Left Wrist. Flat, Bowed or Cupped?

[Jockstrap]

Hey,

I've been playing for a year now on and off because of the weather we get here in Scotland. I've had a few lessons, working on posture, grip etc.

One thing that has plagued me invariably is slicing and it's only recently I noticed that I have the worst cupped left wrist imaginable. Here's a pic




Now onto my question.

Should I have it cupped, bowed or flat?

[albatroz]

Try to see if you can purchase Rick Smith Swing Glove . This contraption helps keep your wrist straight .

[thumper07]

here's a link http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8902

he's a +2 and i'm a 10 so i guess its whatever comfortable, but if you ask 100 instructors 99 will say to keep it flat.

[dbornack]

Definitely as flat as you can keep it. It is my belief that a bowed wrist will result in a little loss of distance..

[jaacobbowden]

I think success can be found with any of the three positions.

While I think that most people would teach you to be flat, I remember seeing some old swings of Tiger when we was winning all of those US Amateurs...and he had as much cup as you do. Mike Dobbyn, the guy who won this years Remax Long Drive Championships also is quite cupped ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4a0OpWUEvQ ). I personally tend to be a little bowed ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S81CSki3Vk)...and that has worked too (during this year's Long Beach Open I was playing with this bow and shot 69-76).

I'd say go with whatever makes the most sense to you and that which you hit your best shots.

[TourSpoon]

You want to feel like it is bowed, which in your case, will get you closer to flat. Flat and/or bowed, especially through impact is preferred to cupped.

[tm22721]

I think that most would benefit from flat to slightly bowed especially if you have a fade or slice tendency.

Some of the best pros had a bowed wrist (Nicklaus held it through impact) which means a closed clubhead and draw bias.

[shredfit]

I think that most would benefit from flat to slightly bowed especially if you have a fade or slice tendency.

Didn't Nicklaus fade the ball(mostly play a power fade)?

[jaacobbowden]

I could be wrong but I think he worked it both ways.

[Jockstrap]

I'm just back from the range and worked on keeping my wrist flatter. There's definitely an improvement, all I need to do is practice it so that it flattens naturally, at the moment it feels contrived which is to be expected.
I'll post a few pics when I've had the oppurtinity to refine it.

[Fried Egg]

it all depends on your grip and your swing. at the top of your backswing, a cupped wrist puts the clubface in an open position, which is where you may want it with a strong grip. a bowed wrist will shut the clubface. so, if you have a weak grip and cup your wrist, you will need to make some compensation to avoid hitting it off the planet right. i do believe this is what Hogan did. his compensation was to bow the wrist through impact. if you did this with a strong grip, you would probably hit big hooks.

regarding impact in addition to what i said, never want your lead wrist in a cupped position at impact. either flat or slightly bowed, depending on grip, is important.

[Stuart]

I have been playing with a cupped left wrist since I started and have just this last week been trying to flatten my wrist at the top of my swing. I have a fairly neutral (almost weak) left hand grip and I'm not totally sure if my right hand is neutral also. Anyways it seems to me that I'm pretty much totally cupping my right wrist now to keep my left flat. Is that what it feels like to you?

it all depends on your grip and your swing. at the top of your backswing, a cupped wrist puts the clubface in an open position, which is where you may want it with a strong grip. a bowed wrist will shut the clubface. so, if you have a weak grip and cup your wrist, you will need to make some compensation to avoid hitting it off the planet right. i do believe this is what Hogan did. his compensation was to bow the wrist through impact. if you did this with a strong grip, you would probably hit big hooks.

[tm22721]

Sometimes I get overwhelmed on the course by so many swing thoughts (like this left wrist issue) that analysis paralysis sets in.

So I fall back to just checking impact position, ie forget about the rest of the swing it's just noise.

I take a slow 3/4 swing stopping cold at the impact position to check clubhead is square, shoulders square, left arm and club aligned, etc. Then I hit the ball, trying to exactly mimic that feeling but slightly faster tempo.

I have seen Annika do this when she gets in trouble on the course, using her caddy's foot as an improvised impact bag.

It seems to work in a pinch.

[JaY_B]

Cupped wrist will generally speaking give the most consistent results, how ever I am tired and don't want to go in the technicalities of it but simply put a cupped left wrist at the top of the swing allows your hands to 'get underneath the club' at the top of the swing which allows you to keep your arms tight to your body in the down swing, which is a move Ben Hogan was great at.
Tiger Woods on the other hand has a flat left wrist which leads to the hands not being able to get underneath the club and as a result in the downswing his arms get further away from his body on the downswing, which IMO is a significant factor to his driving inconsistency.

The angle of the wrist can help influence the swing path in to the ball

[tm22721]

Cupped wrist will generally speaking give the most consistent results, how ever I am tired and don't want to go in the technicalities of it but simply put a cupped left wrist at the top of the swing allows your hands to 'get underneath the club' at the top of the swing which allows you to keep your arms tight to your body in the down swing, which is a move Ben Hogan was great at.

You are right about keeping the arms close to the body. But this means that I have to rotate my hips faster to clear a path to the target.

All of the pros seem to have a bowed (pronated) wrist at impact, ie hands leading the clubhead (lag) for crisp ball contact. This also makes it easier to square the clubhead.

[JaY_B]

All of the pros seem to have a bowed (pronated) wrist at impact, ie hands leading the club head (lag) for crisp ball contact. This also makes it easier to square the club head.

This is not caused by the Cupped or Bowed wrist position at the top of the swing though, it's caused by the wrists staying cocked until late in the downswing, the later you release the club head the more 'bowed' at impact your wrist will appear, the position of your left wrist at the top of your swing has little to do with the bowed wrist at impact.

[allin]

Either wrist position can be correct. It must match your swing type. If you swing the club more upright and have a neutral or weak grip you can play with a flat or cupped wrist. If your swing is flatter and you play with a neutral to strong grip then flat or bowed is better. The wrist position which gives you the clubhead position you are seeking at the top of your backswing is what you want. Once you identify which of the grip, swing type and club head position you want then wrist adjustments make sense. It will vary depending on what you naturally do with your swing, so you may want to experiment.

[Augusta Hacker]

Either wrist position can be correct. It must match your swing type. If you swing the club more upright and have a neutral or weak grip you can play with a flat or cupped wrist. If your swing is flatter and you play with a neutral to strong grip then flat or bowed is better. The wrist position which gives you the clubhead position you are seeking at the top of your backswing is what you want. Once you identify which of the grip, swing type and club head position you want then wrist adjustments make sense. It will vary depending on what you naturally do with your swing, so you may want to experiment.

But what if you are more upright and have a strong grip?