Hinging Wrist with Driver

[BrianJ]

I have made a lot of progress this year with golf, including my first sub-90 round (85).  I feel like I'm having an issue with my driver tho.  I'm going to do my best to describe it, I'm wondering if its a bad thing or not.

As my backswing is transitioning to my downswing, my right wrist is hinging up a bit which makes the club feel like its a little loose in my hand.  The shaft most definitely rocks back a small bit, I can feel it happening in my right hand.  It seems to have the effect of closing the club face, and I feel like its pulling the ball a little left.  This is not producing a massive hook or anything of the sort, and it is 100% controllable.  However when I purposefully don't do it, I tend to slice it more than hitting it straight, and the swing just doesn't feel "natural".

All this being said, I guess I'm just wondering if there is any *play* in the hands or wrist in a swing of the driver for anyone else.  Or is it pretty much just a tight grip without any wriggle room?  Any thoughts?

[Stonecold]

That sounds alot like what I am doing.

I described it as a "late" hinging motion.

The basic advise is if it's not effecting the shot don't worry to much about it.

Depends on what kind of swing you have. Some swing schemes produce delayed wrist cock, others produce early wrist cock.

Jim McLean talks about wrist cock as a swing element in his June Golf Digest article, Are You a Thrower or a Dragger?

According to McLean, throwers (Rickie Fowler and Tom Watson) have a delayed wrist cock, while draggers (Luke Donald and Nick Faldo) have an early wrist cock. Needless to say, both throwers and draggers win golf tournaments.

As Erik hinted, if you're hitting the ball OK, don't worry about it.

[Stretch]

Pretty sure that you are describing what is technically termed "float loading" -- which is to say that you are not fully completing the wrist cock during the backswing and instead using the change of direction into the downswing to fully "set" the wrists at the top. As you do that, the club is going to feel light or, as you describe, "loose". There's absolutely nothing wrong with this, it's a move many great players have used to create lag and, as the wise man says, lag is like love -- you can never have too much.

[BrianJ]

Ok great thanks for the good info.  This does sound like what I'm doing.  I will carry on with it, I think the biggest detriment it was having to my swing was when it was happening mid-swing, my mind was concentrating on it, rather than a nice smooth tempo.