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Driving

This mistake in your takeaway is costing you major yards off the tee

November 08, 2016

If you can't consistently find the fairway off the tee, there could be a simple fix. Hank Haney says players that have struggle off the tee are often letting their wrists roll as they take the club back. This is bad news, because it puts your hands in a position to allow the clubhead to move way inside and it creates a seriously flat swing plane. To be able to get the clubface back to the ball from that position, you’re going to have to manipulate the clubhead a lot. This is not a recipe for consistent ball-striking.

So, how do you fix this horrible situation? Don’t let your wrists roll. Instead, hinge them.

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Scott Halleran/PGA of America via Getty Images

Here’s a little drill to help teach yourself what hinging your wrists and the correct position at the top should feel like:

Take your grip and set up. Pick up the club towards your torso, just using your wrists. If you kept going you'd hit yourself on the forehead with the club, but here stop when the shaft is parallel to the ground. Now, do a full body turn, and look at your position at the top. You’re back on plane -- and your wrists are in strong angles instead of that floppy, rolled over nonsense.

When you’re actually hitting balls, think about maintaining the integrity of your wrists as you take it back and let them hinge, instead of roll. You’re going to get much more consistent contact. And that means more distance and more fairways.