Unhinging the wrists

We are taught that to create power in our golf swing we need to hinge the wrists in the back swing, retain the hinge late into the down swing then release the hinge into the ball to create lag and a powerful hit.

OK, I am not suggesting this does not happen, it does but I think the analogy is slightly misleading for the novice. I will explain further:

Lets say the average lie angle the shaft makes with the ground at address is 60 Deg (I know it alters with the club), now when at address your wrists are already set at approximately that angle. if you raise your wrist up as far as possible they will come to around 90 deg, that's about it. So the actual wrist hinge is around 30 Deg. Therefore when we get to the top we have added 30 Deg additional hinge, it concludes that we will need to unhinge 30 deg to bring our club back in contact with the ball.

This will not in it's self be enough to create the kind of release speed required to power the ball up the fairway, it needs the rotational speed created through the forearms and wrists to generate most of the clubhead speed.

This may be obvious to many and I expect to be bloodied by some for this thread but I think it is something that many people are confused about.

__________________
Best Regards
Brian

________________________________
Funny o'l game!

The ball would be slightly behind where you bottom out so you can catch the pinch between ball and ground, ball first then ground.
Taking swings next to the ball, one can find the nano.

I think we may have strayed a bit off the subject matter.

basically there are four sources of speed brian, I will not try to bloody you on this one because you are asking a question. in the golf swing swing you can pull the right arm back and push it through. That alone will create some speed. you can hinge and unhinge the left wrist, again thatalone will create power. you can turn the torso, power there to, and you can rotate the forearms as you said power there to. When you have the body turning, right arm pushing, forearms rolling, and left wrist uncocking and that would be four sources of power all at once. The amount of energy expelled in each can also be varied, example would be very little wrist roll, or very little right arm push, or very little wrist cock, etc......

in the swing you mentioned in paragraph one, the "ideal" would be to turn the body first and relase the other three into the ball in a "delayed" manor

With respect to the OP, of course wrist hinge is not everything. If it was, we wouldn’t need a shoulder turn or any arm movement. We could just address the ball, cock the wrists and smack it with a wrist flick. However,
IMO, most beginners don’t understand the swing enough to overemphasize the importance of the wrists. Some stone cold beginners will take all the wrist action out, in the hopes of control and contact.

The other thing about a late wrist release or lag, that a lot of people don’t consider, is that it makes for better ball contact off the turf. Releasing the hinge later makes a steeper angle of attack for the clubhead to the ball. To me, this is steeper angle of attack is almost as important as the speed generated.

The reason I posted this was to point out that most instruction articles focus on the unhinging of the wrists as being the prime source of clubhead speed. I question this thinking and suggest the supination of the left wrist is the main factor.

Hi Kbp,

I feel that my point has been misunderstood, OK the test of a communication is it's effect, so maybe I have not put it well.

I did not suggest that people were told that wrist hinge was everything, it's not, it's one important factor in the swing. The point was (and I could pull out endless examples) that most articles relating to lag and head speed creation dwell on the unhinging of the wrists as the prime source. I was questioning that theory and in doing so making some observations regarding the amount of unhinging that actually takes place verses what I suggest creates the most speed, the rotation of the wrists.

Your second point is correct when combined with a straight left arm and wrist and a correct relationship to the bottom of the swing arc and ball placement through impact.

__________________
Best Regards
Brian

________________________________
Funny o'l game!

Cmays, what are we going to do with you Eh!

I think I will need to join you on the ground here, not sure what your age is but I am getting there also.

Some good points in that link, thanks.

Hey, BW. No, I think I got that from your post. I just disagree that it is overemphasized, especially for beginners.

While we could argue to what degree wrist action provides speed, I think more importantly, improper wrist action is the biggest braking action to speed, IMO. I reality, a true hinge really can’t "create" any speed, it can only transmit it or block it from other power sources.

IMO, it’s obvious that the relative importance of the different sources of power and speed varies depending on the golfer and the type of swing.

Yes, Good point