How to Stop Rolling Wrists in Golf Swing and What to Do Instead

Chances are you’ve heard an amateur golfer talk about how they have to roll their wrists when they hit the golf ball. This isn’t really correct. Rolling the wrists is not the mindset you want to have.

Wrist rolling can cause unpredictable clubface angle and attack, hooks, slices, and general difficulty with control of your shot direction.

Instead, you want to learn the release along with the proper wrist action in your game.

We will show you what the wrists do (and it’s not rolling) and how you can incorporate the proper release of the club.

Rolling Wrists in Golf Swing (Key Takeaways)

If you don’t have time to read our entire article on how to stop rolling wrists in golf, here are a few things you can take with you right now:

• Wrist rolling can happen as part of the takeaway, but it mostly happens when golfers try and square the clubface at impact; both times, the concept is wrong, and the wrists don’t roll in the golf swing.
• Instead of rolling the clubface or the wrists, focus on forearm rotation through impact.
• A flat lead wrist at impact is crucial for a proper release and to help improve both power and accuracy.
• Practicing drills to maintain this position helps prevent wrist rolling and ensures better contact and control; wear your HackMotion so you’ll always know if you are in the right position throughout the swing.

What’s Wrong with Wrist Rolling?

The rolling or twisting of the wrists is simply unpredictable.

If you have to roll or twist as you get close to the golf ball, your club is already out of position.

In addition, you may roll your wrists as part of your takeaway, which will cause a loss of power, thin and fat shots, and less control and accuracy.

After analyzing more than 1,000,000 golf swings with the HackMotion wrist sensor, we know why golfers think they have to roll their wrists. They are making up for an incorrect clubface angle and, at the same time, trying to gain power (the wrong way).

The Difference Between Release and Rolling

If you roll your wrists as part of your takeaway, you will want to feel the club push back a bit more. You’ll keep the clubface pointing at the ball a little longer as the club moves back away from the ball.

However, the real trouble golfers get into with wrist rolling is when they do it as a way to square the clubface through impact.

It’s best to first understand the differences between rolling and release so you know what move you should make in your game.

Release

• Involves the proper rotation of the forearms and maintaining a square clubface through impact, this action is felt more in the forearms than in the wrists themselves.
• The release is a position where the club, hands, and chest align in front of your body.
• A proper release maximizes lag and energy transfer, providing better distance and control.

Rolling

• Involves rotating the wrists prematurely, causing an inconsistent clubface angle at impact.
• This leads to erratic shot patterns and reduces the effectiveness of your swing; the clubhead often passes the hands, losing power and accuracy.
• It often results in greater dispersion rates and poor contact with the ball.

How to Release Instead of Rolling the Wrists

Now that you have the basics of this terminology and concept down, let’s look at how to release the club instead of rolling the wrists. These tips can be followed with or without the use of HackMotion.

However, when wearing your HackMotion, it’s like having a coach with you the entire time, recommending appropriate drills and motions to get the club released the right way.

Maintain a Firm Grip on the Club

There is no need to grip the club too hard, but you do want to ensure you have control.

Make sure your hands are in a neutral position, too strong or too weak of a grip puts you at a disadvantage for the movement you need to make.

Focus on Forearm Rotation

Instead of rolling your wrists, think about rotating your forearms.

The rotation of the forearms keeps the clubface square instead of rolling the wrists, which causes too much change or manipulation of the clubface.

When you start to feel this rotation of the forearms you’ll realize it happens naturally because of the weight of the clubhead.

Rob Cheney offers some great advice about the forearm rotation, what to look for on your HackMotion while perfecting forearm rotation, and an important drill to help you feel the proper forearm rotation.

The drill consists of standing with your feet together and feeling the rotation of the forearms back and then through impact.

You’ll notice very quickly it’s not your wrists rolling over it’s your forearms rotating properly.

Keep the Lead Wrist Flat

When rolling your wrists, you’ll have a hard time maintaining the proper amount of extension or flexion in the lead wrist.

The flat lead wrist is the goal at impact. The more extension you have in your lead wrist, the harder it is to square the clubface.

However, some golfers who roll their wrists are actually too flexed with their lead wrist through impact.

The goal is to have your wrist flat to slightly flexed, and you want this position in place just before impact. With this position, you’ll be able to rotate your forearms perfectly to encourage additional power.

Use Your Body

Although we are focusing on the wrists here, you must not forget the importance of your core and body when it comes to hitting a golf ball. You must engage your body to make a turn and pivot..

On the backswing, weight will transfer to the trail leg, and on the downswing, it will transfer to the lead leg. Golfers who roll their wrists tend to underutilize their bodies throughout the golf swing.

They think that they’ll create power by rolling the wrists through impact. Instead, you want to have proper forearm rotation, a flat lead wrist, and the perfect body pivot.

Drills to Help Stop Rolling Wrists

There are a few drills you can work on to help you get into the habit of rotating the forearms instead of rolling the wrists.

Pump Drill

This drill can be done with your HackMotion on so that you can check the position of your lead wrist at the top of your backswing.

Swing to the top of your backswing, make a partial downswing, stop halfway down, and then return to the top.

You’ll start to feel what that flatter lead wrist position feels like at the top.

Split-Grip Drill

With the split grip drill, you’ll really feel it if your wrists start to roll. For this drill, just place your lead hand at the top of the grip where it always goes and the trail hand a few inches below.

Take some slow-motion swings (you don’t need to hit a ball) where you feel the forearms rotating and releasing.

Push the Ball Back Drill

Finally, if your rolling wrist issue is happening more on the takeaway and now as you get through impact, you may want to work on a takeaway drill that prevents this from happening.

Put a golf ball on the ground about three inches behind the ball you are trying to hit.

When you take the club back, hit the second golf ball so that it moves out of the way, then come through and hit the ball you intended to hit.

If you roll your wrists as your first move away from the ball, you’ll likely bring the club right over the top of that second ball.

Final Thoughts

At this point, you should understand that wrist rolling happens both on the takeaway and during what is supposed to be the release of the club.

It’s never a good thing to roll your wrists; instead, you want to think about getting the proper amount of extension/flexion in the lead wrist and rotating the forearms as they should.