Flat Left Wrist

[lm1262]

All i can say is, WOW.

I have been golfing for 3.5 months now after finishing up my baseball career and have gotten my handicap pretty low all things considered.  However, I have been getting frustrated on the course with inconsistent contact as well as too many fat shots.  I know that I have not had a flat wrist and that I flip a little through impact, but I was planning on working on that this winter.

However, after shooting a 96 yesterday after 5 straight rounds in the low 80's I decided to try and finally work on keeping a flat wrist. All I can say is that this should have been the first thing I worked on.  My club distances instantly went up over a club length and it seemed effortless.  Also, I don't know if it is related at all but it seemed to sink up my body in the swing much better as well and I was able to get a much better transfer to the front side.

Basically this is just a post out of excitement, along with trying to encourage fellow players who have a flip in their swing or a big cupped wrist to try and work on the flat wrist.  I'm looking forward to practicing this a lot and hopefully see my handicap drop again. Nothing better than seeing a nice divot out in front of the ball consistently for once.

[boil3rmak3r]

Yesterday you shot 96, you worked on a flat left wrist, and today you are posting these results? That's a pretty darn quick turnaround.... Two winters ago, I decided to focus on eliminating the cupping of my left wrist while hitting into a net. It took a LOT of swings, but I finally got it engrained. As a semi-low handicap player, it was one of the best 2 months of work I've done on my swing in a long time. My ability to get my hands forward and control the low point of my swing (along with a steady head), are much better. Some people believe that you just let your hands be relaxed, don't even think about them, and they'll lag naturally and square the clubface at impact. If they are hitting the right positions with this thought process, I envy them. It didn't come natural to me. I like Erik's term of "educated hands". If your natural swing doesn't produce a great wrist position at impact, you'll have to re-educate them. After a while, it'll become natural and you won't have to think much about it... I think you're on to something...

[lm1262]

I played 9 this evening a shot +5.  I was +3 after 3 holes and then the irons started to come together.  At first, my swing thought throughout the entire swing was keeping a flat wrist and because of that it kind of took away from what the rest of my body was supposed to be doing and wasn't getting my weight forward all the way.  After a few holes I would take two practice swings just focusing on flat wrist and then when I addressed the ball I wouldnt think about it at all and I started to hit some nice shots.  Driver and short game was on all night for sure which saved me a few times.

About what you said about how I seemed to have picked it up rather quickly, thats kind of how golf has been so far for me.  After playing baseball for the last 19 years competitively year round, I was used to practicing or playing every day.  Literally the day after my senior season ended I went out golfing with some buddies for the first time.  I caught the bug instantly and have practiced or played all but a few days over those 3.5 months.  The first few times I wouldnt even keep score because it was so bad, but after I found this site I started working on drills and was able to lose a lot of my "baseball" swing.

After a couple weeks of practice I broke 100 and havent seen it again.  Lately, I have shot mostly low-mid 80's along with 76 and 78.  I mainly just attribute this due to the hours of practice every day and just the general hand eye coordination I have from playing baseball for so long.  Everything is still a work in progress, like most people I'll go out and just not have it that day, but that just motivates me to practice more.  I know I'll most likely never be a scratch golfer, but I would love in a year or two to just play in the low to mid single digits.

Now my only regret was buying higher handicap clubs with a big ol cavity and not allowing me to work the ball well and I don't have much confidence standing over them.

Thank God for golf and jobs that allow 14 days off a month

Sorry for novel.

[JetFan1983]

I like Erik's term of "educated hands".

I'm pretty sure that's Homer Kelly... although who knows if he's the first one to say it that way. But he uses that language in the Golfing Machine.

Good job to the OP. Wish I was shooting in the 70s after 3.5 months. Must be nice!

[iacas]

I'm pretty sure that's Homer Kelly...

Yeah, wasn't me.

[AmazingWhacker]

It took me a looong time to aquire a flat left wrists but I experienced the same results as you . . at least 1 club length longer through all clubs and . .hey . .a divot after the ball finally!

I'm gonna say it's taken me 2 solid years of low-moderate effort (practicing into a net a few times per week, going to range a few times per month, taking lessons every few months).  I still work on it all the time.  Getting a flat left wrist in the backswing was pretty easy . .getting a flat left wrist through and after impact took (and continues to take) some effort.

But I hit a drive down the middle the other day that I measured at 267 with a range finder.  That feat would've been as impossible to me as landing on Mars 2 years ago . .so it's definitely been worth the effort.  I've worked on other things beside the flat left wrist but that was probably the most important thing for me and it acted as a catalyst to other swing improvements.

[Mr Smell Good]

Can you go into a little detail on how you "worked on keeping a flat wrist" please?  Does that mean you did some drill that helped make it click for you?

[saevel25]

Got to watch, how you grip the club effects if you should have a flat left wrist at the top of the backswing. If you have a stronger grip you can get away with a slightly bowed left wrist at the top, because your wrist starts off bowed at address.

As for flat left wrist at impact. As long as your hands are ahead of the ball, mostly keeping the clubhead inline with hands and your left shoulder (or the hands slightly bowed forward), your doing ok. You can control the clubface to do what you want with the ball under those conditions easily as making a few set up adjustments.

As for drills, check out the 5 keys thread. For me, I like to get into the impact position and just work slowly from the inside and focus on keeping my hands forward and really work that movement in slow methodical motions. The first three keys will help you get your left wrist forward, it will clean up a lot of the compensation stuff. But, just work on slow movements, mimicking the impact conditions you want. Preset weight forward, rotate your body back a bit, and work on really moving your hands slowly through the impact zone. Its all about developing that feel unique to you that works.

[AmazingWhacker]

Can you go into a little detail on how you "worked on keeping a flat wrist" please?  Does that mean you did some drill that helped make it click for you?

I'm not sure if you're asking me . .but it was no 1 drill for me.  My pro uses a kind of "force it till you get it" approach . .so in lessons he would have me force my left wrist flat.  He would have me do this and hit balls with a traffic cone off my left foot - the idea being to miss the cone.  Eventually I learned to change my backswing so I didn't have to force my left wrist flat.

To get flat through and after impact took a really, really, long time.  For one thing - I have no natural talent or ability . .never played any sports but golf, very non-athletic, non-coordinated guy.  I tried forcing it for ages but just couldn't do it.  I had several lessons where he tried to get me to do it but I just couldn't.  He tried to get me to force it by intentionally rolling my wrists through impact and think of getting the club up high in the follow through . .but, like I said, I just couldnt get it.  I would hit massive pulls -for the most part.

I don't even know what it was that got me finally to be able to do it.  It was definitely several things . .the last of which is having a feeling coming into the ball like I'm skipping a rock or throwing sidearm.  Also fixed along the way was my too-flat backswing plane, no more swaying hips, my too flat-follow-through . .and probably several other things I can't remember.  One day, not too long ago, I just noticed that my hands are now in the exact position he wanted me to be in at 3/4 follow-through.  The more I have that side-arm feeling and get a good "snap" through impact, the more flat my left wrist tends to be at 3/4 follow-though.

[Strandly]

Once I saw my slice vanish as a result of the flat left wrist I needed no other incentive.

[AmazingWhacker]

Once I saw my slice vanish as a result of the flat left wrist I needed no other incentive.

Agree!  There's nothing worse than stepping up to the tee knowing that you are going to hit a big banana slice.  These days . .I know I might pull it . .or hook it . .or even pull-fade it a bit .. but the banana slice is gone.  That's a great feeling . .. and I owe it *all* to keeping a flat (or slightly bowed but definitely not cupped) left wrist.

There's just no way to play banana slice.

[JetFan1983]

Obviously I agree the flat left wrist is key, but I just wanted to remind everyone what helps makes the flat wrist possible, probable, and/or easier to achieve.

From Erik:

Flat Left Wrist - With a steady head helping the golfer to get his weight forward at impact, the third key becomes simpler. Keys 1 and 2 feed into Key 3.

This is obvious to some here, but maybe not to all? Thought I'd include this in the thread.

[Ernest Jones]

Obviously I agree the flat left wrist is key, but I just wanted to remind everyone what helps makes the flat wrist possible, probable, and/or easier to achieve. From Erik: This is obvious to some here, but maybe not to all? Thought I'd include this in the thread.

Great point. For me, keys 1 and 2 are the very first things to break down when I'm working on something new. My priority pieces are all related to key 4 but I constantly have to step back and rebuild my foundation in keys 1 and 2 as they tend to slip when I try new sensations. FWIW I've never really worked directly on key 3 as I find it to be very much a product of 1 and 2 and, in my experience, working directly on key 3 leads to a loss of speed and "steering" which is definitely not good. YMMV.

[JetFan1983]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetFan1983

Obviously I agree the flat left wrist is key, but I just wanted to remind everyone what helps makes the flat wrist possible, probable, and/or easier to achieve.

From Erik:

This is obvious to some here, but maybe not to all? Thought I'd include this in the thread.

Great point. For me, keys 1 and 2 are the very first things to break down when I'm working on something new. My priority pieces are all related to key 4 but I constantly have to step back and rebuild my foundation in keys 1 and 2 as they tend to slip when I try new sensations.

FWIW I've never really worked directly on key 3 as I find it to be very much a product of 1 and 2 and, in my experience, working directly on key 3 leads to a loss of speed and "steering" which is definitely not good.

YMMV.

Yea, it pretty much goes the same for me. One can always try to "life hack" the flat left wrist by feeling palmar flexion (wrist bowing) to some degree, but ultimately, keys 1, 2 and 4 play the biggest role in making 3 possible. I think I asked one time why keys no.3 and 4 weren't switched in the overall order... I can't remember the explanation, but I do recall being satisfied with it.

To me it seems, when the diagonal sweet spot path (being on plane) is in place, the club gets less heavy than it would be if one was tipping out or getting steep. The weight of the clubhead would be more so on the trigger finger and thus the golfer would be able to more effortlessly support its dynamic weight.

But anyway... the point is 1 and 2 are critical. But 4 plays a massive role in making 3 something of an effortless "result" more than anything else.

That said, at some time or another, many golfers do need to experiment a bit by directly attacking 3 as well re: palmar flexion, if a big flip is just not going away. But that in itself can be a slippery slope to maneuver if left to one's own devices i.e. no instructor present.

[Ernest Jones]

Yea, it pretty much goes the same for me. One can always try to "life hack" the flat left wrist by feeling palmar flexion (wrist bowing) to some degree, but ultimately, keys 1, 2 and 4 play the biggest role in making 3 possible. I think I asked one time why keys no.3 and 4 weren't switched in the overall order... I can't remember the explanation, but I do recall being satisfied with it. To me it seems, when the diagonal sweet spot path (being on plane) is in place, the club gets less heavy than it would be if one was tipping out or getting steep. The weight of the clubhead would be more so on the trigger finger and thus the golfer would be able to more effortlessly support its dynamic weight. But anyway... the point is 1 and 2 are critical. But 4 plays a massive role in making 3 something of an effortless "result" more than anything else. That said, at some time or another, many golfers do need to experiment a bit by directly attacking 3 as well re: palmar flexion, if a big flip is just not going away. But that in itself can be a slippery slope to maneuver if left to one's own devices i.e. no instructor present.

Yeah I've had some great results by working on a backswing that creates a slightly bowed wrist and then concentrating on maintaining that bow (delivering it) through impact but the good results have been fleeting and I suspect it's a pretty inefficient way to go about it. That's why a good instructor is key, you can find things that seem to work but you may be choosing the most difficult path. Case in point, one of my main issues is standing up through impact so I started working on addressing that specific issue and made some good progress with feeling like my trail ear pointed at the ball at impact but Brian from 5sk pointed out that if worked more at swinging out to the right I would cure the standing up AND fix my path so there are definitely benefits to having someone with better knowledge aiding you in the prioritization if what your working on.

[Duff McGee]

If you guys don't mind, what is the "feeling" of a flat left wrist? This is the biggest issue in my swing and I FINALLY somewhat understand what it means, but when I am or acting slow swings in my backyard I feel like I am barely holding the club with my left hand and that all the pressure is in the right hand. Is that how it would feel to a lifelong flipper?

[Strandly]

If you guys don't mind, what is the "feeling" of a flat left wrist?

Not sure what you mean by this.

To me there wasn't a feeling, I had to literally look at my hand and see what it was doing in order to tell that I was keeping it flat.  And even then it would occasionally slip back into being cupped a little bit.  I've got it pretty well ironed out now and don't really think about it anymore but there was no magic to that, it just takes time to retrain the brain.

[Duff McGee]

I played 9 this evening a shot +5.  I was +3 after 3 holes and then the irons started to come together.  At first, my swing thought throughout the entire swing was keeping a flat wrist and because of that it kind of took away from what the rest of my body was supposed to be doing and wasn't getting my weight forward all the way.  After a few holes I would take two practice swings just focusing on flat wrist and then when I addressed the ball I wouldnt think about it at all and I started to hit some nice shots.  Driver and short game was on all night for sure which saved me a few times. About what you said about how I seemed to have picked it up rather quickly, thats kind of how golf has been so far for me.  After playing baseball for the last 19 years competitively year round, I was used to practicing or playing every day.  Literally the day after my senior season ended I went out golfing with some buddies for the first time.  I caught the bug instantly and have practiced or played all but a few days over those 3.5 months.  The first few times I wouldnt even keep score because it was so bad, but after I found this site I started working on drills and was able to lose a lot of my "baseball" swing. After a couple weeks of practice I broke 100 and havent seen it again.  Lately, I have shot mostly low-mid 80's along with 76 and 78.  I mainly just attribute this due to the hours of practice every day and just the general hand eye coordination I have from playing baseball for so long.  Everything is still a work in progress, like most people I'll go out and just not have it that day, but that just motivates me to practice more.  I know I'll most likely never be a scratch golfer, but I would love in a year or two to just play in the low to mid single digits.   Now my only regret was buying higher handicap clubs with a big ol cavity and not allowing me to work the ball well and I don't have much confidence standing over them. Thank God for golf and jobs that allow 14 days off a month:beer: Sorry for novel.

[quote name="Strandly" url="/t/70200/flat-left-wrist#post_1192500"] Not sure what you mean by this. To me there wasn't a feeling, I had to literally look at my hand and see what it was doing in order to tell that I was keeping it flat.  And even then it would occasionally slip back into being cupped a little bit.  I've got it pretty well ironed out now and don't really think about it anymore but there was no magic to that, it just takes time to retrain the brain. [/quote] It just seems to me that the right wrist cups but the left does not, correct? When I do that, I feel like I'm barely doing anything with my left hand and all the pressure in on my right hand. That is a very foreign feeling to me and I was just wondering if you remember feeling like that too or if that's not the feeling I should be feeling.