Flat left wrist

[drewfus813]

I know this is something that most people have a strong opinion on but I am a little conflicted. I fight a slice with my woods and a fade with my irons. I also have a bowed left wrist at the top of my backswing. I heard that a flat left wrist may help me stop slicing. Any ideas? Thanks

[Beachcomber]

You are slicing the ball... Where is your average contact point on an iron?  Do you find ball marks more toward the toe or heel of the club face?

[MEfree]

A flat right (for me) wrist is something that I have been working on and might help your game also, but a slice is usually caused by swinging across the ball.  You need to figure out why your swing is going out to in to fix this.

[EverythingGolf]

There are several things that can cause a slice, a weak grip, over the top, etc. Post a video of your swing it will help.

[drewfus813]

I hit more often on the heel versus the toe. I do fight an over the top swing, which I am constantly trying to fix. However, even when I come on a better path, I still can't seem to close the club face enough to get it back to square.

[Dr. Slice]

One big that helped me when i was fighting a slice was just having more of a closed grip. When i was neutral, i could see about 2 knuckles on my left hand and when i closed my grip more i could see 3 and possibly even 4. I also closed my right hand a little bit too (righty)

[carpediem4300]

Originally Posted by Dr. Slice

One big that helped me when i was fighting a slice was just having more of a closed grip. When i was neutral, i could see about 2 knuckles on my left hand and when i closed my grip more i could see 3 and possibly even 4. I also closed my right hand a little bit too (righty)

This

My pro keeps telling me my grip is to strong, when its not far off neutral,....yet you analyse the grips of the best tour players and most of them use strong - very strong grips

there was a website that detailed it all but i cant find it now

Also make sure the club is held in the fingers and not the palm, you will never square the club with a palmy grip

[muggs]

Cupping your left wrist (for a right hand player) at the top of your backswing is just one of many things that can cause you to slice. When your wrist is in that position, the face is open at impact. One way to work on this is to put a credit card (a tee works too) in your golf glove so that it sits on top of your wrist. Then make swings. If you're cupping, you'll feel the card.

But like others have said, there are many reasons for a slice. Cupping the left wrist is only one of them, and most likely, it's probably a little further down the list of reason than other things...like improper (weak) grip. I would start there. In my opinion, proper grip and proper grip pressure are the key to a good golf swing. There is more, but having a proper grip with light grip pressure really puts you in a good position to make a good swing. You'll come through impact square and release the club properly.

I would suggest video taping your swing and I'd definitely recommend seeing a pro for a few lessons. Videotaping your swing from a 'down-the-line' perspective will really make a cupped left wrist at the top of your swing apparent.

[AmazingWhacker]

I might not be typical but learning to keep a flat left wrist made an unbelievable improvement in my golf swing.  I was a huge slicer.  I had a video analysis done and the pro said my set up, posture and grip were all good but I was taking the club back way too inside and the clubface was very open at the top of my back swing.  To help me fix this he showed me how to hit shots with a flat left wrist and said "this is going to feel horrible at first".  At first we only worried about my wrist in the backswing - just making sure it was flat or cupped.

It felt so horrible and I couldn't even hit the ball.  But somehow it made this light go on in my head and I realized that I was doing everything completely wrong.  If I make a correct swing and didn't change my spine angle,take the club back too inside, turned enough, etc then it is not a problem to keep a flat left wrist.  If I do take it way inside, stand up, etc, etc, then it is impossible to keep a flat left wrist.  For the next 2 weeks my left wrist became like a Medicus club to me - I practiced swinging in such a way that it could stay flat without tons of effort.

This changed everything!  I lost my slice, stopped hitting huge chunkers, gained 30+ yards on all my clubs and, for the first time in my life I actually feel confident over the ball - even with a driver.  In less than 4 weeks I went from not being able to hit the ball at all and basically being embarrased of how bad I sucked to smashing the ball and having a good time.  I still totally suck but now I suck an average amount instead of a spectacular amount.  It's one thing to learn to strike the ball - quite another to play good golf but now I can actually attempt to do that.

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by drewfus813

I know this is something that most people have a strong opinion on but I am a little conflicted. I fight a slice with my woods and a fade with my irons. I also have a bowed left wrist at the top of my backswing. I heard that a flat left wrist may help me stop slicing. Any ideas? Thanks

If you're slicing there is a good chance the wrist isn't bowed (palmar flexed) or flat at impact.  I'm guessing it looks bowed on the backswing because the left hand grip is too much in your palm, effect how much and the direction the left wrist loads and unloads.  Check your grip first, make sure the heel pad of the left hand is on top of the grip, not on the left side.

[MEfree]

Originally Posted by drewfus813

I hit more often on the heel versus the toe. I do fight an over the top swing, which I am constantly trying to fix. However, even when I come on a better path, I still can't seem to close the club face enough to get it back to square.

Hitting off the heel will tend to cause a slice due to the gearing effect.  Coming over the top will usually tend to cause an OUT to IN swing path which will cause a fade/slice (unless you have the club face even farther left in which case you will hit a pull hook.)

I still fight an over the top move, but I also tend to drop it a bit to the inside AFTER looping it over the top, so this tends to get me back on plane.  I took a series of lessons from what I considered a very good pro who was at the Jim Mclean Golf School in Florida and the first thing he had me work on was a better shaft angle at impact (i.e. a flat left wrist for you).  He also had me shorten my swing as my over the top move came at the end of my backswing when my hands continued to go too far (and over the top).