How to Use Wrists in a Golf Swing

Using your wrists correctly in the golf swing is often the missing link between inconsistent contact and pure, compressed strikes that send the ball soaring. It's a feel thing that can seem confusing, but it’s actually a very natural motion once you understand its purpose. This guide will walk you through exactly how your wrists should function during the backswing, the downswing, and through impact to add effortless power and consistency to your game.

Wrists in Golf: The Engine's Multiplier, Not the Engine Itself

First, let’s clear up a common misunderstanding. Many golfers think of the wrists as the primary source of power, actively trying to “snap” or “flip” them at the ball. This is one of the quickest paths to inconsistent shots, including slices and thinned strikes. A better way to think about it is this: your body's rotation is the engine, and your wrists are the final lever that multiplies the speed created by that engine. They are a speed-multiplying hinge, not a power-generating muscle.

When you use your body to swing the club - turning your shoulders and hips - your wrists will hinge and unhinge naturally in response to momentum and physics. The goal isn’t to force your wrists into certain positions but to create a swing sequence that allows them to perform their job correctly. When you feel "effortless power," it's because you've let the physics of the swing, including your wrist action, work for you.

The Backswing: How and When to Hinge Your Wrists

The wrist action in the backswing is all about creating leverage. This is where you “set” the club into a powerful position, storing up energy that you’ll release later. This motion is primarily an up-and-down hinging motion known as radial deviation.

The Takeaway and "Setting" the Club

Don't fall into the trap of trying to immediately "break" your wrists the moment you start the swing. The best backswings begin with a one-piece takeaway, where your hands, arms, shoulders, and hips move together away from the ball.

1. The First Move: As you begin your rotation away from the ball, feel a connection between your arms and your chest. They should move as a single unit for the first couple of feet. There is very little wrist action right at the start.
2. The Hinging Point: As the momentum of the swing continues and the clubhead passes your feet, the weight of the clubhead itself will prompt your wrists to begin hinging upward. This isn't an abrupt, forced action. Think of it as a gradual setting motion that happens between when the club is parallel to the ground and when your lead arm (left arm for a righty) gets parallel to the ground.
3. The Feeling: A good feeling is that your thumbs start to point toward the sky as the club moves upward. This indicates the wrists are hinging vertically rather than getting twisted behind you. It’s a soft collection of energy, not a hard, angular move.

A common error is keeping the wrists completely rigid for too long, which results in a restrictive swing with no leverage. The opposite error is hinging too aggressively right from the start, which disconnects the arms from the body and throws the club off its proper path.

A Simple Drill for Proper Wrist Hinge

To get a feel for the proper backswing hinge, try the "L" drill:

• Take your normal setup.
• Begin your backswing, focusing on rotating your torso.
• Stop when your left arm is parallel to the ground.
• Look at your club and arm position. Your left arm and the club shaft should form a shape a little beyond a 90-degree angle, like the letter "L." If the angle is much wider (closer to 180 degrees), you haven’t hinged enough. A good wrist set creates leverage.

The Top of the Swing: Check Your Lead Wrist Position

Where your wrists are at the top of the swing has a huge influence on the clubface, which in turn determines starting direction and shot shape. The key is to look at your lead wrist (left wrist for right-handed players).

• Flat Lead Wrist: This is generally the goal for most golfers. The back of your lead hand forms a straight line with your forearm. This puts the clubface in a "square" position at the top, making it easier to deliver a square face at impact without a lot of extra work on the way down.
• Cupped Lead Wrist (Extension): This is the most common error for amateur golfers who slice the ball. The back of the hand is bent toward your forearm, creating a "cup" shape. This position opens the clubface at the top. From here, you have to make a big compensation on the downswing to get the face closed in time, and most golfers can't.
• Bowed Lead Wrist (Flexion): This is when the back of your lead hand is bent downward, like Dustin Johnson or Collin Morikawa. This position "closes" the clubface at the top. While very powerful, it requires an athletic and fast body rotation on the downswing to prevent hooking the ball. For most amateurs, aiming for flat is a safer, more repeatable bet.

Use your phone camera or a mirror to check this position. A flat wrist at the top simplifies the downswing immensely.

The Downswing: Maintaining Lag and Releasing with Power

This is where your deft wrist work in the backswing pays off. The downswing is all about sequencing your body correctly to maintain the aangle in your wrists for as long as possible before unleashing it through the ball.

Holding Onto Your Wrist Hinge (Lag)

“Lag” is simply the maintenance of that "L" angle you created in the backswing. Golfers who hit the ball with impressive power hold this angle deep into the downswing. Golfers who struggle for distance tend to release or "cast" this angle from the very top of the swing, 'spending' their energy long before the club gets to the ball.

Here’s the secret: you don’t actively try to hold the lag. Lag is the result of a great swing sequence.

1. The downswing starts from the ground up. Begin by shifting your lower body gently toward the target.
2. As your hips begin to unwind, they pull your torso, which then pulls your arms.
3. Because your arms are being pulled down by your body’s rotation, the wrists are passive and simply stay hinged. It’s like cracking a whip - the tip of the whip (the clubhead) is the last thing to accelerate. Casting is the equivalent of trying to start the motion with the tip of the whip.

The Release: Let the Club Go

The release is the glorious moment when the stored angle finally unloads. As your hands get down near your trail thigh (right thigh for a righty) on the downswing, your continuous body rotation will slingshot the clubhead through impact. Your wrists finally unhinge in a powerful motion that squares the clubface.

This is another motion that should not be forced. You do not want to actively “flip” your hands at the ball. The release is a a passive result of your body rotating. As your chest and hips turn through the shot, they pull the handle of the club past the ball, and physics dictates that the clubhead must "catch up." This un-hinging and rotation of the forearms squares the clubface and delivers maximum speed to the back of the ball.

For a powerful impact position, your lead wrist should be flat or even slightly bowed as it makes contact with the ball. This promotes forward shaft lean, which compresses the golf ball for that pure, Tour-quality sound and feel.

Final Thoughts

Properly using your wrists is not about adding a new, complex move to your golf swing. It's about letting your wrists react naturally to a body-driven swing, creating leverage on the way back and releasing that stored energy powerfully through the ball without conscious effort. Focus on a good sequence, and your wrists will follow suit.

Mastering these movements takes practice, and it can be difficult to know if you're doing them correctly. Without objective feedback, it’s easy to get lost in conflicting swing thoughts. This is where modern tools can be incredibly helpful. If you’re struggling with concepts like casting or getting the right feel at impact, I know that Caddie AI can analyze your swing and answer specific questions in seconds. It can deliver the clear, actionable piece of advice you need to turn a confusing concept into a change you can actually feel and repeat.