My evolution from hacker continues... question on swing changes

[NYCGolfer]

So, I really started playing golf seriously a couple of months ago. 4 months ago, I had an extremely severe slice, a reverse pivot, and I was only getting 220 yards of distance on my driver. A month ago, I fixed the reverse pivot about 10 weeks ago, and I was hitting it better and further but it was pretty inconsistant but typically the fade was managable with a horizontal launch angle of between 3 and 5 degrees to the left. About a month ago, I strengthened my left hand a bit and my right and a lot so that they were on the opposite sides of the club. I was having difficulty keeping my wrist straight at the top of my backswing and I was not able to get a full wrist hinge before I made this change.

This was a HUGE improvement. I was coming from the outside in with a horizontal launch angle of about 2-7 degrees but I was only pulling it with no side spin at all. My ball speeds were getting to something I would consider respectable -- between 144-150 -- and even though my launch angle was fairly low at between 10-13 degrees, I was getting excellent distance.

The swing was doing serious damage to my left wrist, though, because I had such a strong grip I wasn't rolling my arms to keep the club face from closing. As such, after my right wrist released -- which gave me the extra ball speed and distance -- it would make my left wrist hyper-extend backwards in the follow through which is where the damage was coming from. I made this revelation a couple weeks ago and I started to let my right arm roll over my left through impact and the follow through which has resulted in a very serious case of the duck hooks (this makes sense since the strong grip creates a shut face at the top and through my downswing).

Anyway, I have a number a questions that you all can answer that will hopefully help me. #1. How can I hinge my wrist at the top with a weaker grip? #2. How can I keep my wrist flat at the top of my backswing with a weaker grip? How do I come down from the inside without starting my downswing with my arms?

I'll try to take get someone to videotape my swing from a few different angles so that you all can see what it looks like.

[hacker23]

Originally Posted by NYCGolfer

Anyway, I have a number a questions that you all can answer that will hopefully help me. #1. How can I hinge my wrist at the top with a weaker grip? #2. How can I keep my wrist flat at the top of my backswing with a weaker grip? 3) How do I come down from the inside without starting my downswing with my arms?

1) w/ a weak grip the wrist hinge should happen naturally at the top.

2) again, a weak grip should promote good habits including flat wrist at the top.

3) that's exactly how you come inside (when you don't start w/ your arms). Instead, start from the bottom up, clear the hips, and let passive arms/grip drop; thus promoting an inside swing.

I've improved my game greatly with a passive arms/grip. This promotes the hole notion of "let the club do the work".

[NYCGolfer]

Hey, thanks for the reply. I don't understand how the wrist hinges at the top of the backswing with a weak grip. My wrist breaks and bows up and opens the clubface like crazy when I have a weak grip. (maybe there is something physically wrong with my wrist?) Also, because my right hand is weak, I can't use it to help hinge my left wrist at the top.

As for #3. I'm a bit confused with what you're saying. I do start my down swing by clearing my hips which starts pulling my left shoulder back around my body, which, in turn, throws my left arm out and around. I do have a relatively flat back swing with my arm plane and shoulder plane essentially the same.  Should I let the tension in my arms go before I start rotating my hips back around, or should I start my rotation first, and then try to let the arms drop?

[hacker23]

Originally Posted by NYCGolfer

Hey, thanks for the reply. I don't understand how the wrist hinges at the top of the backswing with a weak grip.

Should I let the tension in my arms go before I start rotating my hips back around, or should I start my rotation first, and then try to let the arms drop?

Maybe we have different ideas of what the term "weak grip" is. To me "weak grip" is the perfect grip (a grip where I have solid grasp on the club yet the wrist joints are "well oiled"). With this in mind, the weight of the club head and the momentum of the back swing creates a natural hinge on top.

On the down swing, everything happens from the floor up. so as your hips are clearing, your arms should follow and start dropping. A good delay or lag on the top of the back swing helps this sequence out greatly.