Leadbetter’s lesson: are you fighting a slice? Feel the left wrist bowed at the top – Lesson Tee – David Leadbetter – Brief Article
David Leadbetter
Chris Riley is a rising star on the PGA Tour. A four-time All-American at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Chris won his first PGA Tour tournament in 2002–the Reno-Tahoe Open–and has been a steady performer since.
At 5-feet-11 and 160 pounds, Chris is not a big man. He’s known more for his excellent putting than for his power game. To maximize distance, he works extremely hard on his fitness.
Chris gets the club into an interesting position at the top of the backswing, one that many amateurs–particularly slicers–might want to copy. As the photo here shows, he bows his left wrist and lays the club off so the clubshaft points left of his target. A more conventional, or square, position is one in which the left wrist has a slight cup at the base and where the clubshaft points more down the line. Players who bow their wrists tend to hold their release through impact to keep from hitting hooks.
If you play with a slice that is caused by an open clubface at impact (your ball starts straight but then sails to the right), try to feel the left wrist bowed at the top of the swing–it promotes a closed clubface and a right-to-left draw.
David Leadbetter operates 27 golf academies worldwide and is based at ChampionsGate near Orlando. He works with such tour stars as Ernie Els, Nick Price, Charles Howell III, Aaron Baddeley and Justin Rose.
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