How to Fix a Cupped Wrist in Golf (Complete Guide with Proven Drills & Practical Tips

HackMotion

Jan 3, 2025 . 9 mins read

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Struggling with slices or weak contact? A cupped wrist might be the hidden culprit.

Fixing the cupped wrist at the top of the backswing can lead to more power, consistent contact, and straighter shots.

After analyzing over 1,000,000 golf swings, we know that a flat or slightly bowed wrist at the top is a better position.

The problem is without the proper measurements most golfers don’t even know how bad their cupped wrist problem even is. Let’s examine a cupped wrist, how it can impact your golf game, and what you can do to fix it.

Cupped Left Wrist in Golf (Key Takeaways)

If you don’t have time to go through our entire guide on wrist cupping at the top of the backswing, here are the key takeaways to consider:

• The best way to fix a cupped wrist is to practice getting into the correct position at the top of the backswing; this can be done using HackMotion drills and repeating the process until you create muscle memory.
• Make sure your grip is neutral and not too strong; a strong grip can add extension.
• The less extension or cupping you have at the top of the backswing, the easier it is to fire through impact with speed and body rotation. Cupping costs you distance.
• HackMotion immediately shows you if you’re adding extension or too far extended in the downswing so you can correct it before it becomes a habit.

If you prefer to watch instead of read about how to fix a cupped left wrist, here’s a video recap of everything you need to know.

What is a Cupped Wrist at the Top of the Backswing?

A cupped wrist is a position where the back of the hand (left hand for a right-handed golfer) arches upward toward the forearm, creating a concave shape.

This wrist position at the top of the backswing can set off a chain reaction that negatively impacts your entire swing—from the initial downswing path to impact.

If you’ve ever wondered why you’re battling consistent slices or pushes, the cupped wrist could be the root cause.

By opening the clubface at the top, you’re forcing yourself to make compensations just to get the face square again.

This often results in:

• Open Clubface – A cupped wrist prevents you from closing the clubface properly, causing shots to leak right or slice and lose distance.
• Inconsistent Ball Striking – The compensation needed to square the face leads to poor contact and unpredictable ball flight.
• Loss of Power – With a cupped wrist, you can’t efficiently transfer energy through the ball.
• Poor Swing Path – A cupped wrist at the top frequently sets you up for a swing path that’s outside-in, increasing the likelihood of slicing.

One way to tell if you have a cupped wrist is to HackMotion diagnostics to get real-time feedback and data on the position of your wrist.

What Does a Cupped Wrist Look Like?

One of the easiest ways to see what a cupped wrist looks like is to check the position at the top of the backswing and compare it to a bowed or flat wrist.

• Cupped/Extended: wrist forms a concave arch.
• Flat: no arch, back of hand in line with forearm.
• Bowed/Flexed: wrist angles slightly downward

Wrists in the Golf Swing Explained

Most weekend golfers only need to focus on extension vs. flexion in their lead wrist position if they struggle with cupping.

If you need a complete explanation of how the wrists work in the golf swing, check out our guide here.

Extension and flexion is the wrists’ bowing (flexion) and cupping (extension) control the clubface’s angle. Flexion closes the face, while extension opens it.

How to Stop Cupping Your Wrist in Golf (Drills and Tips)

If you or the HackMotion swing diagnostics test has identified that your wrist is, in fact, in a cupped position at the top of your backswing, here are a few of the best drills to help you get it straightened out.

Use these drills alongside HackMotion to track your wrist angles. Real-time data ensures you’re not practicing a bad habit.

Grip Change

A golfer with a strong grip (too strong) often has a cupped wrist at the top of the backswing.

If you are still determining how your grip should look, here is an excellent example of a neutral grip. You’ll notice from the picture that the strong grip increases extension right from the start of the swing, sometimes creating too much at the top.

For the right-handed golfer, turn the lead hand slightly to the left to weaken the grip.

Static Top Drill

It helps to start with a simple drill like the Static Top Drill when fixing the cupped lead wrist position at the top.

Although you can do this without the HackMotion you’ll have no feedback to know if you are practicing correctly.

Motorcycle Drill to Fix Cupped Lead Wrist

The motorcycle drill is an interactive HackMotion drill. Using HackMotion data, you can see if you have excess extension in the lead wrist and learn what it feels like to “rev” that lead wrist to reduce extension before transition.

The best players in the game get their wrists to a flat or flexed position before impact.

The sooner you can eliminate extension in the lead wrist starting right from the top of the swing, the easier it is to increase speed and consistency through impact.

Hit Hard Stop Quick Drill

Trying to stop the golf club just after impact helps you gain awareness of the clubhead through impact.

Once you’ve completed the static top drill, try practicing with this Hit Hard Stop Quick. You should notice your lead wrist stays more flexed, and your hands stay in front of the clubhead.

Fixing a Cupped Wrist – Angles to Understand

As you work with your HackMotion to improve wrist angles, you’ll learn that there is no perfect number to reach to become a better player.

However, in the table below, you’ll notice that the lowest handicap players have the largest change in their wrist extension at address and the wrist extension at impact.

For higher handicappers, you can see that extension (or cupping) increases from the address to the top, making it much harder to reduce this extension by impact.

If you’re in that 25-plus handicap group, practicing real-time drills with the help of HackMotion can quickly and significantly change your ball flight, distance, and consistency.

Final Thoughts

You’ll be amazed at how quickly your ball flight improves once that wrist stops cupping.

It’s considerably easier to diagnose and then correct the cupped wrist problem if you are using the HackMotion.

Falling back into the bad habit of cupping the lead wrist can happen if you are not practicing the right way.

Ready to fix your cupped wrist once and for all? Click here to get HackMotion and start practicing smarter!