An overlooked portion of the golf swing that can affect literally every aspect of the swing. If you feel that your swing does not feel comfortable and smooth from start to finish, or if you are having trouble making solid contact, then you may have an issue with the hinge of your wrist. During this section, I will cover some causes to hinge flaws, and how to correct them. I know there are dozens of sites and articles out there that claim that one grip style is better than the other, but I will cover what actually works for me and has made me successful throughout my career. If I can correct the extreme flaws I have fought off my entire life, then so can you.

What is a faulty wrist hinge, and how can I tell if mine is faulty? This is the million dollar question, but there is actually a pretty simple way to check your wrist hinge. Throughout the swing, you should be hinging your wrists in relation to your golf swing. What I mean by this, is that if you are at 25% of your back swing, then your wrists need to be hinged at 25% – and this goes for the entire swing. Yes, this means that if you are completely done with your swing, then your wrists should be fully hinged. With that said, there is a proper direction to hinge your wrists as well. During your practice swing, check which way your wrists are actually hinging. If you are hinging your wrists sideways, then you are incorrectly hinging them and you are only causing a world of trouble for the rest of the swing. You should always be hinging upwards throughout the takeaway, and down through the follow through. A faulty wrist hinge can be caused by a number of things, with the most common being that golfers hinge their wrists too quickly. When you hinge your wrists too quickly, the results are not pleasing, and you are also hurting your swing plane during the process. The easiest way to determine if you are hinging too quickly, is to take a look at your ball flight. If you are hitting a hook, no not a draw, but a big hook… then you are hinging your wrists too quickly. To describe this motion, grip your club and set up to address the ball. From here, take the club about halfway back (slowly) and then follow through (just as slow). When you are about to hit the ball, flick your wrists forward, and pay attention to the club face. This is the same exact motion that is caused by hinging the wrists too quickly. You shut the club face down, and a snap hook is imminent. To correct this issue, simply take your club and address the ball, but do so in a relaxed position. As you stand there, begin to shift your weight from the front foot to your rear foot, just as you would during your golf swing. Don’t forget to rotate your body as you would during a swing. If you are holding the club with the correct tension, then your wrists will hinge as your body begins to rotate, which is the motion you want in your swing. Keep your wrists relaxed as you continue throughout the swing, and don’t let up through the takeaway either. You need to continue to focus on your wrists, and really make sure they are relaxed and hinging on their own. Pay attention to how this feels, and more importantly how this looks. This is the natural movement of the wrists, and it is also the correct hinge that you want during the swing. Although one swing may feel good, don’t stop here. You will need to really invest some time into this motion to truly ensure you are hinging the wrists correctly.

I realize that wrist hinge is a very odd aspect of the swing, that you rarely hear most people even talking about. But beware of overlooking this. The wrist hinge has the same impact to the golf swing as everything else. If you are hinging too quickly or too slow, then you will be in for a struggle. The same thing goes for if the wrists are hinging in the wrong direction. I advise that you invest the time and focus to this motion at the range, until you are fully comfortable with your wrist hinge. The last thing you want to do is overlook a flaw in your wrist hinge, which causes problems with ball flight, contact, swing plane, and distance… literally everything that you look for in your game. A correct wrist hinge will help you in more ways than one, and it is the base of any strong golf swing.