Should the left wrist be/stay cupped through impact if it's strong and cupped at set-up?

[KMeloney]

I set up with a strong grip/bent left wrist and historically fight a draw/hook (but have been playing it lately instead of trying to hold it off). I've recently noticed instruction that promotes a common theme of releasing the club through the ball with the same bent -- or "extended" (or extending) -- left wrist as at set-up. (This all seems to be in contrast to how, say, Morikawa hits the ball.) 

 

This type of release appears to be consistent with Malaska, Stu @ Good Golf Instruction, Dan Alton, and Steve Pratt (to name a few). And I suppose this is how Duval played, where his glove logo stayed pointing mostly skyward as opposed to turning it downward. There's no rolling of the forearms or club face. No trying to turn the face down.

 

My question isn't whether this cupped wrist intention through impact is the "correct" way to hit a ball, but whether it is a logical match-up for strong-grip players. 

 

I wonder if I've just been making things harder on myself by chasing a flatter left wrist through impact (or at the top of the swing, even), trying to hold off my release, and/or considering that I should be actively ulnar-deviating more through impact. I wonder if chasing those things -- and not a free-wheeling, more "under release" -- just causes me to have the handle higher through impact and promotes a more-open club face that I'll need to shut down or else hit a block.

[glk]

Depends    Tyler's measurement of tour swings saw on average 25* more flexion of the lead wrist at impact versus setup.    The patterns to attain this flexion are 1) backswing flex, 2) early downswing, and 3) from p6 to impact.    But regardless of the pattern the amount of actual flexion at impact will depend on the amount at setup and how much is done in the swing.   Zach Johnson is a prime example of a strong grip who is still extended at impact but not as much as at setup.       Tyler also found that only folks with weak grips really need to be flexed at impact.   He has video on each of these.

 

Has 3D measurements on different patterns.  And in discussion talks about his measurement in one of his responses.

 

full version on his pay site

 

[KMeloney]

That's some good stuff right there. Thank you. What I couldn't tell from those video was whether those guys with strong grips use a roll-release (really turn the toe over the heel actively) or not. I suspect they do. 

 

Check out how Stuart moves his left hand through the ball in this video. He uses a strong left-hand grip, and advocates against flexing the left wrist.

 

 

[Jeselnik]

Huh?…..Return to impact fix.

 

JNIK

[KMeloney]

2 hours ago, Jeselnik said:

Huh?

That’s an ironic response. 

[golferdude54]

Funny how in one of the videos that glk posted it shows Henrik Stenson. Stenson has the most forward leaning shaft/least cupped wrist at setup, more so than Nicklaus.

[KMeloney]

I played yesterday with the intention of not allowing any [conscious] bowing of the left wrist through impact and instead feeling like the left wrist moves more like shown in the video I posted. Man, I hit the ball really well. Neither hooked nor pushed a single drive. It’s pretty clear to me that I had been chasing a flatter wrist condition previously which only shut down the face with my strong grip (or led to a push if I tried to hold it off). I’d imagine that I’d be hard-pressed to pick up a visual difference on video, but just having a different intention allowed me to swing freely without having to time the closing of the club face. 

[Brokensticks]

On 10/25/2024 at 9:09 PM, KMeloney said:

That's some good stuff right there. Thank you. What I couldn't tell from those video was whether those guys with strong grips use a roll-release (really turn the toe over the heel actively) or not. I suspect they do. 

 

Check out how Stuart moves his left hand through the ball in this video. He uses a strong left-hand grip, and advocates against flexing the left wrist.

 

 

In my humble, not golfgod, opinion I think this is more of a ”anti handle drag” video than anything else. 
 

I have more of a cupped wrist just like this video, (up, not Morikawa) and Im always fighting a fade on the driver and going across the line at the top of the swing. 
 

Being middle of the ground is always a good thing and something Im going to work on, there is always outliers that makes it work. 

[KMeloney]

2 hours ago, Brokensticks said:

In my humble, not golfgod, opinion I think this is more of a ”anti handle drag” video than anything else. 
 

I have more of a cupped wrist just like this video, (up, not Morikawa) and Im always fighting a fade on the driver and going across the line at the top of the swing. 
 

Being middle of the ground is always a good thing and something Im going to work on, there is always outliers that makes it work. 

I think you're right. I've been a handle-dragger forever because I didn't really understand a good way to release the club without making the ball go left. I've tried to weaken my grip in the past and everything. For me, it's definitely a match-up issue, where my strong grip requires me to NOT chase a flat left wrist anywhere in my swing. 

 

A lot of the instructors on this site have said it, but I think it's worth repeating: Just because a particular idea in swing-instruction has become popular doesn't mean it's going to apply to everyone.