Releasing the Club

Recently I came across a statement that's helped me understand what my wrists ought to be doing in the lower part of the golf swing. It spoke of "releasing the club into the back of the ball."

This makes better sense to me than the conflicting advice I've read and received elsewhere about what to do with the wrists in the downswing. One school of thought in golf stresses the importance of consciously cocking the wrists during the backswing (either early in the process, gradually, or at the end of it), while another argues that there shouldn't be any conscious effort to break the wrists at all - it should happen naturally as the backswing reaches its conclusion. Be that as it may, practically all schools of thought recognize that there is at least a momentary cocking of the wrists at the high point in the backswing.

The question is, "What do you do with these cocked wrists after that - in the course of the downswing?" Again, there are some say that you shouldn't try to do anything. Any conscious effort to manipulate the wrists, they claim, is going to get you into trouble. Let the natural, centrifugal force of your downswing cause your wrists to unhinge at the correct place on their own accord.

Then there are others who say that the key to power in the impact zone is the deliberate action of the hands and wrists whipping through the ball. "Give it everything you've got" in that zone, some people advise. And generally that means wrist as well as arm and hand action.

Whatever position people take, they generally agree on this: the later the application of power in the downswing the better. It's in the "hitting zone" between the feet especially where power needs to be applied. The aim is to have the clubhead accelerating into the back of the ball at the point of impact. If power is applied too soon in the downswing, then its almost certain that the club won't be accelerating still when it contacts the ball, nor will it reach its maximum speed just beyond the ball. Somehow or other, the wrists are involved in the correct application of power at the proper time.

I've tried various approaches to using (or not using) my wrists in the golf swing, all with little success. But this idea of "releasing the club into the back of the ball" has me excited.  It's not about whacking the ball with the wrists at the point of contact, but of maintaining the cocked position of the wrist until just before impact. At that point, there is a deliberate "letting go" of the right wrist (for a right hander) so that it is no longer held in a cocked position. That releases the clubhead "into the back of the ball", ensuring maximum acceleration and perfect timing.  

This action of "letting go" or "releasing" the clubhead into the back of the ball is a very distinct action - very different to trying to force it through the ball with a "wristy" hit. You simply keep your right wrist (for a right hander) in its cocked position until the impact zone, and then "let it go". The momentum (centrifugal force) associated with your swing will accelerate the clubhead through the ball naturally, giving that pleasing "wooshing" sound that accompanies a powerful, well-timed shot. Try it and see if it works.