The Role of Wrists in the Follow Through: What Every Golfer Needs to Know
What the wrists do in your golf swing just after impact can affect ball flight, consistency, and accuracy of your golf shots. Proper wrist mechanics will help you control the clubface.
Many golfers think that by the time the club makes it to the follow-through, its positioning doesn’t matter.
If that were the case, why would professionals all follow the same pattern of wrist action in the follow-through?
We will take a look at what the wrists should be doing in the follow-through and some ways you can work on these movements.
Wrist Action in Follow Through (Key Takeaways)
If you don’t have time to head to the range and work on your follow-through right now, here are a few key things to take with you:
- The wrists should release naturally in the follow-through so that the clubface stays square even after the ball is hit.
- Working on impact drills can help you gain more awareness of your wrist action in the follow-through and whether it needs attention.
- Keeping more stability in the lead wrist through impact will help with consistency in your ball striking.
- The HackMotion wrist sensor will show you exactly where your follow-through issues are and the steps you can take to work on and improve your positioning.
Contents
What the Wrists Should Do in the Follow Through
After studying more than 1,000,000 golf swings with the help of HackMotion we identified some key movements that all great players are doing in the follow through of their golf swing.
Minimal Forearm Rotation
As your golf club is coming into impact, your forearms should start to rotate. This forearm rotation helps square the clubface up. After impact, the wrists should continue with this minimal forearm rotation to ensure the clubface stays square to the swing arc.
If the forearms were to stop rotating, there would be a lack of accuracy and control.
Maintain a Square Clubface
Through impact and into the follow-through, the clubface needs to remain square. As you get further along in the follow-through, the forearm rotation will start to close the clubface slightly.
However, the best way to keep the clubface square in the follow-through is to check the amount of flexion in the lead wrist.
The wrist moves from a bowed or flexed position at impact into an extended position as the arms and hands start to move up and out of the impact zone.
If you can maintain that square clubface through impact and into the first part of the follow through, you’ll see straighter shots.
Natural Release
If the wrists are in the correct position as they approach the golf ball, the release pattern they follow through impact should be quite natural. The right hand does not need to twist excessively.
If the wrists release naturally, you’ll notice more power and increased control in the golf shots. Many players inhibit this natural release of the wrists because of tension in their hands and forearms.
Lead Wrist Stability
The left wrist should remain stable and straight through the impact zone.
To get to this position, you’ll want to be as close to a flat lead wrist as possible at the top of your backswing. From there, you can rotate your body and work on maintaining that flat lead wrist with just a bit of flexion.
Having stability in the lead wrists ensures the clubface doesn’t open or close too much in the follow through.
Common Wrist Action Mistakes in the Follow Through
Thinking your wrists are done as soon as they get to impact is just not the best approach.
Wrist action mistakes in the follow-through can lead to hooks, slices, weak shots, and incorrect trajectory.
Here are a few of the things you should avoid.
- Over-Rotation of the Forearms: Excessive forearm rotation can lead to an inconsistent clubface position, causing hooks or slices. If the wrists are in the right place, the rotation of the forearms should happen naturally.
- Holding the Clubface Off or Keeping it Square Too Long: Some players try to hold the clubface off to avoid hooks, but this can reduce power and cause weak shots. Let the clubface square up and remain square through impact.
- Early Release: Releasing the wrists too early often leads to a scoop, typically a weaker shot that goes to the right because of the clubface opening.
- Late Release: Just as important as the early release, you’ll also want to avoid the late release which can cause a low golf shot that hooks.
Drills to Improve Wrist Action in the Follow Through
If you are finding that your wrists are not in the correct position in the follow through, here are a few drills to help you work on these positions.
Mirror Drill
You can practice your follow through in front of a mirror and focus on maintaining a square clubface and proper wrist position. Try to mirror the natural release motion that you see professionals make.
To make this mirror drill more effective, wear your HackMotion and try to create a connection between the feeling of the movement of your wrists and the actual motion and what that looks like.
Hit Hard Stop, Quick Drill
With the hit hard stop quick drill, you’ll swing down into the impact position and then stop everything just after impact.
To be able to stop the club that quickly, your wrists will naturally have to remain more stable and closer to a flexed position.
This drill can be used for both impact and follow through practice.
L-to-L Drill
The L to L drill has you form an L shape with your wrists on the backswing and then again in the follow through.
The L to L helps improve hinging and unhinging mechanics and creates a more natural wrist release. A key part of this drill is ensuring your wrists do not flip or scoop.
Final Thoughts
At this point, you should understand that even though your wrists have reached the impact position, they are not finished.
Improve your follow-through and get to a more consistent and accurate position on all of your golf shots. You need to encourage a natural release of the wrists to repeat the same golf swing each time.
Wearing your HackMotion will quickly identify the issues in your swing and help you become more confident in your wrist positions.
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