Achieving Wrist Hinge?

[edingc]

I'm not one for "eureka" type moments because I feel like a "discovery" about my swing is likely a band-aid, but this is something I was playing around with at the range today with good success.

I'm curious how others incorporate wrist hinge into their backswings? Is it something you actively attempt to achieve, or do you feel you achieve it passively? To be clear, I'm talking about hinge (wrists bending back and forth in flexion/extension) and not wrist cocking (wrists moving up and down in radial/ulnar deviation).

Until I started taking lessons with my instructor, my backswing was very flat and inside, so there really wasn't much of any wrist hinging going on at all because my forearms just rolled open and shut through the swing. Through work with my instructor over the past 14 months, my takeaway/backswing now gets me in a much better position at the top of the swing (lead arm parallel to or slightly more angled vertically than my shoulder turn), but I ended up with a bit of a flying elbow and always felt like my trail shoulder/arm maxed out in external rotation far earlier than what I've seen in other swings. As a result, my backswing was abbreviated and from down the line you could see that the club shaft was no where near parallel, my hands were really behind me and the club was laid off quite a bit.

I realized earlier this week if I actively add wrist hinge as my hands move past my trail thigh in the takeaway, the trail elbow seems to fold better and my trail shoulder doesn't feel as "tight" because it doesn't externally rotate as far. This resulted in a less laid off club at the top of the backswing and a slightly longer backswing, which in turn shot my club speed and ball speeds up a bit because of the additional distance the club traveled on the arc.

So, back to my question, do you actively or passive add wrist hinge? I seem to be one who doesn't get a reasonable amount of hinge passively, at least not at this stage in my swing improvement process.

Some pictures for reference, the left taken last week and the right taken today. Both taken from roughly the same angle and from the same exact height. Obviously, the difference is more pronounced with driver, where my backswing has gotten considerably longer and the face is more shut:

[ejgaudette]

Personally I am one that passively does it. When I think of wrist hinge I get myself in trouble and tend to get past parallel. So much so that when playing when young I could not hit the ball solidly unless I felt like I did not "use" my wrists, but of course this was not it, I was just passive and flat so they naturally rolled. As you mention this is whatever works for you. The "new" swing does seem to be a more textbook position, though either one can technically work. Keep up the hard work!

[edingc]

1 hour ago, ejgaudette said:

The "new" swing does seem to be a more textbook position, though either one can technically work.

For sure! I had been hitting the ball OK with the previous swing, but it was really uncomfortable on my trail shoulder and I felt like I was making a lot of compensations to get back to the ball in the correct way. 

Thanks for your thoughts. I can see how a passive feeling for you would result in stopping you from going past parallel, and on the flip side, me being more active in the process getting me closer to parallel.

[RickyBobby_PR]

I used to be in the passive let it happen naturally camp. Like you I had some incorrect movements in the trail arm and also the lead arm. 

When I started working with my coach last summer and doing more swing studying I have been working on actively setting it in a similar position in the swing as you. It’s a very minimal set and leave it where is as I finish the swing. 

it’s been awhile since I sent any videos to my coach because I’m not playing much but in the things we looked for in our last exchange to my eye they are much better as a result.

[russtopherb]

I'm more on the passive side. The pro I took lessons with was big on just letting it happen naturally and not overthinking things. One thing I do that's conscious is bend my right wrist back a little bit right at the start of the swing to help keep my left wrist flat. Other than that, I just turn my shoulders and let the wrists hinge when my right elbow bends. 

Of course, I'm a high handicapper so take all of that with a grain of salt  

[Kenny B]

I have never had very good, strong wrists.  I injured both of them about 20 years ago, and now at 73 they don't do what I'd like them to do.  I also had a flat Moe Norman swing through all that.  Now, I'm working on Monte's No Turn Cast moves trying to make a bigger backswing and getting more bow in my lead wrist at the top.  So I guess that I went from a passive move to more of an active move but that happens at transition.

[THEZIPR23]

I'm definitely in the passive camp. I have tried more active and less active and the results like everything is the game just depend on the day. Nothing wrong with being active or passive. Only caution would be that any time you involve the hands consciously, it opens up the possibility of your matchups being out of sync. 

[edingc]

1 hour ago, russtopherb said:

I'm more on the passive side. The pro I took lessons with was big on just letting it happen naturally and not overthinking things. One thing I do that's conscious is bend my right wrist back a little bit right at the start of the swing to help keep my left wrist flat. Other than that, I just turn my shoulders and let the wrists hinge when my right elbow bends. 

Of course, I'm a high handicapper so take all of that with a grain of salt  

And for me, that small move feels like I'm being way more active. That's really a great description of how I feel now, I just tug up a bit with my right index finger/press down with right palm and it results in the left wrist staying a hair more flat.

37 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

I have never had very good, strong wrists.  I injured both of them about 20 years ago, and now at 73 they don't do what I'd like them to do.  I also had a flat Moe Norman swing through all that.  Now, I'm working on Monte's No Turn Cast moves trying to make a bigger backswing and getting more bow in my lead wrist at the top.  So I guess that I went from a passive move to more of an active move but that happens at transition.

I love the NTC drill. Very simply swing thought for when absolutely nothing is working. 

34 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

I'm definitely in the passive camp. I have tried more active and less active and the results like everything is the game just depend on the day. Nothing wrong with being active or passive. Only caution would be that any time you involve the hands consciously, it opens up the possibility of your matchups being out of sync. 

Makes sense, and something to be aware of. The reason I started down this path is that I had been working on getting more trail wrist extension in the downswing and was wondering if I could get to that position earlier in the swing when there were fewer parts moving at high speed. Getting more of a "waiter's tray" look at the top seems to do that because then I can just turn through the ball.

I also had been frustrated by the lack of swing speed with my longer clubs in relation to my shorter ones and this seems to unlock a few more MPH without feeling like I'm swinging out of my shoes. Just for comparison, over 27 drivers on 1/1 (left screen shot) I averaged 107.6 MPH with a max of 111.6 and today (1/4, on the right) I was at 111 MPH average with a max of 116.5 over 21 shots.