Texas Children's Houston Open

Memorial Park Golf Course



The Loop

Chipping in on Chi

March 13, 2007

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__ "I know I'm getting better at golf because I'm hitting fewer spectators."

-- the late Gerald Ford__

We've received lots more correspondence on David Leadbetter's Find Your Swing Chi piece in March. Several readers studied David's photographs closely and had a question about his left wrist. Barry Glasgal was one of them:

__"In the David Leadbetter feature on Swing Chi,  on the cover and on page 101, it appears that at the top, his left wrist is "cupped," that is bowed in.  I try to fight this as for me it always leads to an open face at impact.  I thought a flat wrist was the proper position at the top.  I check all the pro swings that you feature and they all have flat wrists at the top.  Should I not pay atttention to my wrist position at the top or is there a corrective move that he makes to square the club up it impact?"

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Bill Fenderson of Westbrook, Maine, was another:

__"This note is for who it may concern, especially golf teaching guru David Leadbetter. I couldn't help but notice David's cupped left wrist as he demonstrates hitting 'it' longer and straighter!? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the infamous cupped wrist is often considered a cardinal sin. David...no charge for the tip!"

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We asked David about the cupped wrist, and here is his reply:

__"The angle in the back of your left wrist at the top of the backswing is determined by the amount of angle you have in the wrist at address.  The idea is to try to maintain that angle from address to the top, i.e., in my case I have a noticeable amount at address and maintained it to the top as you pointed out.  Sounds like you have little or no angle at address, hence the feeling your face is open at the top when you feel your wrist is cupped.  With this being the case, a flat left wrist or slightly bowed left wrist with the back of the hand looking at the sky would be preferable for you."

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The point is, the article seems to have hit home and delivered dividends. We've already had a number of reported "I tried it and it works!" stories, the best of which comes from Stephen Lambert of Valrico, Fla., who describes his test-drive of the Swing Chi idea:

"My first opportunity came on a day when the first tee was congested; the group waiting patiently behind us consisted of four men who may well have been associated with our local NFL franchise: certainly, none were smaller than Derrick Brooks.  By contrast, I am 5' 7" and weigh 162 (if I haven't taken my Metamucil).  The prolonged warm-up on the tee box was not made more calming by the four sets of eyes I sensed were trained on my back.  When the fairway finally cleared, I wound my hips, shoulders, and arms into a tight coil and then sprang a rope-like drive that dropped the ball 270 yards down the center of the fairway."

I'm going to go back and re-read that thing...

*--Bob Carney

Photos: Stephen Szurlej