Keep the Cup
by Dr. T. J. Tomasi, Keiser University College of Golf Senior Faculty and Director of Research
If you’re like most golfers, you probably hinge your trail wrist backward at the top of your swing — and that’s a good thing. But unlike players on tour, you don’t keep that angle through impact. Most average golfers throw that angle away as they swing back to the ball, and as a result, they leak power.
Keeping the cup allows your hands to stay ahead of the clubhead through impact, a geometry that’s necessary for maximum power. If you lack power, you’re probably releasing the club too early. By “too early,” I mean that you’re losing the angle between your trail hand and the back of your forearm during your downswing — long before you should.
The clubface must be set to the desired shot shape at address and then kept in that position until after the ball is gone. I call this a “quiet” clubface, and motion capture studies show that the best players have much less rotation of the shaft/ clubface than less-gifted golfers. In the photos below, Jesper Parnevik reveals the secret of keeping the face quiet. At the top of his swing, Parnevik has a cup in his right wrist, and his goal is to keep that cup as he releases the club to the ball through impact. But he doesn’t have to consciously hold it that long; all he has to do is drop his arms into the slot with the cup in place, as he demonstrates in the second photo. Once his lead arm is level with the ground, he can simply let it fly.
Sweden’s Jesper Parnevik has a cup in his trail wrist at the top of his swing.
For maximum power, he holds the cup until his lead arm is level with the ground. After that, he simply lets momentum be his friend. But sometimes, even for the pros, “Nothing” is the hardest thing to do.
If you’d like to study with Dr. Tomasi and other PGA Master Professionals, contact The College of Golf today.
