Hinging and unhinging the wrists

What do the wrists do in the golf swing? The answer is that they hinge and unhinge. It's as simple as that.

They do not cock, snap, roll over, or anything else. The wrists hinge on the back swing, unhinge on the down swing and hinge again on the forward swing. In the perfect world the wrists achieve this by simply responding to the fact that the club's length and the weight of the club head ensure that the club is traveling farther and faster than the arm.

Those of us not blessed with this happy occurrence must train the wrists to hinge and unhinge correctly. Remember, the hands and arms will only do what the body allows. If the address position is poor and the pivot motion is not correct it is highly unlikely that the wrists will hinge correctly no matter how much training.

The following is a great drill to teach the wrists to hinge correctly on the back swing:

Address the ball with the club.

Remove your right hand.

Place the right hand below the left on the grip forming a split handed grip.

Keeping the left hand in the center of the body, place the shaft level with the ground.

Turn the body and allow the left arm to swing until it is level with the ground.

The club and arm should form a right angle with the shaft on a slight incline.

Practice this drill and you will train the wrists to hinge correctly on the back swing.

Terry Gingell is the Head Golf Professional at Eagle Valley Golf Courses. Women's group lesson starts next week and there are two openings. Please call 887-7174.