You're Correct!

This aspect of the game is vitally important whether you are playing in your monthly medal or on the PGA Tour. The difference with some players is how accurate they are with their yardages or if they prefer to be more of a feel type of player and explore the shot when they get to it with regards to the elements and situation they are dealing with.

However, one thing to aim for is a consistent and technically sound swing. The swing should be made predominately with your big muscles such as the shoulders, hips and legs but also incorporated into this should be a good, firm hinging of the wrists.

This hinging of the wrists will create a steepened angle of attack which helps get the ball airborne but also produce a lot of spin so the ball lands quickly. This then helps you with distance control because you will be consistently able to figure out how the ball will react when it lands on the green.

Be careful that you dont flick the wrists at the club and try and get the ball airborne this way as this will shallow the angle of attack and lead to more thin shots shooting across the green and leave you 50 yards back to the green from the other side!!

To practise this swing will take many hours on the range to get a feel for the technique but also the distance in which it sends the ball. Work on getting the club into an L shape half way back on the back swing then swinging through to a mirrored L shape. This will give you a good basis to work your distances from but also work on the technique and solidify the feelings you are trying to create so they can be consistent on the golf course whether under pressure or not.

The wrists should only stay utterly straight during a short chip shot where only the shoulder, hips and arms need to be used. If you try to pitch the ball with no wrist hinge, your swing will lose all feel and consistency of strike. Add a 90 degree wrist hinge as the left arm and club reach a parallel position to the ground. This will help steepen the angle of attack.

Once you start to roll your wrists on the takeaway from the golf ball, you will open the club face causing it to point right. On lofted clubs, you will also make the ball go higher as the loft is further increased causing shorter shots resulting in a short and right shot.

It takes an extremely high level of body and wrist consistency to roll and then release back to square in a short swing. This is a technique to stay well clear of.

Gripping the club lightly is good for the golf swing. However, gripping the club so lightly that the club can move around of its own accord is very dangerous, whether swinging with a driver or a wedge! The extra movement in the swing will certainly allow for extra hinge which can lead to extra power but there are two points to be wary of:

We dont need extra distance so wrist hinge is not important for anything other than strike.

Consistency of strike due to an extreme wrist hinge will suffer due to a steepened angle of attack or early release.