Instruction
At the top of the backswing, focus on the club face (not the left wrist)
As the game has evolved over the past decade, there has been a shift toward a stronger grip position. While I have no issues with this as an instructor, you must be mindful of your position at the top or you will have a tendency to miss the ball to the left.
Basically, the stronger grip position aids the golfer in shifting the face more leftward than a weaker grip, and this is done with a less “handsy” motion through the impact zone — or a no-release feeling, as it is often called. When the grip is weaker, the rotation of the face is less aggressive, and if you are not committed through impact you may miss shots to the right.
In general, your grip position must match up with the type of “hand action” you’d like to feel through impact in order to create the ball flight that you desire. Stronger grips promote more of a no-release feeling, while weaker grips promote more hand action through impact to create the same ball flight from right-to-left with most right-handed golfers.
With this being stated, instructional books have always said that you must have a “flat left wrist” at the top, or one that “matches the club face at the top” in order to be in a square condition at the top. This is correct and incorrect, because it all pertains to your address grip position.
The photo below depicts a “neutral” grip where you see one or two knuckles of the left hand as you look down at your grip.
With this type of grip, you will see little or no “cupping” of the left wrist at address (shown below).
With today’s more common “stronger” grip position, you will see more knuckles as you look down at your left hand in your address position.
With this type of grip, you will see more “cupping” of the left wrist (shown below).
In order to put this stronger grip together with your position at the top, you MUST audit your club face position at the top. It needs to be mostly square at the top, and with the two different grips your left wrist will be in different positions in order to do so.
A note: I am NOT saying that you cannot play from a shut condition at the top, but as an instructor I tend to see most players missing the ball a touch too far leftward when doing so because the face-to-path relationship is skewed with the face being too far left of the target at impact.
If you have a neutral grip
Above is the most desired position for the neutral-grip player. The left wrist is flat at the top and the club face is square at the top.
If you have a stronger grip
Above is the most desired left wrist condition at the top for the stronger gripped player. The left wrist is slightly cupped so that the club face is square.
The most common flaw is mixing up the two grip and club face positions at the top.
If you cup the left wrist at the top with a weaker grip, you will put the face in an OPEN condition as seen above.
If you flatten the left wrist at the top with a stronger grip, you will SHUT the face drastically at the top (shown above).
It is key for golfers to make sure they are in the correct position at the top. To do this, audit the club face and let the left wrist seek the condition it must have in order to have the club face at the proper square 45-degree position at the top of the backswing.
The LPGA Tour is kicking off its 2026 season this week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, and the pros are dealing with something most Florida golfers rarely face: freezing temperatures.
“It’s colder here than in the UK at the minute, which is a first,” said England’s Charley Hull during Wednesday’s media day at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Even Lydia Ko, who lives at Lake Nona, seemed surprised by the cold snap. “We’re pretty much getting to below zero in celsius here, which maybe in other parts of the country they would be thankful, but when you’re in Florida it is a little bit of a surprise,” she said.
If the world’s best players are adjusting their games for cold weather, recreational golfers should, too. Here’s how to play smart when the mercury drops.
Understand What Cold Does to Your Game
Before you change anything, you need to know what you’re fighting against. Cold air is denser than warm air, which means your ball won’t fly as far. Period.
Hull noticed this immediately during practice rounds at Lake Nona. She mentioned hitting a gap wedge into the 18th hole during a previous win but needing a 4-iron during Tuesday’s practice round. That’s a difference of four or five clubs for the same shot.
Action item: Expect to lose 5-10 yards on every club in your bag when temperatures dip below 50 degrees. Plan accordingly and don’t be stubborn about club selection.
Layer Up Without Restricting Your Swing
Hull admitted she wore three pairs of pants during practice. While that might be extreme for most of us, staying warm is critical to playing well in cold conditions.
Your muscles need warmth to function properly. When you’re cold, your body tightens up and your swing gets shorter and faster. Neither of those things help you hit good golf shots.
Action item: Wear multiple thin layers instead of one bulky jacket. Look for golf-specific cold weather gear that stretches with your swing. Keep hand warmers in your pockets between shots. And don’t forget a good hat because you lose significant body heat through your head.
Take More Club Than You Think You Need
This is where ego gets in the way of good scores. When it’s cold, the ball doesn’t compress as well off the clubface. Combined with denser air, you’re looking at serious distance loss.
The pros at Lake Nona are dealing with a course that measures 6,642 yards but plays much longer this week. If they’re adjusting, you should too.
Action item: Take at least one extra club on every approach shot. In temperatures below 40 degrees, consider taking two extra clubs. It’s better to fly the ball to the back of the green than to come up short in a bunker.
Adjust Your Expectations on the Greens
Cold weather affects putting in ways most golfers don’t consider. The ball is harder and doesn’t roll as smoothly. Your hands are cold, making it harder to feel the putter. And if there’s any moisture on the greens, they’ll be slower than normal.
Ko mentioned that she still sometimes reads the greens wrong at Lake Nona despite being a member for years. Cold weather makes that challenge even tougher.
Action item: Hit putts more firmly than usual. The ball needs extra speed to hold its line on cold greens. Take a few extra practice strokes to get a feel for the speed before you putt.
Embrace the Mental Challenge
Hull said something interesting about cold weather golf: “I like the mental toughness of it.”
That’s the right attitude. Everyone on the course is dealing with the same conditions. The player who stays patient and doesn’t get frustrated by the extra difficulty will come out ahead.
Action item: Lower your expectations by a few strokes. If you normally shoot 85, accept that 90 might be a good score in 40-degree weather. Focus on solid contact and smart decisions rather than perfect shots.
Warm Up Longer and Smarter
This might be the most important tip of all. Cold muscles are tight muscles, and tight muscles get injured easily.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul revealed she’s been protecting a wrist injury that bothered her late last season. Cold weather makes those kinds of injuries more likely if you don’t prepare properly.
Action item: Spend at least 20 minutes warming up before your round. Start with stretching, then hit easy wedge shots before working up to your driver. Keep moving between shots on the course to maintain body heat and flexibility.
The pros at Lake Nona this week will adapt and compete at the highest level despite the cold. You can do the same at your local course by following these tips and keeping a positive attitude.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, and whether you love him or hate him, the guy knows how to win when it matters. After his LIV Golf stint, the five-time major champion returns this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
What makes Koepka fascinating? He doesn’t fit the mold. His swing isn’t textbook. He doesn’t obsess over mechanics. Yet he’s won three PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens, regularly making it look easier than guys with prettier swings.
So, what can average golfers learn from someone who treats the game so differently? Quite a bit.
Stop Overthinking Every Shot
Koepka describes his approach as “reactionary” rather than mechanical. While most tour pros grind over swing thoughts, Brooks sees the target and hits it. No mental checklist.
This might be the most valuable lesson for weekend golfers who’ve watched too many YouTube swing videos.
How to actually do this:
On the range, hit five balls where you stare at the target for three seconds prior to addressing the ball. Don’t think about grip or stance. Just burn that target into your brain. You’ll be shocked at how pure you hit it when your brain focuses on where the ball is going instead of how you’re swinging.
Next time you play, give yourself a rule: Once you pull the club, you’ve got 15 seconds to hit. Koepka is one of the fastest players on tour because he doesn’t give his brain time to sabotage him.
If you feel tension in your hands at address, you’re trying to control too much. Koepka’s grip pressure is famously light. Loosen up until the club almost feels like it might slip, then add just enough pressure to hold on. That’s your swing thought: soft hands, see the target.
This approach works better under pressure. When you’re standing over that shot with water left and OB right, the last thing you need is a mental checklist. See it, feel it, hit it.
Play to Your Strengths (Even If They’re Not Pretty)
Koepka uses a strong grip that wouldn’t pass muster in some teaching circles. But he’s built his game around what works for him, elite driving distance and recovery skills. He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not.
Here’s how to build your game like Brooks:
Look at your last five rounds and figure out where you’re actually gaining strokes. Bombing it off the tee, but can’t hit greens? Lean into it. Play courses where distance matters more than precision. On tight holes, grip down on your 3-wood instead of trying to thread a driver through a keyhole you’ll miss seven times out of ten.
Koepka knows he can scramble, so he’s not afraid to miss greens. If you’re deadly from 50 to 75 yards, start leaving yourself those distances on the par 5’s instead of going for them in two every time.
Know when to take your medicine. Koepka in the trees at the PGA? He’s punching out to 100 yards, not trying to bend a 6-iron around three oaks. You’re in the rough with a flyer lie and water short? Hit your 8-iron to the middle and move on. That’s not playing scared, that’s playing smart.
Save Your Best for When It Counts
Here’s a wild stat: Koepka’s putting average in majors is often more than a full stroke better per round than in regular events. He elevates when pressure is highest.
How does an amateur tap into that gear? It’s not about trying harder, it’s about caring differently.
Here’s what actually works:
Decide which rounds matter to you. Club championship? Member-guest? That annual trip with college buddies? Circle those dates and treat them differently. Koepka doesn’t care much about regular tour events, but majors? That’s when he locks in.
Two weeks before your big round, change your practice. Stop beating balls mindlessly. Play nine holes in which every shot has consequences. Miss the fairway? Hit from the rough on the next hole too. Three-putt? Twenty push-ups. Koepka’s practice intensity ramps up before majors because he’s rehearsing pressure, not just swings.
Develop a between-shot routine that resets your brain. Koepka is famous for his blank expression after bad shots. Try this: After any shot, take three deep breaths while walking, then find something specific to notice, a tree, a cloud, someone’s shirt. That’s your reset button. By the time you reach your ball, the last shot is gone.
The Bottom Line
Brooks Koepka’s return reminds us there’s no single path to success in golf. His “substance over style” approach proves that results matter more than looking good.
You don’t need a perfect swing; you need a reliable one that holds up under pressure. You don’t need to hit every shot in the book; you need the shots you can count on. And you don’t need to play great every time; you need to play great when it matters.
Welcome back, Brooks. Thanks for the reminder that golf is ultimately about getting the ball in the hole, not winning style points.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Blades Brown made a big impression last week in the California desert, and not just because he’s only 18. He put up numbers that would catch any weekend golfer’s attention. Most of us won’t hit 317-yard drives or find 86% of our greens in regulation, but there’s a lot to learn from how Brown managed his game at The American Express.
Here are three practical lessons from his performance that you can use on your own course this weekend.
Step 1: Give Priority to Accuracy Over Distance Off The Tee
Brown’s driving stats are impressive. He averaged almost 318 yards off the tee, ranking 12th in the field. More importantly, he hit 76.79% of his fairways, tying for fourth place in the tournament.
Think about that ratio for a second. Brown could have swung harder, chased more distance and tried to overpower the course. Instead, he played smart golf and kept his ball in play.
Your Action Item: Next time you’re on the tee box, ask yourself a simple question before pulling the driver. Do you need maximum distance here, or do you need to be in the fairway? If there’s trouble lurking or the hole doesn’t demand every yard you can muster, take something off your swing. Grip down an inch. Make a three-quarter swing. Do whatever it takes to find the short grass. Brown’s approach illustrates that fairways lead to greens, and greens lead to birdies. He made 22 of them last week, along with an eagle.
The math is simple. When you’re hitting three out of every four fairways like Brown did, you’re giving yourself legitimate looks at the green with your approach shots. That’s when scoring happens.
Step 2: Commit To Hitting More Greens
This is where Brown really separated himself. He hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation, an 86.11% clip that tied for first in the entire field. Read that again. An 18-year-old kid tied for the lead in one of the most important ball-striking statistics in professional golf.
How did he do it? By keeping his ball in the fairway (see Step 1) and giving himself clean looks with mid-irons and wedges.
Your Action Item: Start tracking your greens in regulation. You don’t need a fancy app or a statistics degree. Just mark down whether you hit the green in the regulation number of strokes. Par 3s in one shot. Par 4s in two shots. Par 5s in three shots.
Once you know your baseline, set a goal to improve it by 10%. If you’re currently hitting five greens per round, aim for six. The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to think strategically about club selection and shot shape. Brown’s strokes gained approach number was positive (0.179), meaning he was better than the field average. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be on the dance floor more often.
When you hit more greens, you eliminate the need for heroic short game shots. Brown only had to scramble 10 times all week, and he got up and down 70% of the time. That’s solid, but the real story is that he rarely put himself in scrambling situations to begin with.
Step 3: Minimize Mistakes And Stay Patient
Here’s the stat that jumps off the page: Brown made only three bogeys all week. Three. In four rounds of professional golf against the best players in the world.
He also made just one double bogey. That kind of clean card doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you play within yourself, avoid the big miss and trust that pars are never bad scores.
Your Action Item: Before your next round, decide that you’re going to play boring golf. No hero shots over water. No driver on tight holes just because you can. No aggressive pins when there’s a safe side of the green.
Brown’s performance shows us that consistency beats flash every single time. He didn’t lead the field in any single strokes gained category, but he was solid across the board. That’s how you post numbers and cash checks.
Give these three steps a try. Your scorecard will thank you.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
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JOHN Watermeier
Feb 28, 2022 at 11:03 am
thanks for this website.
golf easy for some, hard to figure out for most, myself included.
lots of opinion on wrist position.
but should not the emphasis be put on club face?
find the club face at top of swing that gives you best shot direction, see what grip you had,and go with that.
seems to me that face open/closed is very subjective for a lot of us,can only be best approximated with magnetic tool pointed perpendicular at topcoat a roughly 45 degree angle to ground?
cant go to a lab or trackman around hereabout magnetic tool is cheap, easy and can use at any driving ranger inside for that matter.
would like some opinion on this.
john, a senior golfer, always trying to get better.
need some other opinions on this
Al
May 12, 2015 at 3:48 pm
[This is correct and incorrect…]
All golf instruction, condensed to 4 words, finally. The fault of the article lies in its failure to mention to not try to lift the ball.
Rory
Feb 15, 2018 at 2:14 am
You’re so dumb
Josh
May 12, 2015 at 11:52 am
I have been playing with my grip lately. I have been missing left, even with a weak grip. I saw some other instruction article speak of the importance of Hogan’s grip where the grip runs diagonally across the left palm, which promotes delivering the club at the proper lie angle. Does this ring a bell to anyone?
Al
May 12, 2015 at 3:49 pm
You name it, it rings a bell.
Jason
May 12, 2015 at 8:12 am
How about how the downswings will differ? The neutral grip downswing seems simple: just keep the left wrist flat. However, I have trouble wrapping my head around the downswing from the cupped left wrist position at the top with a strong grip. It seems like this move would be more complicated since we also need to get to a flat left wrist at impact, and make it happen in a split second.
bunty
May 12, 2015 at 3:18 am
Actually stumbled upon this by accident on the range a few weeks ago. Was definitely strong gripped and closed face at the top and was losing everything to the right.
Good to see that i wasnt imagining it as i have straightened up considerably since cupping my right wrist a little more at the top of the swing
Scott
May 11, 2015 at 4:26 pm
Thanks, Tom. I turned 74 last week. I played with a neutral grip most of my life. But now my fingers are curling and my grip strength has diminished. So I have converted to a strong grip, at least with the lead hand. I still play fairly well. I had my first par 72 round in years last week. My handicap from the senior tees in about ten. However, I am alarmingly inconsistent off the ground with shut face hooks and straight pushes. I will certainly be checking my position at the top as you have suggested. And if you have any ideas or exercises concerning my impact position problems and the resulting left and right shots I would sincerely appreciate them. Regards, Scott.
Scott
May 11, 2015 at 4:20 pm
Thanks, Tom. I am 74. I played most of my life with a neutral grip. Now my fingers are curling and I have less strength in my hands. So I have switched to a stronger grip, at least in the lead hand. I am having consistent problems hitting shut face hooks and straight right pushes. I still play fairly well from the senior tees — probably to about a ten handicap. Last week I had my first par 72 round in years. So this article about the position at the top is helpful and I will work on it. If you have any other advice or exercises that might help me reduce my inconsistent impact position and the resulting right and left shots with a strong grip I would surely appreciate too. Regards, Scott.
Chris Bunting
May 11, 2015 at 1:01 pm
Did you have anything other than that to add?
other paul
May 11, 2015 at 7:25 pm
Well explained Tom.
Paul
May 11, 2015 at 12:17 pm
I have been working on this concept after finding that my left wrist is always flat at the top of the backswingleading to a club head that is pointing up towards the sky. I feel most comfortable using a strong grip but unable to cup my left wrist at the top of the backswing no matter how hard I try when there is a ball in front of me. should I switch to a weaker grip do to my inability to cut my wrist at the top of my backswing?
Alex T
May 11, 2015 at 11:01 am
This is very insightful and concise explanation of something I’ve always wondered. I have a cupped left wrist and have for years gone to numerous coaches on and off and have never once been told to correct it and I always wondered why, considering that the “right” thing to do is to have a flat left wrist. I *have* however been told that I have too strong a grip, irrespective of my relatively solid ball striking ability- good thing I never corrected it as it seems I have inadvertently been doing it right all this time after all. Colour me vindicated, thanks Tom.