Drills for closing...

Late to the party - but I suffered the same problem (rolling wrists on takeaway, fanning the clubface wide open, then not shutting it again on the way through).

What Greg and GoNavy described is more or less how I learned to stop rolling - turn shoulders, lift at shoulders. I think it was DL3 who said 'hands should only be for holding' - it certainly stops them from rolling!

The fact that you are looking to close the clubface more at the top tells me your club face is too open at the top - which means you are probably fanning the clubface open sometime during the backswing.

A great drill to ensure you don't fan the club face open is to inject the early backward wrist break into your swing.

I know what you’re thinking, this sounds too simple to be true. It goes against every rule you ever heard about starting the golf swing.

This controversial move was invented by Joe Dante in his book - "The Four Magic Moves To Winning Golf" and goes completely against conventional golf wisdom.

I can tell you I have seen golfers totally transform their game by employing this one move into their golf swing.

Since the backward wrist break is the first move in the backswing, let's be absolutely certain you understand what it is.

First, hold your right hand in front of you, fingers together and extended, thumb up and the palm squarely facing the left. From that position bend the hand to the right, trying to make the fingers come back toward the outside of the wrist. You can't get them anywhere near the wrist, of course, but a person with supple wrists can bend the hand back until hand and wrist form a right angle.

This motion of the hand, straight back, is the backward wrist break.http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BkpNw_...reak.JPG

The way the right hand should move from the wrist in the early backward break-straight back toward the outside of the forearm, with no turning or rolling.

The conventional wrist break is quite different. Hold your hand again as you held it before. Now, instead of bending it backward, bend it up, so that the thumb comes toward you. That is the orthodox, accepted wrist break. Forget it. You will no longer need it.

To make the backward wrist break we merely push the heel of the right hand down against the big knuckle of the left thumb. This is a downward pressure of the heel on the thumb. When it is done, without moving the hands otherwise, the right hand breaks backward at the wrist and the left hand breaks forward or inward, the back of the left hand going under and facing, in a general way, toward the ground.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BkpNw_...made.JPG
How the backward break is made, with the heel of the right hand pressing down on the knuckle of the left thumb. The back of the left hand begins to turn down and under.

How not to make the break. Wrists and hands have rolled, the back of the left hand has turned upward. The right hand is rolling too, instead of bending straight back.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BkpNw_...ists.JPG

At this point the club will have come back slightly inside the projected line of flight but the club face will not have opened. The face will be at about a 45-degree angle with the ground and, as you stand there, you will not be able to see any of it.

We have not put this into the actual swing yet, remember. We are still working on the biomechanics of the wrist break. At this fundamental stage in your backswing you may refuse to believe that you can hit the ball with such a break. So make this test....

"Go To The Practice Tee, Or To A Range Or An Indoor Net. Address The Ball. Make The Backward Break And Do Nothing Else!”

Don't shift your weight, move your hips, or turn your shoulders. Just make the backward break. Hold it a couple of seconds. Now simply turn your shoulders, letting the shoulders swing your arms and the club up to the top, and then go right on through with the swing and hit the ball.

You’ll be amazed at what happens after you try this a few times. You will find, if you keep the wrist position, you not only hit the ball, but that you hit it solidly, hit it straight, and hit it a surprisingly long distance.

You will also discover the more you permit the turning shoulders to swing the club up, the better you will hit the ball and the farther you will hit it. Make no effort to swing the arms, just let the shoulders move them and the club. The more the arms are swung independently of the shoulders, the less likely you are to reach a good position at the top. So picture the shoulders as the motivating force, the "motor."

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BkpNw_...view.JPG

Here is what you should see when you make the backward break perfectly - only one knuckle of the left hand but two knuckles of the right.

The closer you bring this motivating force to the axis of the swing (the spinal column) the better the swing will be.

Hope this helps.

--John

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John Lynch is owner of No. 1 Golf Book Reviews and is an accomplished writer. To read John's golf instruction articles and get instant access to FREE Golf Tips Reports, John recommends you visit===> No1GolfBookReviews.blogspot.com/