It is the wrist hinge that generates power – experimenting with the golf wrist hinge

Recently, I undertook the challenge of teaching the golf swing to my wife.

She was quick to grasp the setup position – and even the backswing. Within a week, she was making decent contact with the ball. However, she felt she was not hitting it far enough (not getting enough distance). She was a bit perplexed – since she was executing the swing fairly well – had a powerful coil – and a powerful swing through the ball.  Good  contact – yet, poor distance.

What most people miss is that distance is a function of the wrists (or hands if you prefer) releasing through the ball. It is NOT the big muscles that provide distance – they simply help move the clubhead at a faster speed. However, no matter how fast the clubhead is moving – it is the release of the wrists through the ball – that truly ‘hits’ the ball. Don’t believe me? Look at the swing speeds of Fred Couples , Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els….they look like their big muscles are hardly moving. In truth, they ARE HARDLY moving. However, watch Fred’s hands go through the ball. That’s where he gets all his distance from.

So – how do we attain the ‘release of hands through the ball’ ?

Do read up on a couple of related posts on this topic:

1. lateral wrist break
2.  Feel the Punch

The basic idea is – to try and attain a full wrist cock – which is what will be ‘released’ on contact. So the real question is ‘How does one attain a full wrist hinge (cock) ?’

The SETUP position that leads to a wrist hinge

If I told you that a certain way to setup to the ball, would allow you to simply turn your chest – and this would in turn cock your wrists, would you believe me? It is as simple as that. If you set up correctly, a very gentle turn is all it takes to get the wrists hinging.

1. LEFT CHEST inside LEFT Foot. RIGHT CHEST INSIDE RIGHT – What this accomplishes is the correct weight distribution between LEFT and RIGHT sides of the body. This is an important pre-requisite before starting the backswing.
2. Start Backswing as if about to CHIP (Chipping TEMPO) – Most of us are guilty of moving TOO FAST during  the initiation of our backswing. To avoid this, I often tell myself that I am about to CHIP (not execute a full swing). This way, my muscles are geared for a GENTLE backswing – not an aggressive one. Once you start it back with this ‘chipping tempo’, you are free to continue the backswing to completion (for a FULL backswing).

Summary

If you setup with the correct weight distribution (LEFT chest inside LEFT foot, RIGHT CHEST inside RIGHT foot) and start with a gentle backswing, there is no way your wrists will not automatically hinge. Once they hinge, you will feel your grip tighten a little. This is natural (and a GOOD thing). Once your wrists are hinged, you are ready to WHIP through the ball.