A lack of control and power can result in weak golf shots. Commonly this is because the player’s wrists aren’t hinging properly. If this is something that you are struggling with, don’t feel bad it happens to many golfers. In this informative guide, we aim to enlighten you on the best ways you can hinge your wrists with ease.
Simplifying The Importance of Wrist Hinge
Hinging your wrists is paramount to increasing the power in your swing.
Let’s forget about golf for a moment. Imagine you’re tossing a stone over a lake. You would most likely focus on your wrists to ensure the stone skips rhythmically over the watery surface. Here comes the lightbulb moment; try doing this without using your wrist. You won’t be able to because you won’t have anywhere to generate power from.
If you want the golf ball to travel further, you must adjust and hinge wrists so that there is enough power to swing strongly.
Excessive Wrist Hinge Can Be Bad
Even though using power in your golf hinge is a good thing, too much of it is also counterproductive. While it noticeably worked for a few pros, it has caused a lot of confusion and misunderstanding for fresh-faced golfers.
The first mistake they tend to make is to move the club behind their body in a hurry.
This has prevented golfers from getting a decent swing plane and then ultimately compensate on the downswing to rescue their golf swing.
Not only will it set your golf swing off plane early, but it also tends to close the clubface. The other dilemma this creates is that because the wrist angle is determined early as you start your downswing, the tension increases in your wrists due to a continued build-up.
The first thing your body would do naturally is to alleviate tension. The untimely wrist set regularly compels you to dispose of the tension too early.This has massive consequences for the downswing. For instance, you run the risk of losing the angle between your wrist and shaft, also known as the lag angle.
You will also be unable to keep consistent timing and control during your downswing. This would obviously be something that you want to avoid when you’re trying to increase your consistency.
How To Determine Wrist Hinge
If you want to know how to get the right wrist hinge in your golf swing, you have to become familiar with the best techniques. We’ll talk about those a little later. Meanwhile, there are two easy-peasy ways to determine how much wrist hinge you need in your golf swing:
Going Equal
In our first example, you should hinge your wrists equally and correspondingly at the complete phase of your backswing. Consequently, when you have done half of your backswing your wrists should have hinged halfway as well. This would be at the point when your left arm is corresponding to the ground and level with your chest.
When your backswing is totally complete, in other words completely at the top of your swing, your wrist should be completely hinged. You should mainly hinge your wrist in the air and not to the side.
By doing all of this, you will have a decent sense of direction for each phase of your backswing. All from the takeaway right through to the top.
A Natural Approach
Next, we look at a more natural way to control the right amount of wrist hinge in your golf swing. This can be done by feeling the weight of the clubhead throughout backswing. You will be able to create your own precise amount of wrist hinge, as your hands support the club during the entire swing.
A lot of new golfers make the mistake of get too active in their wrists and hands. As a result, this makes it extremely difficult to get any feel for the clubhead.
How To Hinge Your Wrists
Earlier we mentioned the correct wrist hinge techniques in the golf swing you need to know. Here they are.
Proper Wrist Hinge in The Golf Swing
- Check that your arms, hands, and wrists are relaxed and without any tension at setup.
- Practice moving your weight to your back leg.
- When your shoulders are at rotated towards a 45-degrees angle, start turning your body.
- With your wrists at ease, you can let them hinge in the air to hold the weight of the golf club. Just make sure that your wrists hinge upwards.
- By the end of the takeaway, the golf club should be aligned to the playing surface.
When your lead arm is aligned to the ground, the club and arm should form an “L shape” with the club pointed in the air.
When you hold the light tension in your wrists, they will hinge when you’ve finished the backswing and are on your way to start your downswing. This places you in an ideal spot for more lag which makes way for increased distance.
Practice This
A golf guide would not be complete with a great drill for you to practice. Stand in a stable address position and hold the club with enough grip. Your wrists need to be able to move from left to right or right to left. They also need to be able to move up and down.
Hold your hands in the address position and start making an upward movement with your wrist so that the club head rises slightly above the height of your hand.
Next you should turn your shoulders to the right with the aim of keeping the club’s shaft corresponding with the target line.
At the end of your takeaway, this will be the correct position for the golf club and an indication that you have hinged your wrist appropriately.
Be aware of the club position, and then shift the club head back down to the ball. Move the club head back to the same position after your takeaway. Only now, you must combine your upper body rotation with your wrist hinge.
You can practice this wrist hinge by taking up your address position and making a thumbs up and down action. Keep repeating this as you alternate your chest to the right. Doing this will place your wrists and swing plane correctly throughout your backswing. As a result, your shots will be longer, precise, and solid.
FAQ
What is The Best Golf Grip for Weak Wrists?
For younger or inexperienced golfers, the baseball grip seems to work best. It’s easier for them to get their hands around the shaft using this grip, where all ten of your fingers should be around this shaft.
How Can I Strengthen My Wrists for a Golf Swing?
A simple exercise to strengthen your wrists, is by holding a short iron with the club head pointed to the ground. This puts your wrist in a straightened position. Now, keep your arm still and raise the club head as high using your wrist. Gradually move the blub head back down and repeat this a few times.
Conclusion
Getting the proper wrist hinge in the golf swing is easy to do if you follow the above tips. Hinging your wrists plays a crucial part in your overall golf swing. Focus on keeping your wrists calm and without any tension. Allow them to hinge upwards easily as your body turns during your golf swing.
