This might be the holy grail. The rabbit hole of all instructions that I've been searching for. In fact I had no idea that I needed this lesson until I watched it.
Went to the range today and was working on this. Finally getting that solid sound and solid feel at contact. Still something to get used to, but the solid shots I hit started a little right and moved back on the way down. Just beautiful shots. I love how easy it feels. Thanks again. Seriously best golf video online
Superb and incredibly insightful. The last bit about how the wrist plays into shot shape was terrific and needs to be preached over and over and over again. Thanks joe!
Joe: This video helped me a ton. I took a lesson from Jim Hardy a few weeks ago and he basically told me the same thing. He wanted my release to go from left wrist flexion to extension. When I said, "But what about a flat left wrist at and thru impact", he told me it was a big fat lie. He proceeded to show me pictures of about 4 or 5 great players including Rory and Sergio with a wildlyy flexed left wrist after impact. Changing this release action has changed my swing for the better in ways I could never have imagined. Thanks again for your great video. Harry
I have to say after many years of watching golf videos trying to explain basic fundamentals swinging upsoulder, using the ground. Took this to the driving range and wow what a difference thank you sir !!!!
This might be my favorite golf video on the Internet. I have been trying for so long to hold that flat wrist after impact and hitting too many pull hook (quack) but knowing that it's right to extend the wrist after impact will make a huge difference. I went into my backyard and was hitting pitch shots trying this, and (no joke) EVERY SINGLE SHOT was hit SOLID. thanks again.
Bravo Maestro! You have answered and validated many questions. I can not say that I've always felt comfortable at address. There was something unnatural about it for me, there was way too much "right timing" involved that I did not trust all the time... too many things had to happen. Lets just say it did not flow right and it took too much thinking and that in it self did not feel natural. One day in my garage I just started squaring the club face at address and just went back with it, on a "one plane swing" and it sort of made sense, things started to click. I took this "idea" to the range and figured out on my own that it was not so much the "one plane swing" that did it, but the way the hands worked. Now I make a mental note that as long as the left hand hinges or bows (a little) and the right cocks, everything else falls and works in order. Of course there are other factors that came into play but for the most part that was my missing link. Now I move the ball around better, I am straighter than ever and I'm able to control my distance 100x better. Great video. By the way I found another gentleman by the name of Ted Norby and he also talks about the hand movement during the swing.
Excellent explanation of a very misunderstood issue in golf . . . watching people trying to keep that flat left wrist at impact is painful and impossible without the information delivered in this video . . . Believe me I know I've been one of those people . . . This video explains once and for all that the flat left wrist is a symptom of something else and not a goal in itself . . . Well done . . . And it does an excellent job of confirming something I know to be a fact and that fact is that the best players in the world do (flip) the club they just do it at a different point in the swing as a result of all the things that precede it .
This might be my favourite golf instructional video of all time, the bit from 17.13 onwards discribed my game at the moment down to a tee, can not wait to finish work and go hit some balls working on these changes. Just straight up knowledge being delivered in everyone of these videos, love it.
imho.... I think it is key to be aware that the left wrist is auto-straightened by the torso turn...specifically the chest rotating which closes the gap under your left armpit and then the left pectoral connecting to the left bicep...I do a subtle clockwise twisting with my left hand (and right foot) in the initial downswing ...but other than that I treat my arms as if they were merely bones with hinges. Once you free yourself from the concept of hitting with the arms, your body puts the correct arm action on auto-pilot
Brilliant you have just blown my beliefs on the role that the grip plays in the swing, wide open. Can't wait to get to the range to put some theory into practice!
Joseph...this is truly one of the best videos I have ever watched because of its content explaining how the hands work down and through impact!! Tried it in my yard to get used to it and the next day took it to the course. One of the best ball striking days I have ever had! I also weakened my grip and now I can line up parallel left without hooking like I used to with a stronger grip. I can also hit a draw like I used to but with much more accuracy. Thanks!!!
Joe, thank you so much for posting this. I have had many of these thoughts bouncing around my head but thought ; I need proof but no one never writes anything on the topic. You are able to communicate difficult concepts well. Big thanks and this is going to help me a great deal.
Great video!! I was with you until the end. I believe a strong grip does help with a slice but for the wrong reason. I was a slicer and the stronger grip helped. But it helped because it allowed me to flip/scoop whatever you want to call it but still be able to square the face with relative regularity. Yes it causes the ball to start left initially, but eventually it incentivises slicers to use an inside to out swing path to get the ball started straight without the penalty of a severe slice. I would love know why I a wrong. But I do agree that a strong grip is a compensation. I eventually switched to a neutral grip once I learned better swing fundamentals.
Great info, I had been playing poorly for a while now and this turned it all around. I had was getting lessons and definitely going down the wrong path. Thanks
Hey, Joe. Maybe you omitted these details on purpose, but wrist flexion and extension, by itself, does not influence face angle; it only influences loft. For example, when you demonstrated left wrist flexion "laying down the shaft", you simultaneously rotated the left arm clockwise. That movement is what flattened the shaft, not wrist flexion. Similarly, when you demonstrated lead wrist extension "standing up the shaft", you simultaneously rotated the left arm counter-clockwise. Absent those arm rotations, the shaft angle would not have changed in either case.
Fantastic video. So much valuable information, in fact it covers more essential advice in 22 minutes than any other video i have ever seen by the current crop of golf guru youtubers. I believe I watched this when it first came out however didn't get it entirely. it has similar explanations given by Dana D, GG and Chris Como etc no doubt, but not in one single session like this. Essential viewing and understanding required for golfers wishing to improve.
Perfect analysis Joe. That push cut with driver is killing me at the moment, I think tension is often the cause as you **think** about the face trying to closed it with the wrist and the shoulders leaving you with a vertical shaft and in a bad place to hit
Joe, Great stuff! Mike Austin was teaching these principles for years. It was quite controversial at the time. Great to see his instruction confirmed. See you tube clips on Mike Austin Rules! and mentored by the legend. Thanks for posting!
@9.57 when he says 'thats a topic for another video' If you understand that concept first then what he is talking about here would be much easier to understand. Funky thoughts about wrist position only make sense if you understand the vertical nature of the strike. If you think of golf as a lateral hit and have an early release then manipulating wrist will not help you. Golf is like a jigsaw you must piece together. You cannot learn step 3 without a full understanding of steps one and two. This video is a classic example.
Wow!! The example with the push-cut driver at 17:00 could have had a little video of my swing to illustrate. Amazing video! No doubt, I am going to work on the wrist flexion and extension from now on! Thanks for doing these videos!
You rock joe I contradict a lot of people and your the one person I can sit there an listen to and relate too, would like to explain my theory to golf to you , I would like to hear what you have to say about it
Joe, I have been following you for sometime and learned so much from you. The instruction is always fantastic! When are you going to put all these ideas and science in a book/dvd so all of us can use it as our bible.
great video makes total sense and played like that for almost 20 years, some days hot but most days cold, i found it WAY easier to control face using the right hand extension and ulnar deviation. WAY EASIER. i guess hogan and chuck cook knew what they were talking about all along
On the subject of pulling the club straight down there is a famous (and I mean FAMOUS) instructor who advocates doing exactly that. He calls it "karate chopping down towards the right foot" ie: pulling the handle down towards the right foot. This instructor has some famous students on all US tours. Goes to show that there are talented players out there (some Hall of Famers and Major winners) who can play great golf with less than "ideal" swings. Jim Furyk comes to mind as a guy who imo pulls "straight" down. In defense of this famous instructor, pulling "straight down" is a "feel" thing not a "real thing" since the club doesn't actually hit you in the foot . The shaft actually flattens due to the combination of pulling while also rotating. So looking at Furyk on the downswing you will not see the shaft "standing up" . It flattens for reasons mentioned but I bet he "feels" like he is pulling straight down.
Joe, that what happens to the wrist is not what wrist or arm does. It happens by the mass of the club even players action is against it. When hands turn to go up and left, their path regarding the club face separates and that means deceleration to the former direction. So deceleration of the hand movement is the reason for going from PF to DF, not something player does with wrist. That's why some players like Hogan could come through impact with bowed wrist as they had less deceleration in their rotation and by that in their hand speed.
It's not a broad statement, it's a bold statement. But, what you had to say does have far reaching and satisfying implications. I wish I had seen this video years back.
I have been experimenting with the hand path recently with amazing success. As the hands exit left thru impact it seems like it "throws out" the clubhead towards the ball. In other words so many players move the clubhead straight-line to the ball (ie my old swing). Instead of straight-line to the ball, If the hands go parallel and left to the target line, then exit left, the exit left is what throws the clubface to to ball and squares the clubface. Would you agree with this thought?
If you watch some of the TaylorMade driver fitting series on RU-vid with Ryan Pamer you will hear the staff members refer to Ryan Palmer as one of the best drivers of the golf ball they have worked with. If you watch a video of Ryan Palmer, stop the video at the top of his back swing and notice the position of his left wrist. Validation!
Matthew Sword As a long time PGA Professional, Radar instructor and Biomechanics enthusiast, I'd like to take a crack at your question if I may. But first I have to ask, square to what? If you are speaking in terms of simply the target line, only a putter has a simple and short enough arc to have a chance at that. In the full swing, we turn the club upside down and the face is pointing in any number of directions. With what is illustrated very well in this video, the face is going to Shut or turn left, a great deal more that what was and still is commonly taught before 3D information, on the back or down swing and then it breaks all kinds of old rules with extension on the follow through. Since he correctly says in the video that "good" golf swings or professional swings flex and extend, square to square is not really recommended. I would go further to say that it's really a poor concept to attempt. While it sounds simple and much more efficient, it's just not. We can play with semantics and call things square to certain planes but face to target square to square isn't recommended outside of Dave Pelz's putting stroke.
So if I have flexion at top of my swing putting the club face closed at top of swing this is ok as long as I don’t have a strong left hand? Many instructors say you can’t be closed at top of swing. Thx great video... I think your describing me pulling arms down shaft steep.
Hello, few sayings about SIDE ANGLE of the wrists towards the shaft could be found. i am introduced to some instructions, where the right wrist's angle should be unchanged during swing, then what about left wrist angle, how not to change if it does move from bent at setup to bowed at impact? Do you have any idea?
This is all good information, however my only worry is that an overly reductionist approach can do as much harm as it cures. You could do a PHD on the middle toe movements and pressures of a golfer but no golfer would put his attention to his toes and expect to hit it well. The ol cliché "feel v real" applies and too much detail just fleshes out the "real" side of that statement. A good example is the term "width" on the backswing. As a young boy I went through all sorts of ridiculous motions to get a wide backswing. Lol
So I wasted all that money on pga instructors telling me to roll the face shut. Rotate my forearms. Get a stronger grip. Swing from the inside. Hold on to the club. For 35 years I have been working on the wrong thing. Now in my 60's where maybe I can get an 85 mph driver swing I'm going to pull the clubs out the closet and give this a try. O and tell the wife I'm going to the library
