Bryson DeChambeau, Ulnar deviation and range of motion.

[Nels55]

Bryson has his wrists in full ulnar deviation at setup:

https://www.thesportsnational.com/2020/06/27/5-pga-tour-players-reveal-their-favorite-go-to-swing-thoughts/

 

 

When I put my wrists n full ulnar deviation with the 'palm' grip that Bryson uses it looks like this:

 

With more of a conventional finger grip:

It would seem that I cannot play golf with my wrists in full ulnar deviation like Bryson can because my wrists have a greater range of motion in the ulnar direction than his have.  Another thought in along these lines is that my wrists do not have much radial deviation which I believe is why I injured by lead thumb training for more lag with the Bertholy program.  I seem to remember reading somewhere that Ben Hogan could touch his thumb to his forearm when in full radial deviation.  Seems impossible but I wonder if that is true?  Anyway, I am interested to know what your thoughts are on this subject and also whether or not you have exceptional range of wrist motion in either the radial or ulnar direction?  If you happen to have the ability to deviate a long ways in the radial direction are you a par shooter?  Here is an article on measuring such:

https://toddmarshfitness.com/radial-ulnar-deviation/

 

Anyway my point is that stuff like this and other physical attributes are extremely important in determining one's optimum swing mechanics.  I think physical attributes go a long way to explaining why some students succeed and some fail with fixed and rigid swing methods.  The gurus who promote such swings usually blame the students but in the case of a physical mismatch I believe it is not students fault for failing to obtain golf swing nirvana.  

 

[SEP1006]

I believe the first pic you have with your club / hand is a bit past where Bryson sets up. There is basically a straight line from his shoulder all the way to the club head, therefor the 1-plane. I've been using the Dechambeau swing method now for almost a year with great success and TO ME it is much easier.

 

[harolease]

Nancy Lopez had some look of “ulnar deviation” at address    I remember trying this   For me when I try to force this “ulnar deviation” my wrist will not hinge properly in my backswing   It seems to work well for BDC not for me 

[Nels55]

3 hours ago, SEP1006 said:

I believe the first pic you have with your club / hand is a bit past where Bryson sets up. There is basically a straight line from his shoulder all the way to the club head, therefor the 1-plane. I've been using the Dechambeau swing method now for almost a year with great success and TO ME it is much easier.

 

Yes that is my point.  When I go to full ulnar deviation I do not get the straight line from shoulder through the ball.  It seems that I have a lot more range of motion in the ulnar direction then Bryson does.  When you setup like Bryson are you in full ulnar deviation?  Do you have the grip in the palm like Bryson or more in the fingers like Dustin Johnson?

[Noodler]

Bryson's position at setup is not his position at impact.  There's not nearly as much ulnar deviation.

 

 

[SMUGamer]

1 hour ago, Noodler said:

Bryson's position at setup is not his position at impact.  There's not nearly as much ulnar deviation.

 

I think there is, it's just he's squatting / knee flexing much more through impact but the straight lines with shoulders, arms, wrist, seem to be same. 

 

[SEP1006]

19 hours ago, Nels55 said:

Yes that is my point.  When I go to full ulnar deviation I do not get the straight line from shoulder through the ball.  It seems that I have a lot more range of motion in the ulnar direction then Bryson does.  When you setup like Bryson are you in full ulnar deviation?  Do you have the grip in the palm like Bryson or more in the fingers like Dustin Johnson?

 

My set up is just like his in the picture. You could probably lay a ruler on the tops side of my forearm down to my thumb and it would be touching the entire length.

 

And I put the grip in my palms like Bryson as well. At set up the grip is in a straight line with the middle of my forearm.

[Nels55]

2 hours ago, SEP1006 said:

 

My set up is just like his in the picture. You could probably lay a ruler on the tops side of my forearm down to my thumb and it would be touching the entire length.

 

And I put the grip in my palms like Bryson as well. At set up the grip is in a straight line with the middle of my forearm.

Are you able to setup in full ulnar deviation or are you fudging it like I have to if I setup that way?

[SEP1006]

I do not set up in full ulnar deviation, like your grip pics. An easier way of saying it I guess is this. Just set up as you normally would for a 2-plane swing then just raise your hands until you have a straight line from lead shoulder to the club head.

[Nels55]

3 hours ago, SEP1006 said:

I do not set up in full ulnar deviation, like your grip pics. An easier way of saying it I guess is this. Just set up as you normally would for a 2-plane swing then just raise your hands until you have a straight line from lead shoulder to the club head.

I think that our inability to swing in full ulnar deviation is typical of most golfers as the range of motion required to do that seems to be out of the normal range.  Or we are missing something?  Would be interesting to see what kind of results Bryson would get doing this test:

https://toddmarshfitness.com/radial-ulnar-deviation/

[Hilts1969]

1 hour ago, Nels55 said:

I think that our inability to swing in full ulnar deviation is typical of most golfers as the range of motion required to do that seems to be out of the normal range.  Or we are missing something?  Would be interesting to see what kind of results Bryson would get doing this test:

https://toddmarshfitness.com/radial-ulnar-deviation/

 

The simple answer is he doesn’t set up in full ulnar deviation whether he thinks that or someone else thinks that’s what he means. Ulnar has a much greater range of motion than radial. In fact radial is so restricted that when people think they are doing it they are mainly hinging/cupping the wrist.

[Nels55]

9 hours ago, Hilts1969 said:

 

The simple answer is he doesn’t set up in full ulnar deviation whether he thinks that or someone else thinks that’s what he means. Ulnar has a much greater range of motion than radial. In fact radial is so restricted that when people think they are doing it they are mainly hinging/cupping the wrist.

That is a simple answer and would seem to make sense except that he does setup in maximum ulnar deviation.  LOL your post made me dig a bit to make sure that I understood what he is saying!  He is indeed reducing range of motion by setting up in maximum ulnar deviation.  He makes this very clear on 'Swing Expedition' with Chris Como and demos full ulnar deviation for him which looks like it is significantly short of my range of motion.  It looked like in max ulnar deviation his thumb and forefinger are about in line with his forearm which is maybe 20 or 30 degrees short of the range of motion that I have.  I believe according to the test I posted above my range of motion is fairly typical.  So there you have it, he is outside the norm in a range of motion that is advantageous for his particular swing mechanics.

 

Thanks for your post!