golfrewind.com

Well everywhere I read or in videos that I watch the emphasis is on a flat left wrist. I have difficulty with this. My grip is a little strong and I start with what I think is a sizeable cup in my left wrist. When I flatten the wrist out it makes it hard for me to cock my wrist in the backswing. How much movement should we have when we cock our wrist? I probably only have about half and inch when I flatten my left wrist. I have heard some people say that it doesn’t matter if you have a cup in the left wrist as long as it doesn’t change until impact. Any thoughts?

I hear the same thing all the time. Don't cup the left wrist, keep it flat. You might like to know that non other than Ben Hogan used to cup his left wrist all the time. I saw an ole film of him teaching golf, and sure enough, at the top of his swing, his left wrist is cupped big time. Not just a little, but a lot. Also, I'm in the same boat as you, My left wrist will cup when I cock my wrist going back. It's not a problem if you don't let it become a problem. You do that by thinking about it being a problem when it's not. Don't worry about it and just cock your wrist going back and hold that wrist cock coming down as long as you can. Ben Hogan used this as a source of power, and so should you.
P.S. Nice photo at left. I assume that's not really you of course.

No oneputt, that picture is none other than the lovely Phoebe Cates. Thanks for the comment.

Another question. When discussing this issue people usually say "left wrist flat at the top" which implies to me that it doesn't have to be flat a address. Are people actually uncupping the left wrist to flatten it at the top or starting out that way?

I went out to the range last night and was determined to get that left wrist flat at the top accepting that it is fundamental to the swing. I tried flattening the wrist through a forward press and also tried simply flattening it at address. The results were very good. It was the first time in about two months that I felt I was getting good compression on the ball. This together with two other fundamentals on which I was working helped a lot I think. The great thing was no weak slices or pushes. I did push it slightly right more times than I wanted but I still hit the ball solid. Just a matter of alignment and timing probably. I am just going to have faith and accept this as a necessary fundamental.

I got some input that may be helpful to some from another forum. When answering my question about flattening the wrist at address, a forum pro said that it was important to get the wrist flat at the top but not necessarily at address. One could make a forward press at the beginning to flatten it, flatten it in the first part of the backswing or at address. Having it flat at the top and keeping it that way through impact was the key.

The #1 reason for cupping of the wrist is actually because the thumb and forefinger are too close on the grip. There should be a gap between the thumb and index finger.

YouTube - Golf Tips, Lessons, Instruction & Drills - Full Swing Grip

dont worry about that. If cupping it feels natural, do it. I really ******* my self over for about half a year trying to make my wrist flat at the top. As long as the clubhead is pointing at your target at the top of the swing, its okay. Many greats cup there wrist at the top. ( Ernie Els, Fred Couples, Me...

Your hands may be too low at address. Make sure the club end is pointed near the button of your pants.

The problem is that I don't think my clubhead is pointing at the target. I wonder how they do that without a flat left wrist?

Good call. I kinda stumbled upon that when I was trying to flatten the left wrist at address. Much easier to do if one changes the shaft angle as you describe.

It's an old argument. What is correct for you is what works for you.

I use a slightly strong grip and rotate my clubs 90 degrees in my backswing. This results in the back of my left wrist being cupped at the top, which works fine for me.

Some advocate using as little rotation as possible, and hinging both wrists backward early in the backswing. This is supposed to result in a flat left wrist at the top, and they say that the clubface will come back to square at impact with no timing of the rotation.
I can make this work, but not consistently. Grip and ball position are too critical.

Well this will be contrary to everything you hear in modern golf teaching but here goes. The wrist cock is in both planes, no doubt about it. By that I mean from cupped to bowed, and up and down.

All you have to do is think about it and use your eyes to prove it to yourself. Take a look at any pro when they set up. They use a neutral to slightly strong grip at setup With any neutral to strong grip your wrist has to be bowed at address. Then look at the top of the back swing; what do you see? You see a flat to slightly bowed wrist. Last check point is at the finish, a cupped left wrist. So now ask yourself how does a golfers left wrist go from cupped, to flat to slightly bowed at the top, back to cupped at the finish?

So next time you hear an instructor, commentator, pro, or anyone else tell you the wrist angle to arm angle should be the same through the swing is clueless to what really happens

A perfect example of the complications of the golf swing. You tell somebody to get their left wrist flat a the top but leave out some details of the journey along the way. Someone says that swatting at the ball, breaking the wrists as you suggenst is a no-no but really they mean doing it too early in the downswing not that the wrist doesn't move that way at all. One just hast to discover a lot of things on one's own. No one tip is the answer and a given tip may not work for everybody.

hbendillo,

I am no pro or expert, just a person who enjoys the game of golf over the last 30 years with a 4 handicap.

IMO with regards to wrist/hand action is very simple; there is none, it is passive and automatic when you are talking about the Full Swing. My vision is a well lubricated ball-n-socket hinge. The hands and wrist serve no other purpose than to connect the arms and club together to form a simple hinge and lever mechanism.

Assuming that your stance, grip, take-away, and swing plane are correct, all you need to do is accelerate through the ball on the downswing to position the wrist/hands correctly. Inertia, gravity, momentum, and centrifugal force will take care of things if you let them and not interfere with manipulation of the hands.

I knew that would help you. I've been fighting to correct my position at the top, too. My coach very simply explained it this way: Your position at the top should be the same that it is at the setup.

get a swing-glove and practice with a weighted club...
to a degree there is some cupping in the swing, but be careful, if you have a problem with slicing, this can be a reason for it. i've successfully flattened my wrist. that is not to say that it is flat, especially not on every shot (wedges for example), but i've eliminated that variable from my long swings. so, though i still slice from time to time, i know it is not a result of a cupped left wrist...