Are You Swinging with the Back of YOUR Hand?

I never thought of it this way until I heard 3 comments from 3 different Pros. Your leading hand (the one you wear your golf glove on) can be a great reminder for the 3 key check points in your swing. You can see or feel these points: setup, takeaway and point of impact.

I was playing golf with a friend who said that his 12 year old son just took up golf and he has a natural swing. From the first time he picked up a club, he has hit straight long drives almost every time he swings a club. Swinging a golf club is quite different from swinging a baseball bat so most of us need ONE thought in our head to generate a consistent golf swing.

The wonderful thing about the following 3 check points is that you can actually see all 3 check points. The golf swing happens in 1 or 2 seconds so you may be wondering how you can easily see any check points. Only the third check point happens during your swing.

1/ Setup: When you setup, you are calm and relaxed so you should have no problem resting your club on the ground, squaring the club with your target line and gripping with your left hand (for right handed golfers) so that you can see 3 knuckles on the back of your glove. By gripping this way the back of your hand will be pointing up your target line. It should also be parallel with the leading edge of your club.

2/ Backswing: Keep the back of your hand flat with your arm in your backswing. Golfers like Rickie Fowler waggle with a limited takeaway as a reminder to keep their wrist flat. As you waggle, you can see that you are not CUPPING or BOWING your wrist in the back swing. You can also use GOLFSTR+ to learn to keep your wrist flat. If you can’t swing without keeping it flat loosen your trailing hand grip and pull your flat leading wrist sideways for lag. [Believe me, I had this problem and it really works. It also allows you to swing from inside to out.]

Note: Hank Haney advised that you should keep your trailing wrist flat in your backswing to avoid angles which create inconsistent hits. Dustin Johnson is one of the few very strong golfers who can get away with bowing his leading wrist in the back swing.

Arnold Palmer threw the back of his leading hand up the target line in a strange lung to finish his swing. It worked for him.

Arnold Palmer threw the back of his leading hand up the target line in a strange lung to finish his swing. It worked for him.

3/ Point of Impact: As your club hits the ball you should FEEL your leading wrist pointing up the target line. Arnold Palmer almost threw his hands up his target line to avoid any wrist rotation during impact with the ball.

Of course it’s difficult to see the point of impact and the relationship of your hands at that instant (as you are busy looking at your ball). However, this is the only swing thought that you need when you are looking for a consistent hit up your target line. [Next week’s Swing Tip will turn your straight hits into a CONTROLLED draw or a fade. Don’t leave it to chance.]

REMEMBER to Check the 3 Points: Setup with the back of your hand facing your target and waggle with a flat wrist. Your third and ONLY thought during your SWING is to point the back of your wrist up the target line at the point of impact. Everything else in your swing needs to be on automatic pilot so you should practice for straight arm, flat wrist and lag with GOLFSTR+. Buy yours today at www.golfstr.com

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  • […] Click Here For Original Source Of The Article […]

  • A complète review OF THE rôle OF THE hands is in THE marvelous golf book by Éric PRAIN ,” LIVE HANDS “.Read also SWING THE CLUB. By ERNEST JONES .

  • Walter Scott Mohn says:

    Great picture of Arnold Palmer. I had not seen it before. His hands are really out there!
    I just got back from a practice session with my Golfstr. I have been using it about two plus years now and it has really helped. It would be very hard to come very close to Palmer’s position, or that of any pro golfer, at impact without a relatively straight lead arm. The Golfstr has really helped me in this regard.

    I like it in part because it does not force the lead arm to be rigid. But it does make you think about it and it helps your body learn the feeling of a relatively straight lead arm.

    I got a great tip from a former LPGA pro last year. She said get your “hands ahead of the club head and keep them there” right into impact. That visual/feel has helped my game immensely and I work on it religiously. And the Golfstr certainly helps me in that regard too!

    Thanks, Scott

  • Scott Mohn says:

    Great picture of Arnold Palmer. I have never seen it before. His hands are really out there!

    I just returned from a practice session with my Golfstr. I have had it over two years now and it continues to help me improve. I like it in part because it does not force the lead arm to be rigid. But it trains my body to learn the feel of a relatively straight arm. I doubt if Palmer or any player could achieve such a position without a relatively straight lead arm.

    I received a great tip from a former LPGA Pro last year. She said get your “hands ahead and keep them there” right into impact. That tip has probably been the best I have ever received and I work on it religiously. And the Golfstr has helped me to apply her great tip. The result has been better ball-first contact, more consistent shots and lower scores.

    Thanks, Scott

    • Bill says:

      Glad to hear that you are still using your GOLFSTR+ and I really appreciate your sharing these comments with our readers. Just wanted you to know that I did a screen capture of a YouTube video of Arnold Palmer’s swing. Rolling your hands at the point of impact are not a good swing thought. As you say, leading the head of your club with our hands create success. Check out this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzwPWiU7vBw

      Enjoy, Will