All Wrist & No Wrist (at the same time)
So many golfers want to know how to get more distance. Depending on our physical abilities, we all have varying degrees of strength and speed that will allow us to move and turn to generate a maximum amount power with balance. Once we reach that potential there is only one other multiplyer for speed and that is the wrists. They are truly what makes our pendulum swing into a double pendulum and creates the true whip and speed that give us ultimate distance.
So how do the wrists work? The key is to allow for a full hinge and unhinge to happen naturally like Lexi pictured below. It can only occur IF we remain relaxed in our wrist joint. To be fully relaxed requires a medium-light grip pressure (careful not too light or the grip will spin inside your hands causes a loss of clubface control). Once you have a feel for this correct balanced pressure in the hands, wrists and forearms, move your arms and allow a loose waggle to happen to feel how the wrists joint can move freely in response to the arms and body moving. This should be automatic and unconsious.
When the swing starts back, the weight of the club moving will create for a full wrist hinge at the top. As our bodies change direction and swing to the target, we shift and pivot. This movement drags our arms and the weight of the club down, around and outward toward the ball like a slingshot (centrifugal force). This process creates a natural unhinge = "release" of the wrists and will time it self perfectly at the bottom of the swing if we let it. Not controlling or forcing the release is one of the most challenging concepts for my students- but when you get it, you GET IT!
My student said it best the other day when he felt this sensation for the first time... "It's like all wrist and no wrist at the same time." ...Yes Mr. Keenan, exactly. Thanks again to my students for always providing inspiration to me and validating that a True Swing really works.