Learning the wrist hinge

[Captain_Black]

I have been playing about 7 months now.
I must admit that although I have always been quite good at sport & enjoyed it, golf has been a lot tougher to learn than I thought it would be at the outset.

Anyway, I have plugged away at it & had my share of highs & lows, I am now starting to get more comfortable & confidant with my golf.

What I have found is that I had to learn one element of the swing at a time & then try to piece it all together as one fluid movement, the one remaining bit that I am now working on is the wrist hinge, I have read quite a few times that this will come automatically during the back swing, I have found this not to be true & I have always struggled to manage a full back-swing due to not being able to hinge my wrists correctly.

I am sure this is because I have a tendency to grip the club too tightly which tenses up my forearms & wrists & also I may sometimes tend to grip the club incorrectly making it impossible to hinge my wrists.
I know where my faults lie & I don't think it will take me too long to figure it out & put it right.

Have others struggled like me, or did it all come quite naturally?

 

[GOLFBALL_WHACKER_GUY]

In my last lesson I was told I was over hinging during the back swing, causing the club head to come down at a ridiculously open angle. Most likely why I kept hitting it out of the heel all the time.

Seemssorted now though, in the two rounds ive had since the lesson, beat my previous lowest score of 103, first 102 and then 99 last Sunday. 2012 target achieved!

Get yourself a lesson mate!

 

[DaveM]

Think a lot of it has to do with. What other bat or racket sports you have played before and what age you start playing golf. Also how much of a techy mind you have, or a go with the flow feely kind of mind.(if that makes sense)? Golf was alway played in our family, so I was swinging a club when I was 4/5 or something like that, as such I have always been a feel type player. Thats how I play if it feels right and it goes ok thats good enough for me. The only techy bit I do is the set up. If thats right and the first 3' of the back swing is right. The rest is just an action and reaction to that for me anyway. The downswing is a definite reaction to the back swing as you have no time to think, about it as its over to quickly.

All this is just me. Its maybe and most likely totally different for other people.

 

[Wolfman]

I had a poor wrist hinge, however studied the David Blair golf instruction and he promotes heavily the wrist hinge, sadly it didnt work for me ended in a massive hook !

Therefore for ages i lacked distance especially with my irons, then i studied the Perfect connection golf series who suggests a basic 3/4 swing with wrist hinge called the L to L shape / drill

The rest of the Perfect Connection series wasnt for me but the change to a reduced more compact 3/4 swing and correct wrist hinge made a huge diffence, distance improved as did accuracy and more consistency.

I think in summary i was over swinging and the club during the back swing was getting way too far behind me, changing this to a simpler 3/4 swing kept it all on plane, better timing and correct use of wrist hinge

Also has helped my pitch shots as it uses the same principles, hope that helps

 

[Rooter]

Think a lot of it has to do with. What other bat or racket sports you have played before and what age you start playing golf.

Thats a really valid point, i used to play a lot of cricket, and my pro can see it! my pitching started off looking like a cover drive! i was over hinging on the backswing and coming down too steep, but a change in grip has naturally sorted this.

 

[BoadieBroadus]

i played for a long time without much wrist hinge at all.. got a lot of comments about having a 3/4 swing which my pro said it wasn't - it was a full swing without hinge. he wasn't massively keen to change it as i got good distance and as my wrists were solid through the swing it meant i wasn't casting so i had sorted the casting problem by not hingeing... i am reintroducing it now and seeing the benefit. the tricky part for me was to hinge on the way back and then resist the urge to quickly unhinge at the top, causing all sorts of problems.

learning to release the hinge naturally as i'm coming into the ball, and the results are beginning to show. but you can get by without a hinge and still play good golf, and not hingeing did at least help me get familiar with where my wrists wanted to be at impact.

 

[Fore]

I read an article on the Clemshaw forum about wrist hinge and a looser grip.
It suggested loosening the two middle fingers of the right hand slightly, and using the right hand index as a trigger, basically pulling the finger towards you at the top of your backswing. This creates hinge. Try to hold the hinge on the downswing till your hands reach your right hip. I tried this and was amazed at how much easier the swing feels and the distance gained. The article also suggested that you swing your hands no further back than shoulder height unless you are really extra flexible.
It took a few balls at the range to get confident with it, but was worth the effort.

 

[DaveM]

You really want the hinge when your arms are parallel to the ground. So arms parallel club at 90* so that the butt of the club is pointing at or just inside the line of the swing. You will also find if you hold this set up and then finish the shoulder turn it will put your arms into the right place at the top of the swing, without you having to think/worry about it. Hope this makes sense?

 

[sawtooth]

Concentrate on your grip and make sure its good - have a pro check it.

 

[SocketRocket]

The wrist is complex it can hinge in many compound directions simultaniously. It is easy to get the wrist hinge wrong.

In the golf swing the wrists should hinge in an up and down direction only, there should be no swatting back and forth. Take the club at address and lift the shaft off the floor by lifting directly upwards, then return it back to the floor by lowering the wrists. This is the action you should use in the swing.

Once you understand this it only a matter of how you apply the hinge and when. Some hinge early, some hinge later, I would suggest you just work out where it feels most natural. You dont need to be too concerned about the downswng as the rotational forces will unhinge the wrists for you.

 

[Tiger]

Thats a really valid point, i used to play a lot of cricket, and my pro can see it! my pitching started off looking like a cover drive! i was over hinging on the backswing and coming down too steep, but a change in grip has naturally sorted this.

Oh yes the cover drive iron shots, I've been through that pain my friend!!!