wrist cock

recently i discovered something that may help. with or with out the wrist cock (i think it will still be there even if you dont conscientously cock it just not so pronouced) any way, as you are coming down on the down swing, work on getting the right arm striaght just as or before the ball is struck. not sure these are the correct words. but it seems the real power and speed comes from this last few feet before the ball and the dynamic change the club encounters

i was watching some pros go through a warm up and noticed one that was doing his down swing in stages and kept the club in a cocked position. he would stop at various points and then pump it up and do it again. all the wall keeping the cock wrst postion. finally and evenually it appeared as if he was throwing the club at the ball as he un cocked his writs. the un cocking seemed to occur in a split second somewhere before hitting the ball.

i went to the range and tried to copy this and found it seemed to work. though the driver is a problem *what else is new(*

before my swing was more arm driven though started with hip shift, etc, with the club laggen behind as i accelerated toward the ball. this made it real easy to do an out in swing and very difficult to do an in out unless i pusshed the ball.

i hope the pros will jump in here and set me straight if this is wrong.

thanks
pat

That's it Pat,

Speed and power is created in that late uncocking of the wrists. Concentrate on pulling the butt end of the club round in the downswing.

Another thing to check at this halfway stage of the swing is the swingplane.

When my right (not left) forearm is parallel to the ground, I make sure that the buttend of the club is pointing at the target line at a point about a foot behind the ball. Doing this also takes care of my wrist cock.

While in this position I also make note of where the higher end of the club is pointing to. Using this plane, for the remaining half of my backswing, I just make sure that my hands trace this line as I'm finishing my turn.

Hi please check the position of wrist on top your backswing may be the club across the shoulder plane.

"i was watching some pros go through a warm up and noticed one that was doing his down swing in stages and kept the club in a cocked position. he would stop at various points and then pump it up and do it again. all the wall keeping the cock wrst postion. finally and evenually it appeared as if he was throwing the club at the ball as he un cocked his writs. the un cocking seemed to occur in a split second somewhere before hitting the ball."

All good golfers know of the advantage of practicing their swing mechanics in slow motion, while monitoring different swing positions that are personally important to them. It helps develope the mind's control over the muscles used to swing a club. In other words your body, and mind learn what they are suppose to do and know faster to make a decent golf swing. You also become your own swing coach when know one else is around. Tiger calls this "owning your own swing". You can't monitor a full speed, full swing, with out the use of a slo-mo camera which may or may not show a problem, depending on who is analysing the video. GJS

OK, please read this article. It talks about a wrist break in the take away. Now the wrist cock I have been talking about is hinging the wrists straight up and down. This wrist break the author is talking about in the article is something different. How is it related to our current discussion?

http://www.newgolfswing.com/newgolfswing05.php

I am not one to read many golf books, if at all. But, if you can find Shawn Humphries book "2 steps to a perfect golf swing" look at his two positions he speaks about in this book. You don't have to buy the book, or even read much it for that matter. Just look at the two positiond he discribes. Most golf stores will have this book, or try a book store. His version of the wrist cock is very simple to understand, and practice. I learned about these two practice positions from a friend of mine who actually took lessons from Mr Humphries. Helped his game immensely. It cost him some bucks, but he is a much better golfer now for his money. GJS

For me it is hard to avoid wrist cock, it just happens waist high. I like to swing at the ball like I was using a sword, trying to cut the ball in half down the centerline toward the target. What I mean is keeping the clubface 90 deg open all the way to impact. Some miracle of physics just causes the face to close at impact without effort. For me, this causes me to sweep the ball instead of taking a divot, which I don't like, but this is the most natural swing for me and the one I have most success with. I've only been swinging a club for about 6 months and would like to know if this is good or bad.

Does anyone know of any pros using the method described in the article I linked? To me it just incorporates a very exaggerated cupping of the right wrist in the swing. It also makes it near impossible to hinge the wrists up and down at any point. Less cup in the right hand to me makes it easier to hinge up and down. One person I saw that maybe using it is Natalie Gulbis. She seems to break her wrists back and the beginning of her swing.

Here's an exercise that I find is good for sensing the wrists cock correctly.

Take your address position as normal. From here cross your right hand and forearm over the left forearm. Upper arms remain as they were at address, close to the upper body, with only a slight movement. Your club head and shaft should be parallel to the target line (a post impact position). From this post impact position make your full swing, or any length of swing you want. You should get a good feeling with the hands and wrists on the backswing amd it will also help your release.

Thanks cmays, deffo no weed for me but off out for a few beers now

Incidentally I worked on this with my Leadbetter swing setter today, those magnetic balls got good clicking!

No cocking of the wrists may result in in a overswing and place the clubhead on the wrong plane. This is a difficult concept to learn.
My recommendation is keep your swing simple. Don't over excentiate the cocking of the wrist.

New wrist cock question. When looking at some stills of Annika Sorenstam's swing, when her hands were waist high on the backswing the shaft of the club was horizontal to the ground, in other words pointing straight back. Is their any reason to cock the wrists before this point?

Nope. Late wrists setting is a good thing. This makes sure you are using your shoulder rotation to take everything back.