One of the most misunderstood components of the takeaway is the role of the trail arm and, specifically, the trail wrist.
As you learned in the Move 1 lesson, it really does not do much of anything during the takeaway. However, many golfers need a more detailed explanation of why that is and what it means in practice. Today we are going to get specific about exactly what that trail wrist does and does not do.
Don't Hinge That Wrist!
There is a lot of golf instruction out there that contradicts what we are saying, but we will demonstrate what happens and why we maintain that the trail wrist should not do much during the takeaway.
Many golf instructors teach that the trail wrist should hinge during the takeaway. We completely disagree. It is an entirely unnecessary movement that introduces complications.
In the photo to the left, you can see what it looks like when the trail wrist is hinged and the lead wrist starts to cock as you begin to bring the club back.
We are talking about that backward bend in the trail wrist.
Look what happens to the club face as that trail wrist hinges — it is dead shut. Unless you do something to manipulate your grip, when you hinge that wrist the club face is not only going to be shut, it is going to have a tendency to get inside and steep.
A shut club face inherently wants to steepen the swing plane.
Do This Instead
All you need to do with your trail wrist is maintain the neutral position that it is in at address.
Your trail wrist should stay very flat during the takeaway move. Do not let it hinge and end up on top of the club. You never want your hand positioned on top of the club.
Your trail wrist stays neutral as you turn back. That is going to make it very easy to reach a square position at the top. It will hinge back a small amount — you cannot completely prevent that from happening — but you certainly do not want to actively add to it.
The trail wrist stays neutral as it goes back. The lead wrist is going to cock naturally.
Technically, the trail wrist cocks slightly — it is almost on an angle between a hinge and a cock — but mainly you want to concentrate on the feeling that it is remaining neutral throughout the takeaway. To see how your own takeaway and wrist positions compare to an elite benchmark, try a free AI swing analysis.
Check Your Watch
If you were wearing a watch on your trail hand, somebody standing behind you during the takeaway could read your watch.
You do not want to be able to read it yourself, and someone standing down the line should not be able to read it either. It needs to stay positioned so that someone behind you, or almost underneath you, could read the face.
Then you maintain it in that neutral position all the way to the top.
If you find that you are getting the club face very shut, or you are getting overly handsy during the takeaway, check to make sure your trail wrist remains neutral and flat. Make sure it does not start to hinge, and you will achieve a much better position going back. For real-time coaching on your takeaway mechanics, try a free AI golf lesson.
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Watch part 2 now to see how you're moving your body in the opposite direction of the pros!
Right wrist hinged, left cocked
Square position at the top
