Wrists in the Golf Swing: Are they the most important?

The movement in your wrists plays an incredibly important role for both the distance and direction of a golf shot. If you want a better golf swing, you need to understand how proper wrist hinge and wrist positions work together.

Unfortunately, a lot of golfers think about the grip, lead arm position, and clubhead speed above all else. But when you learn how to use the lead wrist and trail wrist correctly it’ll have a big impact on your ball striking.

The wrist hinge though, is not something we often think much about as much. For much of the golf swing, we can’t see our wrists and, therefore, have little awareness of where they are and what role they play.

That being said, the wrists are an important part of the swing that, if done properly, can really transform the way you hit the golf ball. Today we’ll go through lead wrist position, their impact on club head position, and more.

Key Takeaways

• Getting the correct wrist hinge and wrist action will lead to a more consistent golf swing.
• The correct wrist positions will likely also lead to extra club head speed for more distance too.
• Proper wrist mechanics allow you to hit golf shots with ease and we’ll review a few training aids that can help your game.

Keep reading to learn more about proper wrist movements and how the right wrist motion might be just what your swing needs.

Proper Use of the Wrists in Golf

To begin, we have to acknowledge each wrist and how they can impact your desired ball flight.

• The lead wrist is the left wrist for the right-handed player.
• The trail wrist is the right wrist for the right-handed player.

Wrist movement is usually defined in one of three ways by their position at the top of the swing:

• Cupped Wrist: The first, cupping, means that the wrist creates a cup-like shape with the back of the hand and forearm, with the bottom of the “cup” being the crease of the wrist.
• Bowed Wrist: The other wrist position is a bowed position. A bowed wrist means that the palm of the hand folds in towards the forearm, making the wrist into a bump, or bow.
• Flat Wrist: The final hinging position would be side to side, where the back of the wrist stays fairly flat, but the hand moves from side to side.

When beginning a swing, both wrists stay fairly flat.

This means that, if you look at the back (or top) of both wrists, you’ll see very little hinge. Keeping this part of the wrist flat at the address position will put you in a good spot to begin the swing correctly.

Wrist Hinge in the Golf Swing

As the swing begins, the back wrist starts to hinge slightly at first. This hinge is in a cupping motion, rather than a bowed.

At this moment, the front wrist stays fairly flat until the hands get above waist-high. Up until the waist-high moment, most of the wrist hinge is in the back wrists only.

From the moment when the hands get waist-high, the front wrist begins to hinge in a side motion (wrist cock) towards the target. To really maximize this movement, make sure to read our article on the long left thumb grip vs short thumb grip.

It’s about this time when we get to the top of the backswing, where there are three different types of positions that involve the wrist hinge.

Now, let’s discuss those three positions – flat, bowed, and cupped.

1. Flat Left Wrist

The flat wrist position at the top of the swing refers to the front wrist. This is the most popular and widely accepted position that most instructors want when you swing a golf club.

Basically, it means that the back of the front wrist stays flat at the top of the swing. You will notice that there is a sideways movement towards the target, but a player will maintain the flat back of the wrist.

This is more of a neutral position and a pretty common position in a good golf swing. It will make it easy to change ball flight and keep a neutral face throughout the swing.

2. Bowed Left Wrist

The bowed position at the top of the swing is where a player bows their front wrist at the top of the backswing. You’ll see professional golfers like Dustin Johnson or Brooks Koepka employ this method.

When you have a bowed left wrist at the top of your swing it’s usually pretty easy to spot if you record your golf swing. It can be a fairly difficult position to get to, but if done properly, it can add a little distance to your shots.

This wrist position tends to lead to a closed clubface which makes it easier to hit a draw.

3. Cupped Left Wrist

The cupped front wrist at the top of the backswing is the other position that some players will find themselves in at the top of the golf swing.

This position is less than ideal unless you’ve got really great hand-eye coordination. It’s most common among amateur golfers vs. professional golfers as it’s not nearly as consistent and can limit distance too.

The difficulty with this is that it adds another significant moving part to the golf swing. Not to mention if your wrists work this way it can lead to an open clubface which enables that pesky slice.

The Ideal Wrist Position

So, what is the ideal wrist position?

Flat if possible.

Sort of like a neutral golf grip, it makes it easier to improve swing plane and over all the entire swing is much more neutral. It’ll lead to less big misses and overall inconsistencies if not sequenced properly.

Regardless of which position you choose, it’s important to make sure that the back of the front wrist and the angle of the club face stay relatively parallel. This will allow you to hit straighter shots while still maintaining plenty of distance.

To check this position, shoot a video of your swing in a down-the-line angle. When you pause the video at the top of the swing, draw a line across the back of your front hand and across the club face. Those two lines should run in the same direction.

Make sure to read our guide on how to analyze your golf swing to understand the best ways to do it without a golf coach.

Releasing of the Wrists

Once you’ve completed your backswing, it’s time to start your downswing and hit the golf ball.

In order to make solid contact and hit the ball the farthest possible, you’ll want to maintain the angle in your wrists as long as possible.

The angle created between your forearm and the shaft of your golf club is one of the ways you create clubhead speed, which translates to more distance. The longer you can keep that angle, the more snap or whip you’ll get from the club head at impact.

The lower body starts the downswing, followed by other body movements in your upper body with hands trailing. The clubhead should lag behind your hands, creating effortless speed. You’ll then snap through, or straighten out, your wrists when they get back to about waist-high.

After impact, you’ll continue releasing the wrists until they almost do the exact opposite on the other side of your body. Your back wrist will start to bow and your front wrist will cup until they slow down and rest on your shoulder – the finish position.

Troubleshooting Bad Wrist Action in the Golf Swing

With all of these moving parts, lagging, hinging, and angles, it’s easy to make some mistakes in the wrist action. Here are three of the most common issues that happen in terms of improper wrist movements.

1. Early Wrist Set

The first mistake that you might make is setting the wrists too early in the golf swing. This means that they get their wrists bent and in place too soon after the beginning of the golf swing.

It’s not as bad as it sounds though.

If your wrists are hinged at the waist high position it’s easy to simply turn your shoulder to complete your backswing. It’s great if you have tons of flexibility to make a complete turn.

But if not, you’ll want to set them later to have more power with your golf shots.

2. Releasing Wrists Too Early

The next mistake that is common in amateur golfers is releasing the wrists too early.

On the downswing you want to maintain your wrist angle as long as possible to get the most clubhead speed.

The mistake is that some amateurs straighten out their wrists really early and that results in a slower swing speed. It can also lead to a cupping motion that leads to a lot of inconsistent shots.

Make sure you’re keeping the lag in your swing so that you can hit the ball as far as possible.

3. Releasing Wrists Too Late

The final error is releasing the wrists too late.

You don’t want to hold the wrists in the hinged position too long or it’ll create side spin on the ball and lead to a slice that travels away from your target. Make sure you have released the club head by straightening out the wrists by impact or you’ll likely suffer from accuracy issues.

Drills to Improve your Wrist Action

The proper wrist positions can be really difficult to get correct because you can’t see your wrists for most of the golf swing. But these three drills can help develop better wrist mechanics.

Impact Bag Drill:

The first drill is hitting an impact bag, one of the oldest training aids in golf.

1. You set the bag down where the ball normally would be and hit the bag with your golf club.
2. Hitting an impact back simulates the proper impact position and can show you if you’re releasing the club too early or late.
3. If you are releasing too early, the bottom of the club will hit the bag.
4. If you’re releasing too late, you’ll notice that your hands are significantly in front of the bag at impact.
5. You want the clubface to smack flat against the back and your hands to be lined up with where the golf ball would be, or slightly ahead.

Swing Club Upside-Down Drill

The next drill is super simple.

1. All you have to do is turn your club upside down, so that you are gripping near the head rather than the grip.
2. Then, swing the club like normal.
3. You’ll hear a “whooshing” noise as you swing the club on the downswing.
4. You should be able to hear the general area where the noise is coming from.

This whooshing noise is where you are releasing your wrists and the club head.

If the whoosh is way behind you, then you’re releasing your wrists too early. If it’s in front of you, then you’re releasing too late.

You want to get the whoosh to come from right around where the ball would be placed. This is an easy drill you can do at home or on the driving range before the round.

Ruler on Back of Front Wrist to Keep Flat Drill

Finally, the last drill involves a short ruler and a rubber band.

1. Wrap the rubber band around your wrist and put the ruler underneath it on the back of your front wrist.
2. Then, don’t hit full shots, but take some slow practice swings.
3. Feel how the back of your wrist stays fairly flat in the backswing.

The ruler will help you keep the wrist flat and lined up with the clubface at the top of the swing.

Finally, I also recommend doing work with the Swingyde training aid. Read all about the swingyde here.

Training Aids to Improve Wrist Action

To achieve proper wrist hinge you might need the help of a training aid for some extra assistance. These devices make it easier to feel proper wrist action and can guide your hands properly in the golf swing.

Hanger Golf Aid

The Hanger Golf Aid is one of our favorite and most inexpensive training aids to get the golf club in the right positions throughout your swing.

As noted on their website, “theHANGER promotes instant structural changes in your body mechanics to encourage a tour-style golf swing. By grooving an on-plane swing, theHANGER helps golfers build a consistent, repeatable golf swing for more precise shotmaking.”

The device attaches to the golf club and makes it easy to feel the proper lead wrist position. It will help if you “flip” at the ball and encourage forward shaft lean for more compression.

Read our full review of the Hanger Golf Training Aid now.

Hackmotion Golf Wrist Sensor

If you have a bigger budget the Hackmotion device is even better to understand proper club face control. This wearable device is easy to set up in 30 seconds and pairs with an app to finally understand your swing.

You can easily learn proper flexion and extension, recommended ranges of Tour Pros, and get real-time audio feedback. Not to mention personalized drills to improve your fundamentals.

Read our full review on Hackmotion Golf now.

FAQs About The Wrists Work in the Golf Swing

Do you have more questions about wrist angles to make solid impact with every swing? If so, keep reading through the most frequently asked questions to improve clubface control.

How important are wrists in the golf swing?

Quite important!

Elite players have a strong understanding of their wrist angles which leads to a square clubface at impact for more control and distance. It’s one of the most important backswing positions to evaluate when getting a lesson or recording your own golf swing.

How do you hinge your wrists in a backswing?

David Leadbetter explained it perfectly in a Golf Digest story.

“When I turn back to a point where the shaft is about parallel to the ground, I then hinge my wrists letting the club shaft work “up,” with the butt end pointing down.”

Later saying that if you hinge the wrists early in the backswing then it’s simply about turning your upper body to complete the backswing. Your flexibility will ultimately determine if you get 90 degrees or more of shoulder turn.

Make sure to check out our guide of golf stretches to gain more flexibility.

My Experience

Keep it simple when it comes to understanding how the wrists work in the golf swing. I’m not a technical player so learning about things like radial deviation or ulnar deviation goes over my head.

Instead, I focus on grip, alignment, and takeaway. If my grip and alignment are proper, this makes it easier to get proper wrist mechanics when the club is parallel to the ground.

From this position I simply try to keep rotating my upper body until the club is set. The training aids above have also helped me understand proper wrist alignment and wrist hinge as well.

Or, check out the deWiz golf watch for another useful training aid to help you understand more about your golf swing.

Final Thoughts

The wrists play a pivotal role in the golf swing and can help you hit the ball farther, more solid, and on-line if you follow these simple tips above. Paired with a proper swing path and a forward shaft lean at impact position, you’ll hit it more consistently than ever.

Without the proper wrist action in the golf swing, you’ll struggle to get the ball flying high and towards the target. But I’m confident that you can get your wrist hinge working well, which will see your golf game dramatically improve.