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How Bryson DeChambeau Releases Clubhead Speed by Rotating The Wrists

In this post we will look at U.S. Open champion’s Bryson DeChambeau’s wrist data from his driver swing.

His swing is a great example of release with a lot of wrist rotation through impact which allows him to maintain clubface control while having huge clubhead speed. Check out the images and data showing movement of rotating the lead forearm into a palm up position.

Below we will take a look at Bryson’s wrist data gathered by HackMotion Wrist Sensor. We will go over it step by step.
One thing to immediately note is that Bryson has 145 degrees (74 deg + 71 deg, purple tiles below) of rotation from last shaft parallel before impact to shaft parallel after impact.
This is more rotation than usual (tour players 120 degrees) and motivates us to explore Bryson’s wrist ROTATION (closely correlated to supination) move through impact. We will do that in this post.

First of all, let’s quick review the terms, what wrist and hand data we measured with HackMotion.

Rotation Clockwise (-) /Counter-clockwise (+).

Supination (palm up move) increases positive graph value (+)/ Pronation negative (-)

Flexion (-)/ Extension (+)

Radial (+)/ Ulnar (-) Deviation

wrist FLEXION (-) / EXTENSION (+)

Let’s look at Bryson’s lead wrist flexion (negative) and extension (positive), also known as bowing (-)/cupping(+) of the wrist.
Here is what we see:

   1. Bryson is actually in flexion at address -13 degrees. He tries to match his impact position. This is unusual but exactly what Bryson has been doing (check out his quote below). The jumbo grips and extremely weak left hand grip are also likely the cause of this phenomenon.

   2. Bryson adds extension very late in his backswing, he has a bit of extension at the top (11 degrees) and he adds very little additional extension in transition (max 14 degrees extended). Overall he does not have excessive extension at the top.

   3. At impact Bryson is flexed (bowed) -20 degrees, so he has actually taken out all the extension and added more flexion than he had at address. Bryson does not add additional flexion through impact. After impact Bryson is slowly adding extension, but little compared to other players.

So Bryson has relatively stable wrist extension throughout the swing and does not release his clubhead speed by massive extension after impact. So how does he release the speed? The answer is ROTATION of the lead wrist

"Something always bothered me about the swing as it’s commonly taught: You start in one position (address) but “end” in another (impact). That’s another variable to worry about, and if your goal is to swing on the same plane from start to finish, the starting and end points must match. That’s why I get into what I call an “impact fix position” at address. It’s not a drill. On every swing, I press my hands forward and shift some weight to my front foot in a mock impact position before I start back. I learned about this move while reading Homer Kelley’s book The Golfing Machine as a kid, and it really clicked."
Bryson DeChambeau
US Open Champion

  Source: Golf.com article, link below

wrist ROTATION
CLOCKWISE(-) / COUNTER-clockwise(+)

HackMotion sensor measures the rotation of the wrist in clockwise direction (negative graph), counter-clockwise direction (positive graph). The more wrist rotation clockwise, the more negative the graph becomes. More counter-clockwise rotation during downswing, more positive graph values.
1. At impact Bryson’s lead wrist is more rotated than at address, he has ROTATED A LOT (palm up move) to square his clubface at impact (The graph is above zero at impact). This is very different to other players like Dustin Johnson whose wrists are very under-rotated at impact. Much less supination in DJ’s release.
2. You can also see slight pronation of lead wrist during transition, the graph moves slightly more negative after start of the downswing, which means that the sensor has rotated counter-clockwise.
 
Overall, the data shows that Bryson is releasing by wrist rotation, not extension. He is releasing the clubhead speed around the shaft axially.
This can be classified as Scott Cowx’s release pattern A – “rotation release”. Learn more about this pattern at the end of this post.

 

RADIAL (+) / ULNAR(-) DEVIATION

Finally, let us take a look at the “lag” part of the swing – radial (positive) and ulnar (negative) deviation, aka hinging of the wrists.
   1. Bryson starts to hinge his wrists really late in the backswing, only mid-backswing.

   2. Bryson is adding quite little radial deviation during transition, only 4 degrees. Obviously this was not Bryson’s “full rip” swing, during which he adds more wrist hinge, however his normal controlled driver swing, still produces very long drives.

This shows that Bryson is able to hit big distance by not adding much radial deviation. He generates speed with body rotation and wrist supination allows him to have clubface control.

WANT to Try HackMotion Sensor?

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  • HackMotion sensor is used by world’s leading coaches – Phil Kenyon, Allen Terrell, Scott Cowx, Mark Blackburn, David Orr, Brian Manzella, Mike Schy and many others. Join the rank of the most educated coaches.
  • PGA Tour winners Dustin Johnson, Bryson Dechambeau, Brad Faxon and European Tour winners Thorbjorn Olesen, Lucas Bjerregaard and many others have used it to measure and optimize their wrist motion.
  • Access tour player data and compare your data against it. Find out your release pattern and optimize your performance.
  • Audio feedback helps to fix common swing faults – too much wrist cupping (extension) in full swing causing open club face and inconsistent wrist angles in your putting stroke.

LEARN DIFFERENT RELEASE PATTERNS

Want to understand why Dustin Johnson releases the clubhead speed differently when compared to Bryson DeChambeau?

Which release pattern is more suitable to you and your students?

Learn about different tour player release patterns when they are effective and which players should use them.
Watch our exclusive wrist angle seminar video by Scott Cowx (Canada PGA Teacher of the Year)

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 Golf.com article source: https://golf.com/news/steal-bryson-dechambeaus-5-swing-secrets-and-find-your-perfect-plane/

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