Getting your hands to work correctly in the golf swing is one of the most powerful, yet widely misunderstood, parts of the game. So many golfers either try to consciously force their hands to turn over or, conversely, try to hold them completely rigid through impact. Both approaches zap power and create nasty hooks or slices. The truth is, proper hand and forearm rotation - often called the release - is a natural and smooth action that squares the clubface for that flush, powerful, and straight contact we all crave. This guide will break down exactly what your hands should be doing, when they should be doing it, and give you some simple, actionable drills to finally nail the feeling.
Before we go any further, let's clear something up. When we talk about "rotating your hands," it's easy to picture an aggressive, last-second flip of the wrists through the ball. This is one of the most common swing faults, leading to thin shots, fat shots, and a total loss of consistency. Successful hand action isn't a flip, it's a gradual and powerful unwinding of the forearms that is led by the body's turn.
Think about a more natural athletic motion, like skipping a stone or throwing a frisbee. Your hand and forearm don't stay locked in one position. They rotate naturally through the release to generate speed and control the tool's direction. Your golf swing is no different. The rotation is a result of a good sequence down through the downswing. You don't "make" it happen, you "let" it happen by using your body correctly.
The entire goal of this motion is simple: to start your downswing with the clubface slightly open (as it naturally is when you create lag) and return it to a perfectly square position at the moment of impact. This an effective transfer of energy and a straight ball flight.
Understanding hand rotation is easiest when you break the swing down into key phases. For this guide, all instructions are for a right-handed golfer. Lefties can simply mirror the concepts.
You cannot have a a proper forearm release with a poor trip. Your grip literally dictates how your hands and forearms want to behave in the future. If you start with your hands in an awkward place you will only have create compensations that feel unantural to bring the club back square. As a result, this is where everything starts.
Great hand action in your swing is really the byproduct of your quiet hands during the beginning period of your backswing. Most players, espeically amatures, tend to want ot overly use their hands early on. A natural takeaway a smoother transition, and a less jerky golf swing This keeps you swing on-plan more efficently. Try to move the arms, chest, and arms all at the same time in unit. This will make up the first couple of feet of your swing.
During a good takeaway, the clubface shoud still bascially feeel as if it is pointing directly down towards thte ball once your club reachers parallel to the gorund. It might have a slight rotattion, but no major one. Avoid the very common error of "rolling" the wrists which opens theclubface too ealry and will throw the club behind body. Again, if you do want to rotate through impact it begins with as little rotation away from the ball.
When the club gets towards the top of your swing, we want a wrist hingeg which will occur naturally due to momentum of bringing the club higher.. That simple hinge is what sets teh club to give you lag and power to unwind on the way down.
So how shold you feel once you a set at the top? For almost every golfers, the best postiion for your left wrist at the stop of teh backswing is generally flat. If yo have trouble feeling wht its' like to set your club you cdan just practice makginyour golf love logo you are wearng face te sky when you look at yoru swing i a mirror. If yoru love log can be see than your setting the a pretty flat positon.
A "cupped"" left wrist (bowed downwards) tends tends to leave teh face open at the top,requirng you to make more rotaton on your downswing to avoid slicing. On teh otherhanfd, a bowed wirstt top tefts wto close teh club face, leading to ah aook unless te swing path a certain direction, To avoid having ro make such a correct at top by settig your clu with w flat left wrrist,
After reaching the top of your swing, you are finally readdy to deliver some power and unwind dowsninto the ball. If you remeber earlier discussion... the rotation must statt at from yrou body not the hans. It unwinds th club n a proper plane and a sequce which builds up power.
This is when a properly sequence dswing... the clubhead drops behind as teh hadns will drop, created a power pocket we often referr to has "lag." Many higher hdandicap players who stike the ball without much poower try to force this potion buy casting early from the stop, and throwin this power way too early leading to a week shot into the ball.
Proper sequencing, again... all stafrfrom your hhip rottaion which t clears space your arms a nd hadn ro drop in.
If you've followed al of your checkpoints your hands a d club will now be readdy ro t reease ad powre throwe thee bawl, Here is thee step wheer a real release happens,
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Proper hand rotation isn't some complicated or forced maneuver. It’s the natural outcome of a well-sequenced swing, directed by a good grip and an active body turn through the ball. By focusing on keeping your hands passive early on and then allowing your forearms to unwind powerfully through impact, you exchange the weak "flip" for a powerful, consistent release that produces great shots.
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