Hey Shootin':Gulbis' pre shot routine

Hey Shootin':while watching LPGA yesterday..Natalie Gulbis would go thru a pre shot routine with her driver that appeared as though she was cupping her right wrist as soon as she moved away from the ball.Is this what you are talking about in some of your post?I tried it last nite in the front yard and could really see the difference in compactness and the way the clubhead returned to address position.Cant wait to get by the range this afternoon and try it.Once i did it properly and got to halfway back..the rest of swing was merely a shoulder turn to complete backswing..and then just swing back to ball.David

sounds like it spanky, I did not notice even though I watched her but I will look for it next time for sure. Try this with just chipping as well. ball in middle of stance, weight forward, cup back with little or no turn, then turn your lower body through
try those out on the range, and report back. also remember in the frist bucket of balls make your goal to hit 1 of 5 good

I'm confused!Greg talks about only cocking the wrists in the backswing (right hand drill). And other low handicappers on this site who also know what they're on about mention cupping? Am I not getting something here or have I just misunderstood?

Maybe this will help you to understand?

Hold a club in your hands at the address position.

Now push both wrists to the right and then left without moving your arms away, this is cupping left and right..

With the club at address again, lift the club straight up in the air with your wrists, without moving your arms, this is cocking the wrists, lowering the club back to the ground is uncocking them.

I hope this helps
Brian

Thanks Brian but which should you do in the swing?

If you watch Ernier Els, Hogan, and it seems like Gulbis, their first move back, in relation to what the wrists do, is a cup, after that then the wrist cock. This ensures that on the downswing that the wrists uncock first, and then uncup, because it is the cup that maintains the lag

I have a hard time with cupping the right wrist. I always try to get in the cup position with the right hand at address. Can one hinge the wrist back in the cupped position as one takes the club back and then maitain that position through impact. Seems it would be much easier to get a good cupped position that way.

There is a drill, that has been around for years, that gets very little attention. (That I know of anyway) It seems like it is simular to what you are discussing, but I am not sure.

Basically what you do after taking your set up is to cock your wrist, while pointing your club away from your trailing shoulder. In other words your lead thumb will be pointing backwards away from the hole, but parallel to your target line. Actually the shaft will be parallel to the target line, since people use different position of the lead thumb on the shaft. The back side of you lead hand will also be parallel to your target line, as will be the club shaft, and face. The club face will (some what) match the angle of the back side of your lead hand, with the toe (some what ) pointing up. The palm of the trailing hand will face the same way as the back side of the lead hand. From this position, you swing the club up to the top of your swing, then back down. This drill will help you drop the club back into the "slot" on the down swing.

I may be wrong but this seems like the position that you are discussing to start the real swing from. My apologies if I am mistaken. At any rate the drill is a sound one. GJS

Early cupping definitely helps in simplifying the swing, and if you are like me who use too much arms/hands in the swing, it really helps because the early you set the wrists, the easier it is to just use body rotation to complete the backswing. Definitely more compact swing, less complications, aids better contact with the ball.

However, I find that this does not really seem to help in terms of distance. My 7i distance can range from 120-145 yds as I'm still trying to firm up a comfortable swing that I can always repeat. Early cupping probably gives me very consistent 130yd shots, but if I try to go for more width in my swing (go low and slow for example) or add an extra bit of rotation on the backswing, then I can get distances up to 145 although not so consistent. And some days, try as I might, I could just be stuck at 120-130yds.

So I'm curious, how many of you actually end up adopting this early wrist cup as your de facto swing?

Hmmmm! I am finding this thread hard to follow with this debate of cupping the wrists on takeaway, it goes against everything I have been taught and do.

I think it is important to keep a near flat left wrist throughout the swing. At the end of the takeaway the club should be pointing in the opposite direction to the target with the but end pointing directly to target, club face pointing directly upwards (how can you do this with cupped wrists). The next move is to cock the wrists by cocking them through 90 deg, you then complete the back swing by rotation of the shoulders.

At the top of your backswing your left wrist should be flat so the clubface is parallel with your forearm. Any cupping will produce an open or closed clubface.

Look at this link for a better explanation:
http://www.ritson-sole.com/golftips/2003/dec03.htm

I apologise if I am missing the point here but this is as I see it.

Best regards
Brian

You are correct that cupping at the top of the back swing will cause an open or closed club face. Your right hand is cupped to the club when you grip and take your address. You can still keep the left hand flat and hinge properly without further cupping your right hand at the top. People are talking about cupping the right hand as much as possible at address and maintaining it through out the swing until impact. Some, including me, have mentioned cupping the right hand a bit at the beginning of the take away because it is difficult to get a really solid cup when addressing the ball but that is not recommended.

Hi Jambalaya,

Thanks, I can follow what you are saying but cannot understand why you should want to cup your right wrist. What is it supposed to achieve? Is there a web URL that shows this?

Regards
Brian

Hi Brian,

I think it's just a matter of terminology which you might be a bit confused about. A cupped right wrist (for right handers) is one of the most fundamental basics of the golf swing. In order to make sure your definition of a cupped wrist is correct, let's refer to a waiter supporting a tray with his palm. Get the picture? In this position, his wrist is considered cupped.

At impact, you should have this right wrist cup, plus a flat left wrist. This ensures that your hands are ahead of the clubhead, and is essential in getting lag in your swing.

I've had that problem when I tried cupping the right wrist as Shootin suggested. My left wrist was bowed at the top, the club face pointing at the sky and I hit everything left

My own personal view here - forget the wrists. They will and should set, cup and cock naturally as the direct result of an on plane takeaway and pivot. For a lot of mid-high handicappers trying to go down a road of manipulating your wrists on the backswing is going to introduce tension.

Make a nice smooth, rythmical connected swing back, keep the wrists as soft as noodles and they will respond to the turning and lifting of the arms. If you do this in a mirror and check your wrist position at the top im sure for most people it would be near enough OK. A little cup in the left wrist is a good thing .. most good players have it

I agree with pnearn 100%. I play at a 13 hc and when I started fixating on my wrist, it introduced unwelcomed tension into my swing. However, I do believe it is essential to understand the proper wrist position and/or lag in order to produce power. IMO and what works for me is as follows - good square tension free setup, take it back on plane while staying level and not swaying, then once I get to approximately 3/4 parallel at the top -"drop it in the slot." Finally, which is most important for me - release it through the impact zone as opposed to "hitting" at the ball.
When I occasionally achieve this swing, it produces wonderful results! Unfortunately, the key-word being "occasionally."

-keep it on the short grass