Master Your Wrist Mechanics for Better Golf with HackMotion

HackMotion

Apr 18, 2024 . 6 mins read

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If you want to get better at golf, you must have control over the clubface. How is the clubface controlled in golf?

The wrists.

Correct wrist angles are crucial for successful clubface control.

In the video below, golf coach Rob Cheney using HackMotion, demonstrates why many golfers are not improving and what to do to change that!

Key Takeaways

• Wrist angles not only control the clubface at impact, but they can also have a tremendous impact on your club’s path.
• If you want to maximize speed on the downswing, you must have the clubface square.
• HackMotion audio feedback can help you get your clubface into the correct position at the top to make your impact more consistent.

Wrists Getting into an Improper Position at the Top

We are going to look at some examples of great players and amateur golfers. You will notice throughout this blog that the wrist position at impact is an indicator of what will happen to the golf ball. However, wrist position at the top helps determine wrist position at impact.

In other words, you have to work backward from impact to get the wrists into the right position.

Collect some baseline data with the HackMotion wrist sensor to see what the position at the top of your backswing looks like. We know that professionals are adding very little, if any, extension from setup to the top of the backswing.

Wrist Position at the Top Influencing Path and Impact Position

The wrist position at the top ultimately determines how hard you will have to work to square up the clubface and hit a great shot.

For example, a player like Dustin Johnson, who has a flexed wrist at the top of his backswing, can simply rotate through the ball (with a lot of speed) and not have to worry about squaring the face of the club.

The key to consistent swing is getting the clubface into a good position before it gains speed.

Look at PGA Tour rising star Sungjae Im – the first move starting his downswing; he is twisting the clubface shut using his hands.

Once you get into a bad position during the transition, it is impossible to recover.

While wearing your HackMotion device, you can look at how much work it will take for you to get from an extended wrist position to a flexed one. For instance, if you have 35 degrees of extension at the top of your swing, getting to impact with 0 extension will be very difficult.

A golfer that has 15 or 20 degrees of extension can get there quite a bit easier.

Misconceptions for Amateur Golfers

Amateurs have been sold a lie – they think they will add more distance if they hinge their wrists

to get more lag. But actually, it is the opposite.

Look how the player below lifts their hands, cups the wrists, and pulls on the handle during the transition – he gets into a position he cannot recover from and rotates his body. This is obviously an extreme case, but to a lesser extent, it happens very often.

Bad Example:

Extreme wrist hinging and pulling, open clubface, losing speed

Good Example: Tommy Fleetwood

Once the clubface is in a good position, you are able to rotate the body.

What Happens when Wrist and Hand Motion are Incorrect?

You can spend so much time working on things like path and weight transfer only to find out that your swing is not adjusting or adapting to the changes you are making. The reason behind this is that you are missing the most critical factor, wrist, and hand position.

Wrong wrist and hand motion get players into a terrible position:

• The more they hinge their wrists and pull on the club, the more they open the clubface and get the club too much in front of them.
• This leads to them having to stall the pivot to square clubface by flipping their hands before impact.
• So they actually lose speed and distance because they cannot rotate the body.
• Tour players like Tommy Fleetwood can generate speed with their bodies because they get the clubface in a good starting position (at the top), not too open.

Early squaring of the clubface and stable wrist mechanics create consistency.

Work to Square the Clubface Early

Inconsistency in the approach to impact causes inconsistent golf shots. Not only do you want to learn to square the clubface early, but you also want to be able to do it consistently.

The best players in the game have very little variation in their wrist angles as they move toward impact.

There is no perfect amount of wrist extension or flexion in golf. The most important thing to look for is patterns, patterns that encourage a square clubface at impact.

Look how Tommy Fleetwood squares the clubface early – it points down and toward the target.

He gets the clubface behind him, so he can rotate his body.

Now, look how the player struggling with a slice (like most amateurs) has his clubface wide open and pointed to the right.

The only way he can hit the ball is by moving the swing path to the left, and the out-to-in club path creates a massive side spin and a weak slice.

How to Train Clubface Control with HackMotion

Now, you can see how vital clubface control is and why HackMotion is necessary. Here is exactly how to use HackMotion to get your game to the next level.

Step 1:

Make a few shots to measure wrist movement. Pay attention to the lead wrist extension (cupping) at the top and in the downswing. Are you within the recommended range?

Step 2:

To learn the correct wrist positions, use Hackmotion’s audio feedback to signal when your wrists are in the correct position.

Step 3:

Practice regularly by using the HackMotion sensor to monitor the progress, compare your bad swings vs. good swings and get accurate data after each swing.

The clubface is king regarding consistency, so clubface control is key to your game.