Snapping the wrists at impact

[CUJOMA78]

Hey everyone. Trying to figure this out before I pull all my hair out. Do you guys snap your irons and driver at impact to help square the club face? I know I have to compress my irons and I do, but find if I don't snap the club head or snap my wrists closed, the face will stay open sometimes. 

Am I doing it wrong by snapping closed at impact? Thanks in advance!!

[ScottF]

If I was to try to snap my wrists at impact, it would be a recipe for disaster. The timing has to be just perfect or I might get a snap hook, a big slice or something in between. That is too difficult for me to be consistent with.

[Three_Jack]

Nobody tries to do anything at impact. Humans can’t perceive that short of time.

[MonteScheinblum]

14 minutes ago, Three_Jack said:

Nobody tries to do anything at impact. Humans can’t perceive that short of time.

This.....if something is going wrong it’s happening at setup, backswing or transition 

[Circaflex]

I was originally taught by an old-school coach and I know the feeling you are describing, but I have since moved away to the newer teachings which were:

 

-Fixing my grip and making it to me, much stronger but in reality its neutral or just a tad strong

-Better setup with posture

-Backswing keeping the face square, or as i feel it parallel to the ground

 

Much easier on a day to day basis; the idea of manipulating the hands works for so long but my biggest gripes were playing stellar golf for 2/3rds of a round and then losing the timing or having the spray ball show up for a few holes. Now I dont even think about the hands and I feel its a much more repeatable setup.

[CUJOMA78]

Do you have any specific recommendations? I know what you mean about it being inconsistent in the round, but I just can't get it through my head I guess. 

The way I think of it, you are square at setup, so during the backswing I keep my head still, but how do my hands get back to square on the way down without snapping the wrists or clubhead?? Isn't that releasing the club?

[Circaflex]

I'm no coach, nor anyone who should be giving advice but let me clarify one thing; my hands still do release I just dont think about that move anymore. your hands have to do a little bit of movement/manipulation; but minimizing it was the key for me. I had a really weak grip before as well, so I had to manipulate quite a lot, however switching to a more neutral/strong grip was one of the first things I changed.

[mgoblue83]

As @Circaflex said start by strengthening your grip and it will take some of the hit reflex away. 

[rp4golf]

16 hours ago, CUJOMA78 said:

 

The way I think of it, you are square at setup, so during the backswing I keep my head still, but how do my hands get back to square on the way down without snapping the wrists or clubhead?? Isn't that releasing the club?

No.

And "snapping your wrists," other than the previous poster mentioning that the moment of impact happens so fast that it's all but imperceivable - and it seems all it's going to do, either sooner or later, is result in snap hooks.

It's great to go online to seek tips, but when you're self-taught and as a result have a major swing flaw (I mean, seriously, look at videos of tour pros swings and you don't see them "snapping their wrists" to get back to square at impact) you would do yourself a big favor by contacting your local PGA certified teaching pro for a series of lessons to aid in sorting out your swing.

[TourSpoon]

The term "snapping the wrists" at impact sounds like a last ditch effort to square the face and avoid certain disaster on the right side. The only problem is that you equally bring the left side in play with a duck hook. It may work short term, but the real issue (as mentioned above by multiple posters) is that you are compensating for an open face through impact and no one can successfully manage that over time. The open face can be from a few sources including rolling the wrists going back, cupping your lead wrist at the top, etc.  The proper release involves the entire body working together and everything feeling connected. 

 

Anyway, this is a major concept that you need to understand in order to have any day-to-day consistency. Good luck! 

[JetPilot]

On 5/31/2021 at 6:36 PM, CUJOMA78 said:

Do you have any specific recommendations? I know what you mean about it being inconsistent in the round, but I just can't get it through my head I guess. 

The way I think of it, you are square at setup, so during the backswing I keep my head still, but how do my hands get back to square on the way down without snapping the wrists or clubhead?? Isn't that releasing the club?

I find that the design of the club squares the face nicely....if I’m in a good position at the top and transition properly.   

[Geoff_Dickson]

"snapping your wrists" might not be the best idea...but good golfers do release the club.

[Moonlightgrm]

On 5/31/2021 at 5:21 PM, CUJOMA78 said:

Hey everyone. Trying to figure this out before I pull all my hair out. Do you guys snap your irons and driver at impact to help square the club face? I know I have to compress my irons and I do, but find if I don't snap the club head or snap my wrists closed, the face will stay open sometimes. 

Am I doing it wrong by snapping closed at impact? Thanks in advance!!

Check out Mike Malaska videos on YouTube. 

[Barfolomew]

I do have a"snapping the wrists" technique I'm going to polish up more for driver.  Only do it for fun now.

 

I have a strong grip.  So not rotating as much or any like most do. 

 

If I want to hit a bomb for fun I'll snap my wrists earlier in swing to try and time the "release" or higher point of swing at contact not 18 inches after as in normal golf swings.

 

I'm kinda familiar with the method cause I used to play aaaaa lot of softball and used to hit hard to drop bombs, p1ss missiles and hit some scuds lol so used to practice having the highest point of of the swing at contact, which golfers dont do.

 

But ya it is tough to time so that's why it needs work but have hit some scuds with it in fun rounds... jus sayin it is possible

 

Not sure if it'll work with Irons but I have had wrist injuries so hitting the ground that hard isn't attractive but hitting off a tee is much softer on wrists