Bowed wrist in the backswing

[Rjx12]

I struggle with a slice.  I naturally cup my lead wrist slightly and I tend to hit it square when I consciously keep my wrist flatter in the backswing.

Im wondering how to get that bowed wrist similar to Jordan or DJ.  I've heard it's just a product of a strong grip, but I have no issues cupping with the strongest of grips. Is there some conscious effort to get in this position? It feels totally unnatural when I try it. 

I struggle releasing the club with the hands/arms and i strike the ball much better by body rotating letting the club "drag" through the hitting zone.

[Ernest Jones]

45 minutes ago, Rjx12 said:

I struggle with a slice.  I naturally cup my lead wrist slightly and I tend to hit it square when I consciously keep my wrist flatter in the backswing.

Im wondering how to get that bowed wrist similar to Jordan or DJ.  I've heard it's just a product of a strong grip, but I have no issues cupping with the strongest of grips. Is there some conscious effort to get in this position? It feels totally unnatural when I try it. 

I struggle releasing the club with the hands/arms and i strike the ball much better by body rotating letting the club "drag" through the hitting zone.

You don't need to bow your wrist like DJ. It works for him, obviously, but it isn't a pre-requisite for hitting good shots, it's an individual idiosyncrasy and shouldn't be cultivated for the sake of appearances. Players have won major championships with cupped, bowed and neutral wrists at the top. All that matters is your impact position, if you are achieving good impact from a cupped position at the top, go with it. 

As a side note, being "square" at impact doesn't mean you won't slice it off the planet. Ball flight is a product of several inter-related impact conditions. When talking about curvature it is the result of the relationship between face angle and path at impact. Simply put, the ball's start line will be (largely) dictated by where the face is pointing at impact and the ball will then curve away from the path. So if you hit the ball with a square-to-the-target face and an outside-in path, you'll still hit a slice as the ball will start directly at the target and fade/slice off to the right as it curved away from the path. The inverse is true for a square face and an inside-out path, you'll hook it. 

You need to the face pointing to the right of the target if you're curving it left and to the left of the target if you're curving it right. This allows room for your natural ball flight curve to bring the ball back towards the target instead of away from the target. If your face is dead square to the target at impact, the ball will curve away from the target 99 times out of 100 (totally fabricated stat, but you get the point) as it is nearly impossible to have zero differential between face and path (meaning no curve) with any kind of consistency. Hogan once famously quipped, "you only ever hit a straight shot by accident, the ball will always curve so you best make sure it curves the same way every time."

tl;dr

If you are truly square-to-target at impact, virtually every ball you strike will curve away from the target every time. 

[Rainmaker]

Many things in the swing are chain-reaction type things.  I guess the left wrist could be a conscious thing - if I think about it I can bow my wrist at the top even with a neutral grip . .just close the face at the top.  If that's really hard for you to do then there is probably some other flaw happening first.  

When I was working out my slice, a big "ah-ha" moment was when I found that I wasn't so much looking for a flat left wrist but swing mechanics that would not *prevent* a flat left wrist.  

 

[saevel25]

On 4/10/2016 at 8:46 AM, Rjx12 said:

Im wondering how to get that bowed wrist similar to Jordan or DJ.  I've heard it's just a product of a strong grip, but I have no issues cupping with the strongest of grips. Is there some conscious effort to get in this position? It feels totally unnatural when I try it.

A bowed wrist will not fix your slice. If anything it will cause you to hit a lot of low pull hooks. If you have an issue with your swing then post a video of your swing here, 

https://thesandtrap.com/forums/forum/13-member-swings/

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Just for fun lets look at how DJ does it. 

From A1 to A2 he actually sends his hands out towards the ball as he starts to turn his shoulders. This get's his arms away from his chest, but also starts tipping the clubhead on an inwards shallow plane. 

At A3 his hand is already bowed. Notice you can see the back of his glove here. 

I think he get's it bowed just after A2. Then he just carries it to the top of the swing with his turn. His unique start of his backswing sets the bowed wrist and he just maintains it for the full swing. 

On 4/10/2016 at 9:50 AM, Ernest Jones said:

So if you hit the ball with a square-to-the-target face and an outside-in path, you'll still hit a slice as the ball will start directly at the target and fade/slice off to the right as it curved away from the path. The inverse is true for a square face and an inside-out path, you'll hook it. 

^^ This