Wouldn’t it be nice to start your takeaway with a move that will guarantee a perfect swing with all of your irons? Well bless your stars because this is your lucky day. I have been working on using a flat wrist swing with lag that will power every shot directly up my target line. I have actually done this for years but I could not find consistency to do this with all of my clubs. 10% to 20% of my shots have often been miss-hits. I finally stumbled over a simple trick to create consistency using a wrist move at the start of my takeaway.
Many pros have used a forward arm “press” to start their backswing. Even Phil Michelson and Jordan Spieth use it for the start of their putting stroke. I have also noticed that a Pete Styles a PGA instructor on the Golf-Info-Guide training videos adds a forward press with a slight shift of his hands at the start of his backswing. No one has explained how this affects their performance.
Flatten Your Wrist to Start Your Takeaway
I have been trying to incorporate a flat wrist in my backswing before I reach the top of my swing where I also add wrist lag (with a 90 degree angle from my forearm to my shaft). Somehow I have not been able to capture these 2 moves consistently so I decided to copy Dustin Johnson.
Dustin Johnson must be doing something right with his swing. In addition to being the #1 golfer on tour, he just won 5 points for the USA Ryder Cup Team. He starts bowing his wrist (forming a bump on the back of his wrist) and gradually adding lag from the start of his takeaway. I don’t have his power so I decided to just STRAIGHTEN my wrist at the start of my backswing (instead of BOWING my wrist). This is my eureka move that creates consistent hits with better direction control.
I noticed that the leading wrist on every golfer during setup has a slight cup shape when you setup for any of your clubs (especially for your driver where you setup with the ball further forward in your stance). Only Bryson DeChambeau sets up with a flat leading wrist for his driver and all of his driving clubs.
The Shift
Just straighten out your wrist by moving the head of your club back from the ball by about 3 to 10 inches before you start your hip and shoulder rotation for your backswing. By doing this at the start of your backswing you can lock your wrist to a flat position during your complete backswing.
I’m not exactly sure why a Flat Leading Wrist gives you a more consistent swing with a more consistent direction control. Eliminating angles seems to force you to shift your weight forward during the downswing and to impact your ball before you take any divot or skim the turf.
I know that Hank Haney encourages the flat leading wrist so starting your swing with a wrist shift may be ideal for everyone. Practice for the control of your arm and wrist using GOLFSTR+ for 6 swing fixes but NOT for your leading wrist on your iron (as you need wrist mobility to finish your swing). Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com
Golf Truism #77: If you are afraid a full shot might reach the green while the foursome ahead of you is still putting out, you have 2 options: you can immediately shank a lay-up or you can wait until the green is clear and top a ball halfway there.