Golfers who are interested in technical aspects of the game start with wrist cock. It’s easy to grasp. Left-handed golfers will notice that their left wrist is bent in the same direction as the thumb. Right-handed golfers will also see the right side of the wrist. On the other hand, right-handed golfers will notice that their right wrist curves in the directions of the forearm and right wrist. The wrist cock is that simple. They then learn about supination and pronation. The plot gets more complicated.
The terms themselves are also simple to comprehend. With your thumb raised, hold your arm straight up in front of yourself. Rotate your hand so that the palm is facing down. Your hand should now be pronated. Turn your palm so that it faces the sky. Your hand has just been supined (first syllable rhymes). “soup”
It is more challenging to incorporate this skill into your golf swing, but essential if you wish to move beyond being just a golfer.
In his book Ben Hogan Five LessonsTalked about supinating your left hand when you impact. The left wrist should be bowed inwardly and not arched inwardly. The clubface will travel straight at the ball with a supinated right wrist, which keeps it accelerating and keeps it moving forward. We encourage you to enjoy all that is possible at impact.
It is difficult to master this skill, however. This involves guiding the club towards the ball using the left hand. Most amateurs prefer to use their right hand. This skill takes time to master and is not a common one for recreational golfers. There’s a way.
When the left side of the hand raises up, it is called pronation. This is what it has to do. You can learn how pronate your right side, which in turn leads to you supinating your left hand. You can do this by hitting wedges, lots of wedges. There are hundreds of wedges.
If you are hitting a wedge at 75 yards, or if your wedge is a gap wedge, keep your right hand down and your left palm down. Johnny Miller describes this as “covering the ball”. It’s an amazing image. It is important that the right hand faces down, however, most people find the palm facing in the direction of the goal. It’s enough.
This will result in the left hand remaining straight. That is fine for most amateur golfers. It’s a great bonus to get the left wrist out of alignment. But don’t panic if it doesn’t happen.
This is your chance to win. Take a bucket with 100 balls to the range. You can warm up with 10 of the balls, hitting a 7iron or two, then you will hit 80 pitches. You can do nothing but practice your pitching skills. For those left-handed players, pronate your left wrist. Next, pick up the 7-iron and start to hit some shots using your new habits.
It is my guarantee that you’ll feel better than ever.