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So I'm reading an article in Golf Digest talking about how you should cock your wrist early in the backswing to get the club up and on plane which would promote better ball striking.. After reading the article it all made sense but it only lasted a few minutes because 15 to 20 pages later there was another article saying the exact opposite and how it should be a natural occurence.. In Harvey Pennick's Little Red Book he says that the wrist cock should be early in the swing but later on in a different chapter he says that when the arms are at waist high the toe should be pointing straight up in the air and thats all the wrist cock is. David Leadbetter who is considered one of the best teachers in the world promotes an early wrist cock with his new golf gadget the Swing Setter.. So I guess my question is, how can you cock your wrist early in the backswing but do it naturally.. It doesn't make any sense to me.. Can somebody please shed some light on this topic for me.. Thanks in advance for your help..

I'm confused too. I actually was given the swingsetter for Christmas and used it for a couple of weeks at home. It reaked havoc on my swing. I normally shoot in the low-mid 80's and shot an abysmal 98 last outing. It might have more to do with the grip thant the wrist cock though. My grip is weaker than the grip used on the swing setter and all my shots were hooking after using the swing setter. I was also swinging a lot harder after using the swing setter. That certainly didn't help. My normal (pre-swingsetter) tempo was much slower and smoother. I found that after using the swngsetter, it was much "jerkier". I'm sending it back.

I was at the driving range, struggling with my swing, when a friend of mine told me hinge my wrists early on the backswing. I did and started making better contact thus hitting the ball straighter and farther. But it didn't feel natural and I had to consciously have this swing thought. It turned out to be a good thing because it was my only swing thought. I think it only becomes natural if you practice it over and over

Its all very confusing but I guess it just comes down to whatever feels right for that paticular person.. I've tried both methods and It doesnt seem to make that much of a distance. As long as your in the correct position at impact I guess it doesnt matter

I have always used a "natural swing" or one piece take away, letting my wrists cock at the top of my backswing. Then on the down swing I delay my wrist action until my arms are parallel with the ground. This generates a lot of power for me and feels very solid. A while back I tried the "early wrist cock," but it brought too much variation into my swing.

If it was the same one I read they were talking about doing this when chipping. i have been working on it for the short stuff and it seems to have helped. i was keeping my arm way to rigid thinking a short chip should be more like a putt. Still go au natural on the regular shots though.

I don't favor any contrived movements in the golf swing...if the club is "swung" the club will be on plane and the wrists will react and cock on plane naturally...there are some very good players who do a contrived early wrist cock, but I think that it complicates the swing and makes tempo more difficult to maintain...also, by doing an early wrist cock you are introducing tension in the wrists and hands in pulling the club up into position, and it's pretty difficult to have a repeating swing when you are futzing around with your grip pressure mid swing...

There should never be any thought or effort to wrist cock in a full swing, short game is different.. It happens natually from good fundemental mechanics of the grip, swing plane, and relaxed muscles. It just happens.

As an instructor the hardest things to teach a student is how to grip a club properly and relax the wrist to be free of tension and act only as a hinge joint. That is difficult to learn and put in practice, and then swing on plane so everything is automatic. Think Iron Byron, it has only one power point, the axis of the spine.

This might help but is an advance swing thought so be careful to not over cook the idea: Crack the whip at the 8 oclock position after impact. That is the point at which you quit accelerating the downswing and let it go.

agree with dereck,,two different swings..good post and answer

Dereck I agree with you the wrist cock should occur without manipulation. As you said a sound grip without tension in your wrists or forearms will allow it to happen. At address we have some wrist cock preset. A natural tension free back swing will have the forward forearm turning about a quarter turn on the way back to hip high, thus, increasing cock somewhat from it's preset amount at address.

For me, I find wrist cock happens earlier with the higher lofted or shorter clubs and sequentially later as the clubs get longer. Bignose might have to weigh into this with some help in physics; but, I theorize that it is caused by the length of the arm, meaning the shaft, needing more momentum as the weight (club head) is further away from your hands. Although this is the way I feel it works for me. I'd like to hear your thoughts as I don't believe I have read it anywhere.
Cheers,
Bob

And I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum on this. I use an early wrist cock all the time and it's added 15 yards of carry to all my irons, and 25 yards to my woods. To each their own method. One reason I use an early wrist cock, is that it helps to creat a "late release". Cock early, and release Late.

i think the release has more to do with the waggle versus the early wrist cock????..you waggle to feel how the club head is supposed to release into the ball..a good release will give you those extra yards

The purpose of the "waggle" is to get you to "relax", and not be stiff.

and i guess a few other things

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=whats+the+p...aggle-tips.htm

Okay; I went to the link you provided and watched the video. And I can say it was a total WASTE of time. He talked for a minute and 45 seconds and said NOTHING. First of all, baseball is not golf, which might explain why so many top baseball players aren't very good at playing golf. According to the video, you can make small but important grip changes when you waggle. I don't know about you, but I don't want to change my grip once I take my grip. I set me grip at address and I want it to stay set, not change. Change means one more variable in my swing, and that's not what most golfers want.