The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

[Mulligan Al]

I was on the range yesterday having a decent day when I noticed a guy down the line just smacking the heck out of balls with almost no effort. So I stood back for a few minutes, and then went to get some water so he wouldn’t know I was checking out his swing.

The one thing I noticed about his swing was his wrist cock; it started earlier than mine and seemed to be almost a conscious move.

Well I had to give it a try and when I did my shots went further, straighter and with much more consistency and less effort. I didn’t feel as if my body needed to muscle the club around on contact, the wrist would just release because I was more aware of the initial cocking motion. Where my 5i with a range ball would normally go 175, my 6i was going 175-180.

Have I learned something here or is this just another temporary trick the game I love is playing on me?

[lgskywalker37]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

i too have an early wrist cup and cock, and i believe shootin does too. and i have just as wide of an arc as anyone, and that is one of my biggest key to power. if i conciuosly cup i will be able to hold it through impact. but if i set my wrist late they never seem to fully set and i loose a ton of power and accuarcy

[pnearn]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

Have a look at this article

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ins...esson_fifteen/

Personally I let my wrists set naturally and of course they will set later when the swing arc is wider on the longer clubs. I suppose if youre wrists are setting too late and you conciously set them early then you would see better results, but to me its a natural combination of swing path and grip

Ive started experimenting with delibrately setting the wrists earlier on short irons/wedges to get a higher trajectory with some encouraging results

So my advice would be to slightly careful as you may find with a delibrately early set that your driver and longer clubs start to suffer. Of course if like the pro's you can feel and manage exactly when you are setting it would help!

[pnearn]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

Question for TGM'ers (Shootin). Is Float Loading/Down Loading the art of having no set at all on the backswing and then actually setting the wrists as you start down (at transition?). I know this is supposed to be something Woods and Sergio do

I messed about with this for a a few range sessions a few months back and could do nothing but hit block slices however slowly I swung back. It also felt very handsy and something that required a lot of timing ?

[Mulligan Al]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

i too have an early wrist cup and cock, and i believe shootin does too. and i have just as wide of an arc as anyone, and that is one of my biggest key to power. if i conciuosly cup i will be able to hold it through impact. but if i set my wrist late they never seem to fully set and i loose a ton of power and accuarcy

lgskywalker37, this is exactly what happens with me also, I feel I can hold the shot better through impact for more power. What I have also found is when I'm not aware of my wrist cock, my right side becomes overly active on the downswing as it tries to generate power. I then end up staying too far back on my right side and scooping the ball which goes a good distance but the shot is always too high.

When I'm aware of the wrist cock my right side tends to relax because my mind knows the power will come from the club release and not from a right side motion; with this my left side becomes more active through the shot while my 'conscious wrist cock' gives me more time to shift my weight forward.

[shootin4par]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

i too have an early wrist cup and cock, and i believe shootin does too. and i have just as wide of an arc as anyone, and that is one of my biggest key to power. if i conciuosly cup i will be able to hold it through impact. but if i set my wrist late they never seem to fully set and i loose a ton of power and accuarcy

yes, I do cup right away but the wrist cock comes a little later for me, I am working on making it earlier. If the left does not cup early enough it could be because of tension from the right elbow. left wrist cocking and right elbow folding happen at the same time. you can make one happen by doing the other
pnearm, the right wrist should be cupped but downcocking is further cocking of the left wrist. So you do set them both but not fully cocked, this can be a person dependent thing

[Timothy Slaught]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

Mulligan:

Good to hear you are onto something thats yielding positive results. An early wrist set with the irons (especially the short ones) is helpfull because you are generating a smaller arc with perhaps a little less arm swing so it helps to consciously do this. On the driver and longer clubs you may not need to focus on it as much because the momentum of the swing will usually set the wrists automatically provided the wrists are supple during the swing. The one thing that is tricky about new swing keys (at least the ones that are working) is the propensity for the player to get so enamored with the new move that they forget some other very vital aspects of the swing. An example would be concentrating so much on your wrist action that you eventually neglect your weight shift or something to that affect. If this happens it is just a matter of time until that new great key is not quite opening the doors to the PGA tour... Try to balance that new magic move while keeping track of the other vital actions in the swing and hopefully you will see long lasting results. Best of luck

[Mulligan Al]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

Mulligan:

Good to hear you are onto something thats yielding positive results. An early wrist set with the irons (especially the short ones) is helpfull because you are generating a smaller arc with perhaps a little less arm swing so it helps to consciously do this. On the driver and longer clubs you may not need to focus on it as much because the momentum of the swing will usually set the wrists automatically provided the wrists are supple during the swing. The one thing that is tricky about new swing keys (at least the ones that are working) is the propensity for the player to get so enamored with the new move that they forget some other very vital aspects of the swing. An example would be concentrating so much on your wrist action that you eventually neglect your weight shift or something to that affect. If this happens it is just a matter of time until that new great key is not quite opening the doors to the PGA tour... Try to balance that new magic move while keeping track of the other vital actions in the swing and hopefully you will see long lasting results. Best of luck

Timothy, that's such good advice, I was doing exactly that while on the range. I tried to focus on the weight shift, maintaining a straight back and focused on keeping my weight on the inside of my right food as I went back; I only slightly focused on this new addition to my swing (the wrist cock). I'll be out on the course on Saturday so I'll let you know how it all works out.

You are so correct also about the long irons and woods being very different; I noticed this very early on as I tried to use the same early wrist cock on the driver....bad choice. I quickly went back to a longer takeaway and allowed the weight of the club to cock the wrist.

I've never really had much problem with my woods, but the wrist cock has made (at least temporarily) a nice improvement in my attack on the ball.

Thanks so much for your advice.

[Mulligan Al]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

Here's something else I just thought about.



I’ve been told I have a strong/fast upper body and that my upper body often out-races my lower body. I think the conscience wrist cock is giving my lower body an opportunity to shift, turn, and get out of the way on the downswing before my hands start down toward the ball.

Does this make any sense

[Timothy Slaught]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

Al:

Sounds like you are going to be in for a good round Saturday ..play well and have fun.

Your comment about the upper body outracing the lower is a common problem. Sometimes we get wrapped up so much in what is going on with our hands and the path of the club etc.. that we kind of forget about the lower body. This can be especially true going from the range to the course. I have some friends that swing perfectly on the range with excellent foot and leg action but on the course they totally freeze the lower body and things go haywire. We are working on this though and since they realize what they are doing wrong, they are able to make some improvement. I'm not sure if this is your issue but something to think about.

Otherwise the lower body leading the transition into downswing is imperative so try to sync up this move with the upper body. In your case you will need to really sense the legs and hips leading this downswing action due to your upper body wanting to react first.

Hope this helps
TS

[golfonenemesis]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

Getting weight transfer and shoulder turn in sync while keeping a very light grip is my key to a good swing. Not to mention very slow backswing with woods especially allowing me to sense the clubhead.
I used to have a faster swing-when I was a tad younger-but as one ages you have to slow it down to allow all the moving parts to match up. Age will teach many things to a good player and often times makes him better.
Sorry to ramble but thought someone out there could use this advice.

[aftford]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

HI AL

I play off 1 h/cap and generally my wrists aren't fully hinged until my left arm is pararell to the ground . Then it's just a case of completing the turn with the shoulders to the top of the backswing.

[Mulligan Al]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

[quote=golfonenemesis]Getting weight transfer and shoulder turn in sync while keeping a very light grip is my key to a good swing. Not to mention very slow backswing with woods especially allowing me to sense the clubhead.
I used to have a faster swing-when I was a tad younger-but as one ages you have to slow it down to allow all the moving parts to match up. Age will teach many things to a good player and often times makes him better.
Sorry to ramble but thought someone out there could use this advice.[/quote]

This was so true of my swing a few years ago (and I still have a few flashbacks of my once hard and fast swing days); now my aching back tells me I need to slow things down. I've become a bit more methodical about my golf game with age and I think I've become a better golfer as a result. Now I just try to keep it in the short grass vs trying to hit a 300+ yard drive which was often very long, but also very deep in the woods.

[Timothy Slaught]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

Hey Mulligan:

I went out to the the LPGA Major in Maryland yesterday and really spent some quality time on the range. I had a chance to speak to several caddies about what their players were working on (and they all seem to be working on many things). What I always take away from watching these extremely talented ladies is the beautiful tempo they all posess. I watched over one hundred players hit balls and not once did I see what looked to be a forced swing. When they pulled out the drivers, same thing....perfect tempo and crisp lazer like drives. I also notice that most of these ladies hit a draw for maximum distance. To do this they really have great lower body motion, especially the hips, and this allows them to shallow out the plane of the shaft on the downswing. That gives a nice inside move on the ball and they just release the body through impact and bam 240-260 dead straight with scary consistency. I followed Michelle Wie for most of her round and that was something to see. She hits it longer than her competitors but once again, just perfect tempo, and smooth from take away to follow through. By the way there was a time when the ladies short games were far inferior to the male tour players. I do not think this is the case any longer. Some magical up and downs I witnessed.

[doogkie]

Re: The wrist cock, it's a beautiful thing, I think?

i was about to start a thread about this, i was out today shot a 37(36) but ive noticed im really short with my irons, like 2 clubs shorter than most people i play, i hit a 7 150, but i know i can hit it farther, im strong and flexible, and i asked some people that were hitting their 7 about 160-165 and they say they conciously cock their wrist going back

im straight and consistent, i never think about my hands or wrist in the swing, they cock when my left arm is parallel with the ground