at all golfdad?

[DavidFehertysBike]

I wouldnt try worry about it all that much. I dont. If anything, my wrist bows a little bit. Ive seen many low, mid and high handicaps trying to get that flat left arm and wrist by steering their backswing into that position. It never works and It usally just makes your swing stiff and destroys tempo. If you have good set up fundementals and take the club back correctly, it just happens naturally.

[Eeryck]

My question is whether it is truly necessary to have a flat left wrist at the top of your backswing with your right hand pretty much underneath supporting the club.

I think here if you look at your club face at the top you can answer your own question. If you are on line at the top then your wrist position is fine. If you find that the club face is open or closed at the top, then there is a good chance that it will remain so at impact.

At the top of the backswing, my tendancy is to have the club face slightly open, that is most likely the result of a slight cup in my wrist. So through impact if I don't release properly I end up with a very slight push instead of my normal draw. This requires timing and will most likely break down some under pressure. My focus is to attempt to square the club up at the top and therefore simplify the timing requirements put on my swing. While the wrist is a contributing factor in this it is not the only focus. For me the uncomfortable factor in the adjustment is justified because it is working towards a specific result of squaring the club face at the top. It is not necessary because you could square the club face with timing but then your swing becomes very dependant on your tempo and level of tension. Hope that helps. -E

[starchuk]

I think that the backswing position is all style and there no mandatory positions to achieve: parallel, laid off, across the line, left wrist flat, right palm holding a tray...

A cupped wrist at the top has more potential for creating power than a flat one.

[uttexas]

Not really necessary, but it does help me with consistency. Helps minimize over the top move.

[golfdad]

verse, if you really have a neutral grip and if you look down at your leading wrist at address, you see slight cupping at address. i don't see a problem maintaining that slight cupping at the top. in my opinion, slight cupping can maintaing the lag better than a flat or bowed out wrist. it has better anatomical advantage.

at the end of the day, go with what works for you.

not to be facetious, the 100 some guys on pga tour, no one has a perfect swing:) and they are managing just fine.

[verse214]

verse, if you really have a neutral grip and if you look down at your leading wrist at address, you see slight cupping at address. i don't see a problem maintaining that slight cupping at the top. in my opinion, slight cupping can maintaing the lag better than a flat or bowed out wrist. it has better anatomical advantage.

True,

Thank you all for your responses... i'll stop obsessing over this now (and find something else in the golf swing to over analyze)

[jambalaya]

In other words yes, no, maybe, I don't know.

[Mark974]

I know this is an old thread... but I've been having this dilemma also.   I went to the range yesterday to work out some kinks in my fairway wood striking... I couldn't hit my hybrids straight at all. I was hooking and slicing them and my 3 wood all over the place.. I may as well have taken them out of my bag during my last round.   So I started to mess with my wrist position at the top..  I was under the impression that I had to have a flat wrist at the top... however.. I took a swing with a cupped wrist at the top...and I started smashing the ball straight with a slight draw at the end and I must have hit about 14 balls that way before I ran out of balls..  I am of the thinking that the flat wrist at the top isn't for everyone.

fyi...  I use a gererally neutral grip with every club except my driver... I use a slightly stronger grip with that.

thanks!

mark

[arturo28mx]

My own experience. The position of the left wrist at the top (flat, cupped or bowed) affects the swing plane.

In my case, if I cup my left wrist at the top I get out of plane and in the the downswing the club goes outside-in and I pull the ball.

If I have a flat left wrist at the top (like the great majority of pro's) my club stays on plane and I hit the ball straight.

I suggest you film your swing. Maybe for you a cupped wrist puts your club on plane.

[LocoPatrick]

I don't focus on my left wrist, though I do focus on my right wrist, which I try to get into a "waiter tray" position--like I'm a waiter holding a tray--this makes my left wrist flat. This helps me guarantee during the downswing that my right palm is facing down when the club gets parallel. Otherwise, I'm holding the face wide open at impact and end up with a push fade/slice.

This is the biggest issue with my swing right now.

[saevel25]

to a large extent, it depends on your grip i think and also, what you try to accomplish or correct. tough to generalize.

I would agree with this to some extend. I am sure it is much more dependent on the golfer. I wouldn't say that a weak or strong grip tendency is toward bowing or cupped. Zach Johnson has a slight cupping of the left wrist due to his very strong grip. Yet someone like Dustin Johnson bows his wrist a ton, and he has a strong grip. Tiger is very much a neutral grip and gets to a flat left wrist. Yet Hogan was a neutral-ish grip and had a very cupped left wrist at the top.

To remove what you may consider anatomically neutral from play:

By flat I mean flat with no cupping whatsoever; so that the back of your hand and back of your wrist form a 180* line.

And of course this is all with a neutral grip in mind.

Do you cup your wrist at all golfdad?

I wouldn't take it with that logic. I would say, what ever your left wrist is at address. Being a stronger left hand starts off more cupped than a weaker grip (this also depends if a golfer holds it more in the finger or palm as well, more in the hand grips I think will look flatter). I would say from that position, maintaining it is a neutral setting. Then if you cup it more versus bowing it depends on the golfer.

Honestly I don't think it is something you should worry about. I do think that having a neutral position at the top makes it easier to effect the path in the downswing. If you have a cupped left wrist, and want to try drop the club inside, it might be difficult because the drop to the inside move is a bow action.

[mvmac]

Absolutely necessary......oh wait

[boogielicious]

I've tried flatten the wrist at A4, but I did not seem to have any more control of the club face.  I do motorcycle my left wrist a small amount just past A4 and this helps keep control of the club face.  I seem to make better contact with this too. I don't focus on it that much though and it is not my priority item that I am working on with my instructor at the moment.

[Brakkus]

I didn't worry about it because of threads like this articles and pictures like above. However I have always had a high ball flight and suspected I had a flip. Contrasting the feels of flat and cupped at the top I started hitting balls. Even went as far as adding the turn of wrist into that from cupped in transition. It certainly feels more comfortable to have the club resting in your palm more with cupping particularly if you have a stronger grip. Ask yourself will that cup go by impact when the wrist needs to be flat or bowed. I thought it would but after actually working on flattening it at the top I put myself in a better position on the way down. The effect on the driver is staggering because you get the club more under the hands at impact. My opinion is do it in transition to flat or when you actually get to the top.

[Patch]

I don't have an opinion on a flat left wrist at the top for other golfers, since some golfers don't do this, and still score well. In my swing I think a correct position at the top requires a some what flat wrist at the top. If I have my club in the correct position at the top, for my swing, then most of the time it will be in the correct position at the impact position.

My reasoning is this. If my left wrist is not some what flat at the top, then my club face is in the wrong position at the top, and to get it back to a correct impact position at the ball, I would have to make some sort of compensation(s) (extra moves) on my down swing to deliver the club face on the ball, that is square to my line of play. Since I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to practice  down swing compensations, I don't want to worry about any of them them. My own "KISS" down swing so to speak.

Another reason I want my left wrist some what flat at the top, is that if I don't,  then my left hand grip might open up a little, which would weaken it, which would allow my dominant right hand to take over to soon.  For me this would cause me to throw the club, and/or hit from the top.. Also, if my left hand grip loosens on the club handle at the top, then when I start my down swing, I would try to close it, which again would cause me other problems on the down swing. Maybe even a smothered club face at impact.

I like to guide/pull the club down with my left hand, and arm, and I don't want my right hand to do anything until I am at least half way (+)  down in my down swing.

Just my own swing's,  swinging thoughts.