Attention all slicers!!

[golfaddiction]

So I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do here, because my instructor, who is a 12 year Canadian PGA member and an assistant coach on the University golf team, told me that I needed to rotate my wrists in order to get rid of my slice. I mentioned my out-in swing path at the beginning of the lesson, and he said he was more concerned with my wrists than with the swing path. I was planning on going back to him for more lessons, but I really don't know what to do now.

There is nothing wrong with rolling your wrists. Most PGA players do it. I think the issue many people on this thread had was that it can throw off timing and potentially cause serious problems. But the PGA pro has seen your swing, and everyone's swing is different. If your instructor is reputable and you think he's helping, I wouldn't hesitate to go back to him, rather than take advice from a collection of posts on an internet thread.

[sean_miller]

There is nothing wrong with rolling your wrists. Most PGA players do it. I think the issue many people on this thread had was that it can throw off timing and potentially cause serious problems. But the PGA pro has seen your swing, and everyone's swing is different. If your instructor is reputable and you think he's helping, I wouldn't hesitate to go back to him, rather than take advice from a collection of posts on an internet thread.

Do you actually consciously roll your wrists, or is it something you'd pick up on video? The arms will naturally fold and unfold during the swing (left arm straight on the way back folds after impact - and the right arm does virtually the opposite). It may appear as wrist rolling, but if you use it as a swingthought, I can picture hitting a lot of foul balls down the third base line.

[Shanks A Million]

So I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do here, because my instructor, who is a 12 year Canadian PGA member and an assistant coach on the University golf team, told me that I needed to rotate my wrists in order to get rid of my slice. I mentioned my out-in swing path at the beginning of the lesson, and he said he was more concerned with my wrists than with the swing path. I was planning on going back to him for more lessons, but I really don't know what to do now.

Find a new instructor. That's bad advice, and I doubt I'd ever even consider taking lessons from a person who tells you to roll your wrists instead of fixing a club path issue.

The wrists should naturally release. The right side moving through forces the right hand over the left in the followthrough. If you are on the right path, the hands will automatically roll over to the finish position. When my swing path gets bad, my left arm bends too much and I flip the club. When I am on plane, they don't. Bad: Better: See the difference? In the "bad" photo, the hands are too close to the body, because the club was moving too steeply, so the hands couldn't clear. The "better" photo, the hands have come from the inside on a shallower path, and the arms have room to release the club, which makes the wrists rotate naturally.

[golfaddiction]

Wouldn't this depend on whether the club comes open at some point during the swing? I don't consciously roll my wrists, but I do start my swing by opening the club with my hands a bit. From here, the wrists will have to come back around at some point for me to square the clubface.

If you are square throughout the swing, and are being taught the correct positions to keep square throughout the whole swing, then no, you definitely should not roll the wrists back over. The ultimate goal is to be square and on line at impact, but I believe there is more than one way to make this happen.

[Shanks A Million]

Wouldn't this depend on whether the club comes open at some point during the swing? I don't consciously roll my wrists, but I do start my swing by opening the club with my hands a bit. From here, the wrists will have to come back around at some point for me to square the clubface.

If the club comes open during the swing, you're adding a timing element. You want to keep the club on plane as it comes back, and on plane as it goes through. Some people open or shut it a touch, like David Duval, Iain Poulter, Dustin Johnson, for example. DD and DJ have it shut a bit, IP has it open. They are adding a bit of timing to their swings, of course, but they have no trouble playing well with these faults.

[Koth]

I don't remember if he specifically said "roll your wrists", but I think it's the same thing everyone is talking about in this thread. What he said specifically was that the club toe should be pointing up at the half backswing, and pointing up again at the half follow-through. He also talked a lot about releasing the club on the follow-through, which I believe is a motion like throwing the club but not letting go of it.

[StricklandPropane]

So I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do here, because my instructor, who is a 12 year Canadian PGA member and an assistant coach on the University golf team, told me that I needed to rotate my wrists in order to get rid of my slice. I mentioned my out-in swing path at the beginning of the lesson, and he said he was more concerned with my wrists than with the swing path. I was planning on going back to him for more lessons, but I really don't know what to do now.

Shoot. I'm in the same boat. My instructor gives me a drill where I rotate my wrists and get my forearms to touch. Then I take a swing without really thinking about it or physically trying to rotate. Since I've learned this I've had no slice and am usually hitting the ball straight. I'm finally hitting fairways, but now it sounds like this guy is no good. He's a PGA Tour Pro Instructor or whatever.

How do you find a good instructor? He also has me work on my swing path.

[Shanks A Million]

Shoot. I'm in the same boat. My instructor gives me a drill where I rotate my wrists and get my forearms to touch. Then I take a swing without really thinking about it or physically trying to rotate. Since I've learned this I've had no slice and am usually hitting the ball straight. I'm finally hitting fairways, but now it sounds like this guy is no good. He's a PGA Tour Pro Instructor or whatever.

Getting the forearms close together is totally different (and a great, great drill), and it has to do with not taking it back too flat, or chicken-winging, some major sources of the slice. These are closely related to the outside in action anyway, they both have to do with bringing the club over the top, one is a reason, the other a result.

What we're talking about is consciously trying to roll the wrists over, that's bad.

[StricklandPropane]

Getting the forearms close together is totally different (and a great, great drill), and it has to do with not taking it back too flat, or chicken-winging, some major sources of the slice. These are closely related to the outside in action anyway, they both have to do with bringing the club over the top, one is a reason, the other a result.

Ok I think the distinction just clicked. He's recommending (or at least wrote it that way) to kind of break the wrists like a baseball swing. That's actually what I was doing until learning the forearm touch drill (no idea what it's really called). What would that be called if not turning/rolling the wrists though? Don't the wrists roll along with the forearms? Is there an area of this site that goes over all the terminology like over the top, chicken winging, etc?