by Andre Sanchez

If you learn how to stop hinging your wrist in your golf swing, you will not only be able to drive farther but will also reduce the chances of you suffering from wrist injury. To many golfers this might sound strange, since the wrist hinge is an important part of your swing.  However, this depends upon the type of wrist hinge we are talking about, so let’s look at the way you wrist hinges a bit closer.

Your wrist can hinge in two directions.  If you hold your golf club with your normal grip, and hold it out horizontally in front of you, there are two planes in which you will be ably to hinge your wrist. If you move your wrists up and down, the same way as you would nod your head, then your club will move up and down. That is the way you should be flexing or hinging your wrists. However, if you hinge them from side to side, as if you were shaking your head, and your club moves from side to side, then that is what you should try to avoid.

The first will add speed and power to your swing, while the second will rob you of that power.  It might not seem to make much sense, but if you check out where your wrists are at the top of the backswing, they are hinged upwards, not to one side or the other.  As you travel through your swing the hinge drops from up to down, not from right to left.

Your golf swing should result in you tensing up your arms by trying to hinge your wrists to one side or the other, but should be loose and free.  Your wrists will naturally hinge themselves, and you should practice at making that as smooth and free a movement as possible. Imagine your swing as being akin to a weight being whirled around on a rope.  The weight is your club head and the rope your club, wrists and arms.

When you grip your club, it should be a loose grip.  You should not hold the club tightly enough to tense up your muscles or they will contract and reduce the power of your swing. You should grip the golf club just tightly enough to stop the shaft rotating in your hands as you swing and drive through the ball. You should not try to flex or hinge your wrists as you move your club up in the backswing.  This will occur naturally due to the design of your anatomy.  Try it slowly and you will see what I mean. You will find your wrists hinging upwards, not sideways.

As you come down in the downswing you will find again that your wrists will hinge naturally downwards. Try not to move them from side to side, but keep that rope taut for maximum speed through the golf ball. Your wrists will naturally square up as they come level with your body, and you will time your strike correctly.  If you try to force your wrists forward by hinging them forwards over the ball you will strike the ball early and slice it.  That is why the up-down hinge is good, but the right-left hinge is bad.

It is the up and down wrist movement that adds power to your swing, not the side to side hinge.  The way to stop this form of wrist hinge occurring is to keep your muscles loose as you drive, and do not try to force your hands through the ball, Allow your arms to do the work, not your hands and wrists.  Your wrists will hinge naturally as they should. They should feel as though you are hammering a nail rather than playing badminton!

Some golfers can control the amount by which they hinge their wrists, and often do so by forcing their hands down through the downstroke.  However, once your arms are fully extended you should allow your anatomy to do the rest and not try to force anything:  the strength of your swing, the angle of wrist or any backward or forward hinge.  In this way you will stop yourself from hinging your wrist into the shot and slicing the ball before your club face is truly square to the ball, and maintain that straight swinging rope and weight into the ball with maximum speed and power.

Hinge your wrist correctly on your golf swing and you will impart maximum power to your swing.  This will occur naturally, but it is possible to provide nature with a helping hand if you understand the correct direction in which your wrist will hinge, and how to properly achieve it.