Cocking your wrists!

[TheJezster]

We've just opened a new swing studio at our club, so I thought I'd have a lesson. I took the game up about 4 years ago and I play pretty consistently. I don't really lose many balls but I have a fairly smooth steady swing. I really wanted a bit more length with the driver and the ability to play a draw with it. We started off with a 6 iron, I had a few warm up shots and the grouping was actually pretty good. The pro then videod me and we analysed the swing. Turns out I'm fairly closed but also I reach for the ball so I'm a little hunched. We then practised both these and he asked me to cock my wrists. Now I have heard this expression before but I'll confess I didn't really know what it meant. So he showed me. Basically up until now I'd never done that, so my club never had that extra bit of spring to generate club head speed (or get a full swing I guess). So we then spent a while practicing this. Bloody hell, what a difference it makes! I increased my club head speed by about 20mph!! The distance difference was amazing, albeit I'll obviously need to work on my consistency over the next few weeks/months. Tried the same with the driver too and again, staggering difference. After the lesson we went out to our 1st hole and tried a few shots too. I wasn't going to play tomorrow but now I want to go out and practice! So does everyone do this cocking of the wrists? Am I unusual for not knowing about it?

 

[ScienceBoy]

It has many confusing names.

Cocking, rolling breaking etc. Recently I learnt this:

I say that no wrist hinge is correct and is probably the reason why they are one of the best.

Rotation is what you should do instead... let me explain:

Hold your hand out in front and do a "Thumbs Up" then tilt the thumb towards your body and away from your body. This is wrist hinge.

Repeat the setup above but instead rotate your wrist so your thumb moves 90* to the right or left but no closer to your body i.e. half way to a "Thumbs Down". This is wrist rotation.

Which one do you do in your golf swing?

To not have any wrist hinge creates power, to have wrist hinge will be similar to a cast or will end up in a shank. In other words total loss of power!

I am working on adding wrist rotation but no hinge, I am hitting a far better ball than when I was making "negative hinge" (hinging the thumb away from me).

against Luke Donald

I should probably add that Dustin Johnson does hinge on the other axis to what I described, he cups his hand and is a movement similar to what you do when knocking on a door.

I think both this and the other hinge I described are too many moving parts and only something else to go wrong. The best thing is to have no hinge, just rotation as if the forearm and wrist were one, less moving parts but still plenty of room for lag and power transfer from the body

 

[CMAC]

We've just opened a new swing studio at our club, so I thought I'd have a lesson. I took the game up about 4 years ago and I play pretty consistently. I don't really lose many balls but I have a fairly smooth steady swing. I really wanted a bit more length with the driver and the ability to play a draw with it. We started off with a 6 iron, I had a few warm up shots and the grouping was actually pretty good. The pro then videod me and we analysed the swing. Turns out I'm fairly closed but also I reach for the ball so I'm a little hunched. We then practised both these and he asked me to cock my wrists. Now I have heard this expression before but I'll confess I didn't really know what it meant. So he showed me. Basically up until now I'd never done that, so my club never had that extra bit of spring to generate club head speed (or get a full swing I guess). So we then spent a while practicing this. Bloody hell, what a difference it makes! I increased my club head speed by about 20mph!! The distance difference was amazing, albeit I'll obviously need to work on my consistency over the next few weeks/months. Tried the same with the driver too and again, staggering difference. After the lesson we went out to our 1st hole and tried a few shots too. I wasn't going to play tomorrow but now I want to go out and practice! So does everyone do this cocking of the wrists? Am I unusual for not knowing about it?

4 years without cocking wrists, seriously?

 

[Pin-seeker]

It has many confusing names.

Cocking, rolling breaking etc. Recently I learnt this:

Is this correct?
Maybe I'm not reading it right.

 

[Pin-seeker]

Is this correct?
Maybe I'm not reading it right.

Sorry I meant the part about rotating your wrist 90*

 

[Khamelion]

IN the two photos above posted by Scienceboy, I was told by the guy giving my lessons that the way Johnson in the top pic has bowed his left wrist is a big no no, obviously it works for him, as he must be doing other stuff in his swing to get the club face back square at impact and the pic showing Donald is text book.

Don't shoot the messenger here, I'm only writing what I was told when I was getting lessons.

 

[bobmac]

Not unusual at all.
It would be unusual if you had absolutely no wrist hinge whatsoever.
So I'm going to assume (perhaps incorrectly) that you have some wrist hinge just not enough.
I imagine you are similar to the left pic below and your pro is trying to get you to the position on the right.
It will take a while to get used to it but you gain distance
Good luck

 

[Foxholer]

Ethan can point out any errors, but my understanding is as follows.

There are 3 pairs of movements associated with the wrist.

Ulnar and Radial Deviation is the pair of wrist movements involved in using a hammer to tap a nail.
The movement Dustin Johnson makes, that Scienceboy has highlighted, is Flexion/Extension (in that pic Johnson shows his - unusual, but usual for him - Flexion of his Left Wrist (Hand?) as well as (normal/like Luke) Extension of the Right one.
The 3rd pair is/are Pronation/Supination, which moves the hand from a 'thumb up/pointing skyward' to Palm down (Pronation) or Palm up (Supination).

For a Right Hander, cocking - or setting - the Wrists normally (Johnson is unusual) involves a combination of Extension of the right wrist and Radial Deviation (of both hands).

The timing - and amount - of wrist movement is extremely important in order to get the clubface aligned correctly and optimise power. Keeping the wrists cocked for as long as possible (Sergio is the classic example) means that a properly timed release maximises the clubhead spead increase generated by the torque involved in that release.

Pronation/Supination has to happen, but too much or mistimed - the dreaded rolling of the wrists - can be destructive!

 

[ScienceBoy]

Not unusual at all.
It would be unusual if you had absolutely no wrist hinge whatsoever.
So I'm going to assume (perhaps incorrectly) that you have some wrist hinge just not enough.
I imagine you are similar to the left pic below and your pro is trying to get you to the position on the right.
It will take a while to get used to it but you gain distance
Good luck

This is pretty much me before (left) and after (right) my last lesson.

Hitting the ball much better now I'm rotating into the right position not breaking late or cupping at the top. I look like (as close as I can) to the Donald PIC with lots of power potential from good rotation and wrist angle.

I used to be 0 rotation and then cock at the top, usually totally unrepeatable...

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I'm with you. I was longer before a pro during a lesson pointed this out, too embarrassed to say how long. Made a huge difference with both length and trajectory on irons. I was slower to do the same with driver as I worried about losing control but I have been working on this over the winter. I am now longer, straighter and more consistent off the tee although I am yet to see if that stands up in competition play.

Striking the ball really is much easier with this revelation. :whoo:

 

[TheJezster]

4 years without cocking wrists, seriously?

Yea. Played today, tried to practice and kept with it too. Some good, some not so. The 5 iron worked a dream though evenif the driver didn't always. I'm quite staggered by the difference. My left shoulder blade is feeling like it's worked some but I guess that'll soon ease. Bob, yes that picture seems similar to what I looked like, but I don't think I had any hinge or cocking, I kept my wrists very firm. At the moment I've found it's easier to hit the irons than the woods. But it is only 24 hours I suppose so I can't expect miracles.

 

[Rumpokid]

Yea. Played today, tried to practice and kept with it too. Some good, some not so. The 5 iron worked a dream though evenif the driver didn't always. I'm quite staggered by the difference. My left shoulder blade is feeling like it's worked some but I guess that'll soon ease. Bob, yes that picture seems similar to what I looked like, but I don't think I had any hinge or cocking, I kept my wrists very firm. At the moment I've found it's easier to hit the irons than the woods. But it is only 24 hours I suppose so I can't expect miracles.

To cock or not to cock??Sounds like you could be in a world of pain for years to come..Enjoy the game.Do not over analyze it.

 

[TheJezster]

To cock or not to cock??Sounds like you could be in a world of pain for years to come..Enjoy the game.Do not over analyze it.

Not sure I've ever over analysed anything! No danger of starting now. I will, however, put into practice what I learnt 😉

 

[Maninblack4612]

For the basics I always go back to John Jacobs' "Play Better Golf" (published 1969). He says "When the weight of the clubhead begins to exert leverage on your wrists - as it passes hip height - they will naturally and automatically. hinge or cock". This is how it's always felt to me. Any conscious effort to cock my wrists leads to massive inconsistency. I think some people instinctively resist cocking the wrists and, for them, perhaps a conscious cocking is necessary.

Also, some players, me included, get most of their power from the uncoiling of the upper body against the resistance of the hips, rather than from swinging the arms & hitting with the hands. Jim Hardy, Matt Kuchar's coach, calls this a "One Plane Swing" In his book "The Plane Truth" he never mentions wrist cocking, setting or hingeing, what wrist cock there is happens completely naturally.

 

[shortstuff]

For the basics I always go back to John Jacobs' "Play Better Golf" (published 1969). He says "When the weight of the clubhead begins to exert leverage on your wrists - as it passes hip height - they will naturally and automatically. hinge or cock". This is how it's always felt to me. Any conscious effort to cock my wrists leads to massive inconsistency. I think some people instinctively resist cocking the wrists and, for them, perhaps a conscious cocking is necessary.

Also, some players, me included, get most of their power from the uncoiling of the upper body against the resistance of the hips, rather than from swinging the arms & hitting with the hands. Jim Hardy, Matt Kuchar's coach, calls this a "One Plane Swing" In his book "The Plane Truth" he never mentions wrist cocking, setting or hingeing, what wrist cock there is happens completely naturally.

Well said, sir. I would also like to add, as I mentioned in another post, that one of the most consistent iron players I have ever seen used NO wrist hinge. He had great power from using his body, but his lack of wrist hinge caused him problems with the driver. Consciously cranking back the wrists can add power but usually results in worse consistency because timing becomes an issue. A subconscious wrist hinge as mentioned by Maninblack will be more consistent.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

From my own experience a number of poor players think they are cocking/hinging their wrists but actually they are just bending their left elbow, if you are a right handed player. I know this as it is something I did for a very long time until my pro sorted me out. When you have had such a fault you then tend to look out for it in others. ( I will see it but not pass judgement before anyone thinks badly of me. I have enough issues with my golf without passing on "tips" to others. The only tip I give out if requested is "see the pro, he knows what he is doing". Luckily at my club, he does.)

 

[BoadieBroadus]

i played for a long time with very little wrist cock. people would always comment that i didn't have a full swing, but the pro i took lessons said it was a full swing but just with little wrist cock. not dissimilar to the photos that bobmac posted.

it worked pretty well, but i found it terribly inconsistent with the driver.

decided this year to try and change it, after people at a testing day were asking if i was "injured".

using the swingyde to try and help.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Of all the things in my swing over the years, cocking the wrists has never been a thought. It just happens as a part of the swing