There’s one part of the golf swing where you don’t necessarily want the back of the left hand level with the wrist. It’s a fairly critical juncture, too – impact.

At the instant you make contact with the ball, the hands should be slightly ahead of the clubhead to create a downward blow. This is true with every club except of the driver, which ideally catches the teed ball on a slight upswing.

The so-called “bowed left wrist” at impact is one of golf’s Holy Grail positions. Ben Hogan was so famous for the bowed wrist, it was widely believed to be the secret to his phenomenal ballstriking. By bowing the wrist, Hogan de-lofted the club and compressed the ball against the face to generate a piercing ball flight. Many great players exhibit the same technique.

To check your hand/wrist position at impact, make some very slow swings without a ball. As you reach the bottom of the swing, the top of the card should separate just a touch from the wrist while remaining flat across the back of the hand. Once you can replicate this position several times in a row, speed up a little and try a few more swings.

If you feel the card pressing into your wrist, you’re doing the opposite by allowing the wrist to break down at impact. This is called “flipping” the club, usually caused by the golfer trying to scoop or lift the ball into the air rather than allowing the club’s loft to work naturally.

This card drill is an excellent way to test your positions on chips and pitch shots, where scooping is most common.