Golf Downswing and the Wrist Position

One more action which must be observed, of course, as the golf downswing begins, is the retention of the wrist position.

You will remember that we started the club back from the ball with an early backward wrist break.

This brought us to the top with the right hand under the shaft, the left wrist in a straight line with the back of the left hand, and the face of the club square (at a 45-degree angle with the ground).

It is of vital importance that this wrist position be kept. all through the downswing. This is what brings the face square at impact and gives us a, straight shot.

If the position is lost, if the left wrist collapses and bends backward, the face opens and the shot is spoiled. So the position must be held, all the way through the ball.

You who have been accustomed for years to having an open face at the top will feel that you cannot possibly get the ball off the ground with this wrist position. Your feeling will be that the face will be so closed that it will simply bash the ball into the turf.

You are wrong. If the wrist position is held, you will bring the face square to the ball and the ball will fly straight. Many pictures of modern American pros, Palmer and Casper among them, show their club faces almost fully closed at the top. The face points almost straight up.

The reason it is possible to have this position and still hit the ball straight lies in the grip.

With the old-fashioned grip, in which three or four knuckles of the left hand were Visible at address, such a shut position would bring a bad hook or a smother. The two-knuckle grip will not.

• Golf dowswing Part 1: The Problem.
• Downswing Magic Move 1: Moving The Hips.
• Downswing Magic Move 2: Keeping the Head Back.
• Downswing Magic Move 3: Making No Effort To Move The Golf Club.
• How it Feels.
• Golf Downswing Check Points.
• The Downswing and the Golf Swing Plane.
• The Insidious Hand Lag, and How to Fix That Problem.
• Holding the Wrist Position.