Stop Flipping Wrists in Your Golf Swing & Take Control of the Club at Impact
Most golfers don’t realize they flip the club until they watch a slow-motion video of their swing.
Flipping a golf club at impact is all about trying to square the clubface. Interestingly, flipping isn’t necessarily a bad instinct; it’s an athletic one.
Just because you flip doesn’t mean you are a poor golfer. The question is, what CAUSES you to flip? If we can get rid of this cause, you can keep your wrist from flipping at impact and gain power and consistency.
This guide will explain why golfers tend to flip their wrists and how to work on fixing this problem for good.
How to Stop Flipping Wrists at Impact? (Key Takeaways)
Golfers flip their wrists at impact mainly to square up the clubface. If you want to stop flipping, your clubface must be square before reaching the impact position. Changes to your setup, grip, and positioning at the top of the backswing can all help you to stop flipping your wrists.
- Adjusting the ball position, ensuring proper weight transfer, and maintaining a correct grip are critical steps toward improvement.
- Maintaining a flat to slightly flexed wrist position at the top of the backswing will control the clubface and reduce the need to flip at impact.
- HackMotion provides valuable feedback on wrist position throughout the swing, allowing you to make real-time adjustments and practice effectively to eliminate wrist flipping and enhance overall swing mechanics.
If you prefer to watch instead of read, here’s a video recap explaining why that flip happens and how to stop flipping your wrists at impact.
Contents
What is Flipping Wrists in Golf Swing?
Flipping the wrists in the golf swing is when you quickly extend the lead wrist in order to turn the clubface to a square position.
This happens just before impact.
Professionals refer to a flip as the incorrect cupping of the wrists.
What this feels like for a golfer is that the left wrist (right-handed player) will be pointed up to the sky at impact. The top of the right hand will be pointed more toward the ground.
What Causes Flipping in the Golf Swing?
Here are the top causes for flipping; when reading through them, you will likely be able to scope out exactly which one is hurting your game.
- Rushing the Swing: Acceleration is key, but moving through impact too quickly can cause a flip if your swing is out of sequence.
- Poor Grip: A weak grip or excessive right-hand movement can lead to wrist flipping at impact. Ensure your hands work together, possibly with a stronger grip.
- Too Much Extension at the Top: Excessive lead wrist extension at the top often results in an open clubface, making it harder to square at impact.
- Body Firing at the Ball: Over-exaggerating the lower body turn in the downswing can cause the wrists to flip. Balance body movement with wrist and hand control.
- Over the Top Path: An over-the-top swing path disrupts the clubface angle, often leading to a wrist flip as a last-ditch effort to square the club.
- Body Stalls Before Impact: Stalling the body through impact forces the wrists to flip instead of releasing naturally.
- Weight Hanging Back: Proper weight transfer through impact is crucial for squaring the clubface and avoiding the last-minute flip.
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
How to Stop Flipping Wrists in a Golf Swing
Now that you understand what causes flipping in golf let’s take a better look at how you can fix this. The method you choose to fix will often be related to the cause.
1. Move the Ball Position
A golf ball played too far back in your stance can make it so that you run out of time on your downswing. As you swing through the ball, you can flip your wrists to square up the clubface.
Moving the ball a little closer to your lead foot can give you that extra second to strike the ball with a square face.
2. Position the Handle Forward Slightly
Another setup-related fix is to make sure that your hands are in line with or slightly forward of the golf ball. Get them in line with your lead leg.
When the hand position moves behind the ball, returning to the proper impact position is hard.
Move the handle forward with a slight forward press, and then work on getting back to this same position at impact.
3. Feel the Pressure on the Lead Foot at Impact
Weight transfer in golf is essential. As you move from the top of your golf swing into the impact position, you feel the weight transfer to your left side. At impact, more weight should be on the left foot than the right foot.
This movement of the weight will help you square the clubface and hit down and through the ball.
The best way to feel this is as if the lead side of your body (left for the right-handed player) is up against a wall. Rotating and firing through that firm lead side makes it less likely that you will flip.
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
4. Find the Right Swing Path
The over-the-top swing path is a significant reason for flipping and one that many golfers struggle with. By ensuring your wrist is flat at the top of the backswing, the swing path is much easier to find and then recreate.
Using golf alignment sticks to understand the feeling of dropping the arms in and allowing you to get on the proper path is a great solution, in addition to wearing your HackMotion as you practice.
5. Create More Flexion at the Top of Your Swing
Lead wrist extension at the top of a golf swing can lead to an open clubface, making it difficult not to flip the wrists at impact.
One of the things you can do here is to create more flexion by decreasing the amount of extension at the top.
A player that does an incredible job of this is Dustin Johnson. At the top of his backswing, there is tremendous flexion in the lead wrist.
From this position, it becomes much easier for Dustin to swing through with this body and forget about what the hands are doing. He doesn’t need to work on squaring the face, as his wrists have already done it for him.
Getting to a flexed position like Dustin Johnson’s is difficult and requires flexibility, but even if you can move slightly away from extension, it will save you from flipping at impact.
6. Match Flexion and Rotation
As great as it is to have your wrist flexed at impact, you will still need to rotate your body through impact to experience the benefits. If a golfer like Dustin Johnson were to stop rotating his body and just allow the flexed lead wrist to take over, he would hit the ball left of the target.
Rotation through impact is very important when the club is in the right position. To help with rotation, you can try an exaggeration drill.
- For the backswing, try to get your trail hip away from the ball.
- Try to get your lead hip as far away from the ball as possible on the downswing.
You can do this drill to get the feeling of what rotation should be like once your hands are in the right place. You will immediately notice that the speed through the golf ball will increase considerably when flipping doesn’t need to happen at impact.
7. Perfect the Grip
Lastly, ensure your grip is in a neutral position and not too palmy. Try to keep the palm of the hand away from the grip; when it makes too much contact with the grip, it’s tough to control the action of the non-lead grip.
Strong grips can be helpful for fixing slices and improving wrist flipping. However, you want to avoid the grip getting too strong. Slight grip changes make significant differences.
- Check that the V shape formed between your thumb and index finger of your lead hand is pointing towards your trail shoulder.
- Always ensure the golf grip is in the fingers of the left hand.
- Grip the club about a half inch down from the butt end to give you more control of the clubhead through impact.
Use HackMotion to Stop Flipping Wrists
HackMotion is like having a coach on your wrist as you practice.
With the HackMotion you will be able to understand not just why you aren’t hitting consistent and long golf shots but you’ll get a plan for exactly how to fix this issue.
The first step here is to collect data about your swing and look for those classic signs of flipping just before impact. Then you can set a range using the HackMotion that helps alert you to issues with flexion/extension in the swing.
Practice and incorporate a few videos of your swing as well. You’ll get visual and audio feedback to help you analyze progress.
Getting rid of the flip takes some practice time. With HackMotion you’ll ensure that time is well spent.
Best Drills to Stop Flipping Wrists in a Golf Swing
Working on drills is a great way to improve overall wrist position in the golf swing.
Here are a few of our favorites to stop flipping the wrists in golf.
Motorcycle Drill
You can use the HackMotion Motorcycle Drill to learn how to transition properly into the downswing. At the top of the swing, you will feel your lead wrist start to “rev” the grip just as you would a motorcycle.
This reduces extension in the lead wrist on the downswing. In addition, be sure not to add any extension from setup to the top of the backswing so you’ll have an easier time getting to square.
Alignment Rod Drill
If you are still struggling with what it feels like to hit the ball with a flat lead wrist, the alignment rod drill can help. Grip the alignment rod with the club and use them together to take some small swings.
If you flip, the alignment rod will hit you on the side, essentially stopping you from flipping.
Push Drill
Taking the right hand (for right-handed players) out of the swing completely is not really possible. However, with the push drill, you can feel the role of the right hand, as compared to the left, and why it matters to keep this feeling of a push through impact.
Take a look at Alistair Davies doing the push drill (video above); he explains that it’s not easy to do and certainly only meant for shorter shots.
Death Drill
For this drill you’ll want to watch this video from Rob Cheney. The video shows you exactly how to grip an alignment stick and your club at the same time to work on a better impact position.
If you find that the majority of your problem with flipping is in the short game, the death drill is a great solution.
FAQs
Here are a few of the most commonly asked questions about flipping wrists in golf.
Should you turn your wrists in golf swing?
Wrists need to turn, rotate, flex, and extend throughout the golf swing. The key is to find the proper timing and positioning of your wrists at setup, at the top of the backswing, and at impact.
How do you not flip your wrists in golf?
To avoid flipping wrists in golf, you must ensure that your golf clubface is square going into impact. Golfers that flip have an open clubface, and the flip is a last-ditch effort to square up the club.
Does a cupped wrist cause a slice?
A cupped wrist can cause a slice, but it really depends on the positioning of a golfer’s body and wrists at the time of impact. Cupped wrists in golf are not nearly as powerful as flexed wrists, and the consistency of the position will cause higher dispersion rates.
Should I flip my wrists when I chip?
Wrist flipping in chipping is a bad idea. Instead, work on having a more flexed wrist through impact, hitting down, and through your shots. This position will give you more spin, better control, and a preferred ball flight.
Final Thoughts
Now it’s time to get out there and improve your wrist position and stop flipping the wrists for good.
HackMotion will allow you endless hours of practice (with direction), knowing you are working on the right things. When the flip disappears, the impact feels entirely different, making this learning curve well worth your time.
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