Practical Drills to Improve Wrist Mechanics and Clubface Control

HackMotion was created so that golfers could see and feel (simultaneously) how their wrists are impacting their golf swing. Stepping up to a golf ball and simply trying to “hit it better” just doesn’t work.

Instead, we need practical drills that help take these concepts and ideas and ingrain them into our brains. While analyzing more than 1,000,000 golf swings, we have also come across some of the best drills to work on improving wrist mechanics and clubface control. Here are a few of our favorites.

Key Takeaways

• Drills to improve wrist mechanics are often more effective when you have a way to measure and observe the progress; HackMotion allows you to do this.
• Before starting any type of drill, make sure you have some type of understanding as to what the issues are in your swing. Don’t fix something that isn’t broken.
• Not all drills work for you; you must find something that matches your learning style and your playing ability; if something doesn’t work – move on.
• Many full swing drills for wrist mechanics and clubface control can be used around the greens if they deal with the impact position.

How to Find the Best Drills for Your Game

Here are a few of the best tips to find the perfect golf drills for your game.

Data Collection First

Do some data collection using your HackMotion device and determine where most of the issues are. Many times, you can narrow things down to a rotation problem or an extension problem. When you have the data collected, you can then move towards a solution.

Understand the Purpose of the Drill

Having you stand on one leg with your eyes closed is all well and good, but you have to have a deeper understanding as to why you are doing this. Many golfers go into a drill to try and improve their feel, which is important.

However, even if you are more of a feel player, you should have a conceptual understanding of what it is you are trying to do with this drill. (ie. Keep the wrist flexed, control the open clubface, eliminate flipping, etc.)

Search the Specific Problem

We have created a large body of content that gives you information about every problem you could encounter with wrist action and clubface control. If you are struggling with flipping, cupping, or poor timing, find an article related to that specific issue, and you will find drills.

Downswing Wrist Action Drills

The takeaway and backswing are very important. You’ll have to get everything in place in order to maximize your results through the ball.

However, at some point, it all comes down to the position you are in on the downswing.

These two drills to help improve wrist action on the downswing will help you strike the ball better.

Downswing Checkpoint Drill

To make sure your club is in the correct position during the downswing, you’ll want to avoid an out-to-in swing path. This path can cause slicing. Golfers with more extended lead wrist positions in their swing often struggle to get the club on the proper path.

For this drill, you will feel the clubhead slightly behind the hands when the shaft is parallel to the ground. The clubface should point slightly toward the ground to help promote a draw.

Rob Cheney shows you how to check your downswing and ensure it’s on track every time.

Hit Hard, Stop Quick Drill

The Hit Hard Stop Quick Drill is another Rob Cheney specialty. The goal here is to improve compression and the quality of the contact with the golf ball. This is a drill you will want to use for iron shots.

You’ll focus on maintaining extension in the trail wrist throughout the swing and increasing shaft lean at impact.

For this drill, you will take a full swing but stop the clubhead just after impact. This motion will help you feel the powerful strike without letting the clubhead overtake the hands.

Drills for Forearm Rotation Issues in the Golf Swing

Forearm rotation is very closely related to a golfer’s ability to release the club and square the clubface. At HackMotion, we love to talk about flexion and extension because of how quickly they can be manipulated and changed to make a difference in a golfer’s swing.

However, rotation is next in line when it comes to the power it can have in your game development.

Forearm Rotation Drill

Professional golfers have more and better forearm rotation than amateur golfers.

When you rotate the forearms properly, you can get more power, hit straighter shots, and learn to play a more consistent game. Athletic Motion Golf gives you a great handshake drill here, where you can get just the right amount of forearm rotation throughout the golf swing.

Even golfers who are good at getting the golf club into a perfect position at the top of their swing will need the right amount of forearm rotation to square the clubface.

Nick Faldo Pre Set Drill

The Nick Faldo Pre Set drill predates the HackMotion. However, this drill clearly shows that even Faldo understands the importance of the wrists in clubface control. What we love about the Nick Faldo pre set drill is how it simplifies the golf swing.

Set your wrists, get them in the right position, and incorporate a great turn into your swing. It should be that easy!

Drills to Improve Extension/Flexion Problems

Extension and flexion problems are very quickly identified with the use of HackMotion. The most common issue that golfers face when it comes to wrist action in the golf swing is too much extension at the top of the swing and at impact; these drills should help.

Open Hand Drill

The open-hand drill is a great option for golfers who can’t quite get the trail wrist to ease up on the downswing. Many players struggle with this flipping type motion to square a clubface through impact.

It doesn’t work.

Try this open-hand drill; you will notice it’s considerably easier to get that feeling of a quiet trail wrist and a flexed lead wrist through impact.

Motorcycle Drill

The Motorcycle Drill is one of the best wrist action drills in golf. At the top of the backswing, take your lead wrist and feel as though it turns counterclockwise on the downswing. This motion will be completely different from other golf drills you have tried.

You will end up treating your golf grip as though it’s a handle on a motorcycle. This unique concept will help add flexion at the top of your backswing and make it easier to maintain that flexion through impact.

Glove Label Drill

Alistair Davies has been teaching golf for more than 25 years, and he’s never seen a player who couldn’t benefit from this drill.

For the glove label drill, you will think about the label on your glove facing the ground on your downswing. As demonstrated in the video, you can use this for full swing and ¾ swing shots.

The drill does a great job of eliminating extension through impact and making the motions more consistent.

If you start to get this feeling down, expect a more consistent impact.

Drills to Help Improve with Putting Consistency

These two drills for helping to improve putting consistency will make it easier to avoid three putts and give you a chance to feel confident on the putting green.

Don’t Change the Pitch Angle Drill

HackMotion teaches you about ulnar and radial deviation changes in the wrists throughout the putting stroke. While many golfers focus on flexion and extension, we can’t forget about the pitch of our wrists, as Athletic Motion Golf explains.

Your lie angle is directly tied into the amount of pitch in the lead wrist. The drill for fixing this in your game involves working with the HackMotion and keeping an eye on that ulnar and radial deviation.

However, you can do this drill without HackMotion; you just will have less data about what it takes to get the wrists correctly positioned.

T Rex Drill

Rob Cheney explains how a short-armed T-Rex can teach us how to get into the perfect position to putt a golf ball. The T-Rex drill will teach you how to pull your arms back and into place and ensure your chest is more bent over during the stroke.

Standing up too tall removes us from the position we need to be in to create consistent and solid contact with our hands and wrists. Wrist action in this one is much more stable because of the positioning of the body.

Drills to Improve Short Game

When it comes to the short game, there is quite a bit of variation in wrist movement. As a general rule of thumb, you will see more extension through impact when the ball needs to travel high and more flexion through impact when the ball needs to travel lower.

Extension Drill in Pitching

For a pitch shot, a little extension on the backswing can help ensure a higher ball flight through impact. Most amateur golfers look at pitch shots and chip shots the same way, making them disappointed in the results they get with either one.

Wearing the HackMotion can show you if your first move away from the ball allows the clubface to open and rotate or if it just stays closed and shut down. Flipping the wrists through impact can be unreliable and inconsistent.

This drill will show you how to maintain that extension, get the ball up in the air, and hit the shots you want.

Bowing the Wrist Through Impact

Steve Johnston has found HackMotion has helped his students by allowing them to feel the bowed wrist through a chip shot. This is a bit different than the pitching drill in that, for this one, you want the lead wrist in flexed position throughout the shot.

I highly recommend practicing a chipping drill and a pitching drill so that you can start to see the differences between these two motions. You know you have made great progress as soon as you get your clubface control to the point that you can switch back and forth between chipping and pitching.

Final Thoughts

These practical drills to improve wrist mechanics and clubface control can be something you take out to the driving range with you today. To benefit the most, set your HackMotion to record the session and use it as a baseline for the next time you attempt any of the drills.

Having this kind of data to compare and check on will make it easier to bring these concepts to the golf course.