Wrist Action in Golf Swing: Practical Guide with Drills to Help You Master It

Could you analyze a golf swing and tell whether or not the wrist action was correct?

If you answered no, you are not alone.

In fact, many professionals are not even entirely sure about how their wrists should be positioned and how angles will impact their ball flight.

Wrist action in the golf swing is confusing.

However, with the right tools, the correct knowledge, and a bit of time working out the details, you can improve the way you swing a golf club and become a more consistent player.

Ever heard the term, “It’s all in the wrists”? Whether that was referring to golf or not remains to be seen, but if you want to improve your wrist action, you are in the right place.

Wrist Action in Golf Swing (Key Takeaways)

After analyzing more than 1,000,000 golf swings, we’ve poured a lot of detail and discovery into the information here.

However, if you’re short on time, here are a few of the most essential facts to take with you right now:

• The wrists move in three ways: extension/flexion, radial deviation/ulnar deviation, and pronation/supination.
• Flexion and extension in the wrists are most critical for learning to control the clubface and hit straighter shots.
• The wrist position changes throughout the swing, so it must be correct at setup and at the top of the backswing to have the best chance for a square and solid impact.
• The best way to measure and analyze wrist action in golf is to use the HackMotion wrist sensor and record data at setup, top of the backswing, and impact.
• A quick way to fix slices, hooks, pushes and pulls is to get the proper wrist action in your golf game; wear your HackMotion as you practice. It’s like having a coach with you on the range.

If you prefer to watch instead of read, here’s a recap of all the basics of wrist action. This video will help you understand the role of the wrists and how wrist action impacts your golf game.

What Should the Wrists Do in The Golf Swing?

It helps to have a basic understanding of what the wrists do in the golf swing.

Your wrists control the clubface.

Why does that matter?

The angle of the clubface controls where the golf ball goes!

That should motivate you to stick around and fully understand how you can improve your wrist action in your golf game.

Wrist Positions in Golf (How do the Wrists Move)

Wrist action in golf is best understood when you know how the wrist can move.

Extension/Flexion

Extension and flexion are more commonly referred to as bowing and cupping or arching and bending the wrist.

This is the wrist action that will open and close the clubface. Extension will open the face of your golf club; flexion will close it.

As you swing the golf club, if you can control the extension and flexion in your wrist, you will have more control over the direction of your golf shot.

Common Issues Seen in Golf

• An open clubface at impact is caused by too much wrist extension in the lead wrist.
• Flipping at impact because of a poor position at the top of the backswing.
• Adding too much extension to the lead wrist during the backswing from the setup to the top.

Radial Deviation/Ulnar Deviation

It’s easiest to think about radial and ulnar deviation as cocking or uncocking of the wrist.

The movement here is more side to side. When you cock your wrist, the thumb gets closer to your forearm; when you uncock, the pinky finger moves closer to your forearm.

Radial deviation increases the wrist cock, whereas ulnar deviation decreases it. This is where the power comes from.

Common Issues Seen in Golfers

• Increasing radial deviation too much and extended the wrist.
• Early wrist hinge opening the clubface, making it difficult to recover.

Rotation (Pronation/Supination)

The third of the key wrist movements in golf is wrist rotation.

Pronation and supination mean more of a turning of the entire wrist.

In fact, the rotation almost feels more in the forearm than in the wrists.

Take your hand and hold it out before you so that your thumb points up to the sky. Now, turn your hand so that your thumb is facing the ground; that is wrist rotation. With this movement, you will feel more like your entire forearm rotates, not just the wrist.

Common Issues Seen in Golfers

• Lack of proper rotation through impact leaving the clubface open.
• Too much rotation right before impact causing the shot to pull.

How do the Wrists Work Throughout the Golf Swing?

Wrist action in golf will change as you move from setup to backswing to impact.

Understanding these motions will make it a little easier for you to repeat them.

Setup

The grip is one of the most important things to focus on at setup.

If the hands are not on the club properly from the start, the chance of getting your wrists into the right position throughout the swing is significantly reduced.

Keep the club in the fingers of your hand.

If the club is too much in the palms, wrist action is challenging to feel and keeps you from getting the wrist angles that could generate the most power.

Backswing

The tricky part about the top of the backswing is that more than one position can be considered correct.

A neutral or flat lead wrist position will give you the easiest route back to the ball, but many great players are flexed with their wrists at the top.

With backswing positions in the golf swing, there is no perfect amount of flexion.

You will notice more of a range of what is acceptable instead of one specific number or angle you should be attempting to reach.

Great ball strikers have consistency in their swing, and to create this, the extension, radial deviation, and rotation in the backswing are done the same way each time.

Downswing and Impact with the Ball

The downswing and the area just behind the ball before impact are where most amateur golfers need help with their wrist position.

With the proper wrist mechanics in the downswing and at impact, you will see a better swing path, more consistent strike, higher clubhead speeds, and the desired ball flight that you are looking for.

To get to impact with a square or closed clubface, you need to get your lead wrist to a flexed position before you get to the ball.

Here are a couple of key things to keep in mind here:

• Experiment with more flexion in your lead wrist and see if it helps you hit more consistent shots.
• More radial deviation through impact is best for golfers looking to increase club head speed.
• Additional wrist supination will lead to a more out-to-in path; the opposite would create an in-to-out swing path.

The golf swing has too many moving parts for us to find an exact number for flexion/extension or rotation through the ball.

Instead, maintaining consistency and learning what that square clubface feels like will get your game to the next level.

Lead Wrist vs Trail Wrist Position in the Golf Swing

When working with HackMotion, you can focus on either the trail or lead wrist. The lead wrist is most common, but for many golfers, the trail wrist is the dominant hand.

The wrists work opposite of each other. For instance, if you want more flexion in the lead wrist at impact, you’ll need more extension in the trail wrist.

Since golf is such a feel-based game, it’s worth experimenting with both the trail and lead wrist to see which one helps you achieve quicker results. HackMotion can be worn on either wrist.

To learn more about the trail wrist in golf swing, follow that link.

How to Troubleshoot Bad Wrist Action in the Golf Swing?

The best way to troubleshoot bad wrist action in the golf swing is to look at your struggle and then decide if you have an extension/flexion, radial/ulnar deviation, or rotation problem.

Once you have that narrowed down, using HackMotion and drills will help you figure things out.

Slices and Hooks (From Slightly to Severely Offline)

Issues with flexion and extension cause most slices and hooks.

Most amateur golfers increase extension in their backswing and therefore can’t get the club to square or a point of flexion on the downswing. As they get closer to the ball, there is insufficient flexion to close the clubface.

Start focusing on maintaining the proper extension to the top of your swing and, from there, flexing the wrist through impact.

One of the best drills to accomplish this is the motorcycle drill. You will feel your hands on the grip in the same way you feel them on a motorcycle handle.

Pulling and Pushing Shots

When you have the right drills, a pull or a push can be much easier to fix than a hook or a slice.

Many golfers who struggle with pulling or pushing their golf shots have trouble with forearm rotation and ball position.

In this video from Rob Cheney, you can learn how to adjust your wrist angles, ball position and forearm rotation to hit straighter shots. One of the best drills that Cheney uses is a simple headcover drill with the headcover being placed just on the inside of the golf ball.

You’ll learn how to attack the ball with the correct angle and hit straighter shots.

Loss of Power and Proper Golf Ball Compression

If you are losing power and compression, take a look at the professional models that HackMotion has collected in recent years. The most powerful discovery is that professional golfers do an excellent job of maintaining wrist extension on the backswing.

The amount of extension at the start is not as important as it is to maintain that throughout the swing.

From the top of the swing and towards the ball, professional golfers move from extension to the point of flexion in their wrists to close the clubface. In this professional golfer’s example, a starting wrist extension of around 25 almost wholly disappears at impact, leaving the wrist flat.

This video from Rob Cheney will help you work out the proper wrist action for a variety of shots.

Inconsistent Impact Position

This video from Craig Hansen gives you some practical drills to learn the proper impact position in golf.

The impact will change slightly depending on what club you have in your hand, but there are some basics that all professionals and amateurs need to have in place.

How do You Measure Wrist Movement?

Before the release of the HackMotion wrist sensor, measuring wrist movement was very difficult.

What a wrist angle looks like and feels like can be different. That’s where HackMotion comes into play.

With the HackMotion wrist sensor, you can hit golf balls as usual and have your wrist angles and positions measured throughout the swing.

The most valuable information here is the ability to see if your wrist motion compares to that of the best ball strikers in the game. In addition, you can track your progress from one practice session to the next.

You’ll also use audio feedback to give you real-time information about where your wrist is during the swing.

How do I Know if My Wrist Angle is Correct?

As we know, there is no perfect wrist angle; the game of golf just doesn’t work like that.

For golfers who practice hard and study the game, not having a perfect number to strive for is a bit frustrating, which is understandable.

Luckily, you can use benchmarks to help get you to the correct range.

Alistair Davies looks at flexion and extension of the lead wrist and has created some key benchmarks to help you understand when you are on the right track.

Here are his measurements with HackMotion at the key positions:

• Address: The lead wrist has a +20 degrees extension (cupping).
• Takeaway: Extension of the wrist is stable and remains at +20 degrees. During this stage, the radial deviation is added.
• At the top: Flattening of the lead wrist should happen. Extension should not be higher than in address; consider 0-20 degrees of extension.
• In transition: The lead wrist should go into flexion (bowing) at the beginning of the downswing. Alistair’s wrist flexion ranges from -6 to -12 degrees. Maintain a flexed position throughout the downswing.
• At impact: His lead wrist remains flexed. The range is similar to the one in transition: -6 to -12 degrees.
• After impact: The lead wrist goes into extension.

Can Improving Wrist Angles Make You a Better Golfer?

Many amateur golfers shy away from learning about wrist angles in golf simply because the topic is so complicated.

Improving wrist angle in the golf swing can help you return the clubface of your golf clubs to square each time you swing.

When your clubface is square, and you have control over it, expect:

• Straighter shots.
• More distance.
• Easier workability.
• Less dispersion.
• Better compression and spin.
• Lower scores.

Drills to Improve Wrist Movement in Golf Swing

In addition to the drills shown above in our troubleshooting section, you can also do these drills to help improve your wrist action.

Ruler and Glove Drill

If you tend to have a cupped lead wrist at the top of the backswing, this ruler drill could help. All you need is a flexible plastic ruler and your golf glove.

Simply slide the ruler in your glove and ensure that when you swing back, the ruler does not bend and touch your wrist.

Golf Driver Hold the Finish Drill

When working on wrist action, iron and wedge shots are most often discussed. However, the wrist position in the driver swing greatly impacts the results of your drive.

With this drill, you’ll learn to hold your finish with the driver to make sure it’s headed in the right direction toward your target with the proper wrist action.

HackMotion Training

Working with the HackMotion wrist sensor is like having a coach with you at the driving range.

While wearing HackMotion, collect data on where your wrist angles are and how they compare to those of professionals. Use the data in the HackMotion app to practice and work on your wrist action.

There are training challenges and drills you can use that are specific to the moves you are making with your wrists in your game.

Final Thoughts

There is a lot of information here about the proper wrist action in the golf swing.

When you consider golf concepts, wrist action is undoubtedly one of the most complex.

Now that you understand better, it’s time to get out there with your HackMotion and see what kind of progress you can make.