Wrist angle

Pump drill

Wrist angle is lost too early in the downswing

Keep the angle between your wrists and the shaft for longer, so that your hands are ahead of the clubhead at impact.

Recognise this?

  • Your shots feel weak: the ball goes high in the air, but not far.
  • Your distances run into each other: with a 7 iron you sometimes hit it as far as with a 9.
  • It feels as though you throw with your arms from the top, like casting a fishing rod.
  • You take little or no divot; you pick the ball off the ground rather than compressing it.

Why it happens

TPI describes casting as releasing the club too early in the downswing, which leaves your lead wrist bent at impact. That adds loft to the clubface and loses power and consistency, where the shaft should be leaning towards the target at impact. The causes TPI points to sit low in the body: limited hip and ankle mobility, not being able to separate the upper and lower body, weak abdominal and glute muscles, and wrist restrictions. If the lower body contributes too little, the upper body takes over and the club is thrown away from the top. HackMotion adds a second entry point: if the clubface is too open at the top because your lead wrist is bent too far, you have to release in the downswing to get the face closed again. Both sources arrive at the same correction: hands ahead of the clubhead, keep the wrist angle longer.

What the drill fixes

The wall stands exactly where a thrown-away clubhead ends up. If the clubhead stays above your hands you touch nothing; if you release early, you feel it immediately.

What you need

  • A 5 or 6 iron
  • A wall or a high fence
  • Space to swing without a ball

medium

How to do it

Step 1: Stand one grip length away

Stand with your back towards the wall, about one grip length away, and swing to the top without touching the wall.

Step 1: Stand one grip length away

Step 2: Pump down to hip height

Start the downswing with a small shift of your pelvis towards the target and let your hands drop to hip height. The clubhead stays above your hands and does not touch the wall.

Step 2: Pump down to hip height

Step 3: Two times back and forth

Go back to the top and repeat this pumping movement twice. Only on the fourth movement do you swing through.

Step 3: Two times back and forth

Step 4: Hit shots with half swings

Repeat with a ball, in half swings, and check that your hands are ahead of the clubhead at impact.

Step 4: Hit shots with half swings

How often

3 times the full cycle (three pumping movements plus one shot), then 10 balls with a half swing

The pump is deliberately short: it trains a sense of position, not your fitness, and it loses its value as soon as you start repeating it on autopilot.

Safety

Keep a real distance from the wall, and with this drill do not swing through with a ball anywhere near the wall.

Sources

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