wrist turn with the driver

[clearwaterms]

Last week I went to see a pro, he video taped my swing and showed me the problem with my driver was that I was leaving my club face open at impact. The reason was that I wasn't turning over my wrists. That evening after my lesson I headed over to the range and hit a small bucket that was by and large very sucessful. I didn't hit any drives with a draw, but most were straight or had a slight fade. On friday (the day after) I went and played 9 holes, and again, most of my drives were straight or had a slight fade. Today however, everything started to fall back into the same old swing faults. I concentrated on closing my wrists prior to impact only that it would result in a bad over the top swing path.

So in short, when I focus on closing my wrists, it results in casting the club. What am I doing wrong? Am I gripping the club to hard? I will try to post the video of my swing on youtube in a few hours to see if you guys can take a look at it.

Thanks

[clearwaterms]

Here is my swing, the video on the right is the driver. again, the problem is when I try to close my wrists it causes an over the top casting path.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Well throwing your hands at the ball (which is what it seems like youre doing) and rotating your forearms through the shot are two different things. I really dont know how to explain it, but turning the club over doesnt have much do do with your wrists at all. Your body and forearms turn over the club, not so much your hands.

[clearwaterms]

Well throwing your hands at the ball (which is what it seems like youre doing) and rotating your forearms through the shot are two different things. I really dont know how to explain it, but turning the club over doesnt have much do do with your wrists at all. Your body and forearms turn over the club, not so much your hands.

i don't understand what you mean by throwing my hands at the ball vs. rotating my forearms.

[DavidFehertysBike]

i don't understand what you mean by throwing my hands at the ball vs. rotating my forearms.

Put your hands together in front of you like youre going to clap, and then turn your left forearm under and right over. Thats the general idea. It seems like your flipping your hands through the ball, and thats not really what you want to do unless you have impeccable timing. But its a total body rotation move. Hips shoulders and arms all have a part in turning the club over through impact. Swing through the ball like its not even there.

[Elvisliveson]

Well throwing your hands at the ball (which is what it seems like youre doing) and rotating your forearms through the shot are two different things. I really dont know how to explain it, but turning the club over doesnt have much do do with your wrists at all. Your body and forearms turn over the club, not so much your hands.

That's my understanding too. It's the rotation of your torso which in turn cause the rotation of your forearms. You shouldn't really be doing anything consciously with your hands.

[clearwaterms]

Put your hands together in front of you like youre going to clap, and then turn your left forearm under and right over. Thats the general idea. It seems like your flipping your hands through the ball, and thats not really what you want to do unless you have impeccable timing. But its a total body rotation move. Hips shoulders and arms all have a part in turning the club over through impact. Swing through the ball like its not even there.

I understand what you mean by clapping now flip the arms, I assume that the advice should be flipped for a lefty.

I apologize if I appear dense, but this is frustrating because it seems like I am not grasping the idea of what I am doing wrong right now. I understand the right way to do it, but don't understand what I am doing wrong. Looking at the left picture, that is me with a pitching wedge, does that swing look correct? now if I turn my forearms over like you are suggesting, will that fix it?

[clearwaterms]

so I went to the range today, and worked mostly with the driver.

Let me start by thanking you and working on thinking of turning over my forearms and keeping a very light grip pressure helped to get the ball close to the target line. it still faded, but was much more controllable now, and another thing that I noticed was that my feet were not always facing the target line causing my swing to get inside or outside of the swing plane. When I lined up everything at the target my slice became a fade. If i worked on keeping light wrist pressure and good tempo it was ALMOST straight, and i hit a few slight draws. But the majority of the shots were still a strong fade. I am still not sure what I am doing wrong, any ideas?

[Marinemike]

You're standing on the wrong side of the ball! Switch over to the other side and that fade becomes a draw.

Yeah...lefty humor...I don't like it either. Seriously, it sounds like you're on the right track. I constantly tell myself that swing changes take several rollercoaster weeks to get down. Persoannly, I embrace the fade. So many people I get paired with complain about how most courses are set up for a righty draw and how they hate their lives because they can't do it. I just smile and nod and stick it on the left side of the fairway.

[clearwaterms]

You're standing on the wrong side of the ball! Switch over to the other side and that fade becomes a draw.

The only reason I don't want to get comfortable with the fade is that a fade can turn into a power slice (you know the one that puts you on the wrong side of the wrong fairway) I don't expect to have a gentle draw either, but consistent straight to slight fade would be ideal. I did notice that when I got my face closed sucessfully I hit the ball ALOT lower.

[shortstop20]

Depending on course setup I would rather hit a slice than a hook. I have been hitting alot of hooks lately and am finding myself in trouble all the time. Hooks have more roll which usually just gets the ball deeper into trouble.

Today I was hitting it great though, hopefully it continues.

[PowerPutter]

To someone who has just been swinging through the ball, what will working on this turning of the hands do for me? I tend to slice on my hardest swings.

[enduro]

Yeah at 1:16 and 1:18 your club face is wide open. It becomes insanely hard to try and release through it with that little time.

Try starting your release earlier in the downswing.

[TN94z]

Last week I went to see a pro, he video taped my swing and showed me the problem with my driver was that I was leaving my club face open at impact. The reason was that I wasn't turning over my wrists. That evening after my lesson I headed over to the range and hit a small bucket that was by and large very sucessful. I didn't hit any drives with a draw, but most were straight or had a slight fade. On friday (the day after) I went and played 9 holes, and again, most of my drives were straight or had a slight fade. Today however, everything started to fall back into the same old swing faults. I concentrated on closing my wrists prior to impact only that it would result in a bad over the top swing path.

You are probably concentrating so much on turning your wrists, that your swing has turned to all arms. The wrist turn (or release) only works with proper hip movement.

Well throwing your hands at the ball (which is what it seems like youre doing) and rotating your forearms through the shot are two different things. I really dont know how to explain it, but turning the club over doesnt have much do do with your wrists at all. Your body and forearms turn over the club, not so much your hands.

Well, a good way to help people get the feeling is to tell them that their knuckles need to rotate toward the ground. This is done by the forearms, but it helps "visually" explain what is happening.

I did notice that when I got my face closed sucessfully I hit the ball ALOT lower.

That is because you are no longer adding loft to the club like you were before. When you have the proper release, it delofts the club more that your original swing.

To someone who has just been swinging through the ball, what will working on this turning of the hands do for me? I tend to slice on my hardest swings.

It will stop the slice for one thing. But remember, this works in conjunction with other things. I simple wrist turn won't turn your driver around.

[wannabe]

you could try the extreme route of exaggerating. Excessively strengthen your grip (more knuckles on top), close the face at the top by 'bowing' your lead wrist at the top, then sense that you're holding that position throughout the downswing.

See if that doesn't give you a wild hook/draw, then back off the grip position until you find what works.

[clearwaterms]

Yeah at 1:16 and 1:18 your club face is wide open. It becomes insanely hard to try and release through it with that little time.

When you say wrist release what do you mean? What am I releasing? I am not holding any muscles tight.

[JackLee]

In your downswing, your shoulders are moving toward your target past where they were at address. That's jamming your swing, and giving you no chance to rotate the clubface correctly through impact.