Flat Left Wrist thoughts:

[divot dave]

disclaimer: although I am a lefty and this thread should read "Flat Right Wrist thoughts:", I decided to used the righty-friendly and more common term "Flat Left Wrist".

Being my first year in golf, I've devoted a lot of time to developing my swing as I would like to see my strokes drop as quickly as possible. Recently one of the "eureka" moments I had was when I realized how much I was "cupping" my wrist at the top of my back swing. A little bit of research (on this forum and the web in general) revealed that most good and consistent ball strikers have a flat wrist at the top.

I found the adjustment a little awkward at first but within a few trips to the driving range it became more natural. Here's what changed immediately:

1. my distance shot thru the roof and required less effort to do so.

2. ball contact was cleaner (far less fat shots)

3. Arc (trajectory) was greatly improved

4. I began hitting draws with relative ease instead of fighting fades/pushes/slices

5. In order to prevent pulls or hooks, I ended up changing my grip to being more neutral/slightly weak

6. Much less wrist pain after consecutive days of heavy golf activity.

7. Greatly improved accuracy

With regards to the immediate increase in distance I also have this thought: One of the last actions in the golf swing that helps generate club head speed is the unhinging of the wrist. When I cup my wrist, I noticed that my range of motion in terms of hinging is very limited as compared to when it is flat. An observation I believe helps to explain the drastic change in my distance.

Can any of you swing guru's out there confirm (or correct) the validity of these thoughts/observations as relating to the use of a flat wrist at the top of the swing?

Thanks!

ps. whatever the case, these results have successfully translated to the golf course as I'm hitting fairways and gir's with much more regularity.

[AmazingWhacker]

I'm no swing guru - but I had a similar Eureka moment with my left wrist.  My teacher pointed it out to me that it was really cupped in the backswing.  Flattening it also felt really wierd to me at first - like I had to force it to stay flat - the real Eureka moment came when I realized that I shouldn't be trying for force my left wrist flat at all - I should change my swing so that my left wrist tends to stay flat . .which, for me at least, meant to stop taking it back way inside primarily . .and also to turn more in the backswing.

Like you - I also gained about 2 clubs worth distance just for this one move alone, started to be able to hit draws sometimes, better trajectory and more solid contact.  I didn't really get any more accurate - at least I didnt hit many more greens.  It is possibly the single biggest improvement I've made to my swing so far.

[jcivichb]

im having trouble picturing what you are talking about as far as flat vs cupped wrist- do you mean like not bending your wrists in the swing?

http://www.golfdigest.com/images/instruction/inar02_sergioswing.jpg

like the sixth picture his left wrist is bent pretty far?....... my friend doesnt bend his wrists at all in his swing i thought that was weird....can you post pics like "cupped:" and flat?

[Beachcomber]

Good to hear you had some success with flattening the wrist. You should monitor that it is flat at impact too - more important than being flat at the top tbh.

[hanalei]

im having trouble picturing what you are talking about as far as flat vs cupped wrist- do you mean like not bending your wrists in the swing?

http://www.golfdigest.com/images/instruction/inar02_sergioswing.jpg

like the sixth picture his left wrist is bent pretty far?....... my friend doesnt bend his wrists at all in his swing i thought that was weird....can you post pics like "cupped:" and flat?

That's a good example, I keep hearing flat wrists but at the top of his swing u clearly see his wrist is bent downward, I see most pros do this... I naturally do the same and been previously misled by this flat wrist mention... Guess it doesn't apply to the top of the backswing..

[dereckbc]

Flat lead wrist only applies if you use the modern golf two-plane swing. One-Plane swingers or turners Supinate ( flatten) their lead wrist at the top of the back swing, and Pronate through impact when they release the club. If they do not they hit the dreaded double cross left pulled snap hook for right handers.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by dereckbc

Flat lead wrist only applies if you use the modern golf two-plane swing. One-Plane swingers or turners Supinate ( flatten) their lead wrist at the top of the back swing, and Pronate through impact when they release the club. If they do not they hit the dreaded double cross left pulled snap hook for right handers.

That isn't correct.  Although, it might be because you are interpreting "flat left wrist" as being something different than it actually is.  Your wrist can be arched, flat, or cupped at impact and still be OK, but the key is that the shaft and lead arm are basically in a straight line at impact.  Flat left wrist means you have forward shaft lean, and you aren't flipping.

Any really good golfer out there has a "flat left wrist" at impact, no matter what type of swing pattern they use.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

That isn't correct.  Although, it might be because you are interpreting "flat left wrist" as being something different than it actually is.  Your wrist can be arched, flat, or cupped at impact and still be OK, but the key is that the shaft and lead arm are basically in a straight line at impact.  Flat left wrist means you have forward shaft lean, and you aren't flipping.

Any really good golfer out there has a "flat left wrist" at impact, no matter what type of swing pattern they use.

Though that's entirely correct, I think this thread is talking about the wrist conditions at A4.

And to that, we see golfers with flat wrist conditions at A4 as well as dorsiflexed and palmar flexed. It matters what they do from there, and some are more comfortable (GMac, DJ on the palmar, Hogan on the slightly dorsiflexed, etc.) to golfers than others depending on grip, desired shot shape, etc.

Obviously the position of your wrist at A4 has an effect on what you do at A7, but A7 is where it really matters - shaft roughly inline (not past) left shoulder line down to the ball.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by iacas

Though that's entirely correct, I think this thread is talking about the wrist conditions at A4.

And to that, we see golfers with flat wrist conditions at A4 as well as dorsiflexed and palmar flexed. It matters what they do from there, and some are more comfortable (GMac, DJ on the palmar, Hogan on the slightly dorsiflexed, etc.) to golfers than others depending on grip, desired shot shape, etc.

Obviously the position of your wrist at A4 has an effect on what you do at A7, but A7 is where it really matters - shaft roughly inline (not past) left shoulder line down to the ball.

My apologies.  I was only thinking of impact while those I was "correcting" were also discussing A4.  Whoops.

[divot dave]

Originally Posted by jcivichb

im having trouble picturing what you are talking about as far as flat vs cupped wrist- do you mean like not bending your wrists in the swing?

http://www.golfdigest.com/images/instruction/inar02_sergioswing.jpg

like the sixth picture his left wrist is bent pretty far?....... my friend doesnt bend his wrists at all in his swing i thought that was weird....can you post pics like "cupped:" and flat?

example of flat:

example of cupped:

[divot dave]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

Good to hear you had some success with flattening the wrist. You should monitor that it is flat at impact too - more important than being flat at the top tbh.

good advice, thx

[Kujan]

I ended up changing my grip to being more neutral/slightly weak...

You weakened your grip to get this flat wrist at the top. It's probably flat at setup as well. With the strong grip I've been using the wrist is cupped from setup and to the top.

[divot dave]

Originally Posted by Kujan

You weakened your grip to get this flat wrist at the top. It's probably flat at setup as well. With the strong grip I've been using the wrist is cupped from setup and to the top.

Not exactly, I was able to flatten it even with a strong grip, but for some reason I found that after flattening I was more inclined to over-draw/pull/hook. So I weakened my grip to something more comfortable.

It may be flat at setup sometimes, honestly, I haven't paid that much attention to what its doing at setup. Mind you, I'm no swing guru myself... still learning the ropes on a lot of the mechanical nuances and their effects.