Should you bow your wrist like Dustin Johnson… or cup it like golfers think Fred Couples does?
In this quick but powerful 5-minute breakdown, we dive into the truth behind cupped vs. bowed wrists — and why blindly copying either move could destroy your swing if it doesn’t match your grip, rotation, or natural motion.
⛳ Inside this video:
The actual percentages of PGA Tour players using bowed, flat, or cupped wrists
How grip strength and wrist angle must match
Why bowed wrists can help deloft the club — but demand elite body rotation
How your job, sports background, or grip pressure affect what wrist position will work for you
The single most important thing to check before changing your wrist at the top
✅ Take the FREE Swing DNA Self-Assessment:
🎯 This isn’t a tip — it’s a cause-and-effect breakdown every serious golfer should know before trying to “fix” their wrist position.
👇 Drop a comment below: Do you bow, cup, or stay flat — and is it working for your swing?
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thank you so much for these great people on the screen here they are supporting our channel to bring you more education like this if you are interested in joining the crew come on down the link is in the description below one coach says “You’ve got to cup the wrists.” Another says “Bo it like DJ.” But here’s the thing wrist position is not a swing tip it is the result of your grip your body your rotation even what you do for a living today I’m going to break down the difference between a cuped wrist a bow wrist show what the tour actually does and explain why most golfers screw this up by copying wrist shapes without understanding the rest of the swing this might be the most important 5 minutes of your life and I might just be dramatic but you let me know if you do like this hit that like share subscribe for me and don’t forget notifications because we release four to five videos plus a live stream every week so what does the tour actually do well let’s start with the data among PJ Tour players at the top of their back swing 60% show some level of boeing 30% are mostly flat and only about 10% are noticeably cuped that’s not a coincidence as club head speeds have increased and swing lengths have shortened most players use a slightly bold wrist to deloft the club and stabilize the face under speed a bold wrist also shuts down the face slightly which can reduce timing and help hold off the block if I cup this wrist it’s actually going to deloft the club not as much close it down but the moment I start to bow this wrist it actually adds loft so it does play with your dynamic loft which in result has to be balanced by your body so what happens when you bow or cup your wrist well a bow wrist as we saw can deloft the club face at impact it can shut the club face as well and it requires open rotation more side bend and a neutral to weak grip to work cup wrist does the opposite it adds loft it can open the face and it also works better for stronger grip placements slower pivots or players who release with their hands the key is the wrist shape that you choose has to match your grip and body action otherwise you’re going to be fighting the club the entire down swing and Mrs havenamp Mrs jabroni you don’t want to mess with their pool parties they’re pretty wild I hear and that is where most golfers go wrong they change the wrist shape without knowing what their grip and body is doing together tony what about grip strength and pressure
well thank you you gorgeous looking man your grip strength and grip pressure will actually dictate what wrist shape works and how your swing feels under speed a strong grip placement is often best paired with a flat or slightly cupped wrist a bold wrist here can snap the face shut if you do have a weak grip you might need some bowing to square the club face and it also works well for players who can rotate hard and if you work a desk job you play music or have soft hands you probably grip too lightly leading to sloppy wrist control on the contrary if you’re manual laborer lift weights or played sports like baseball or hockey then you likely have tighter grip pressure which can exaggerate face control or limit wrist mobility so bottom line is too much grip pressure and you might lose feel too little and the club face floats around with no control so you need a grip that’s firm enough to control the club but relaxed enough to allow your natural wrist motion which again has to be balanced by your body’s ability now your hand speed can also play a part in this so former baseball or hockey players who have fast hands they could be aggressive throwers and they tend to benefit from bold wrists and rotation to control the face swimmers gymnastics or desk jockeyies might be slower or less aggressive with their hands and they often rely more on timing so a cup wrist may help square the club face with less rotational speed and just remember the swing is not just a position it’s a motion built from your life experience your wrist shape the grip the pivot and release can all grow from the way that you’ve moved for years so should you bow or cup your wrist well that depends on your grip your mobility your timing your strength or even your day job it’s not about copying a tour player or following the hottest tip it’s about knowing what works for you based on your body limitations tour players bow their wrist because they rotate hard tilt deep and they match it all up if you change your wrist shape without adjusting your grip or your body you’re just asking for more compensations so drop a comment what wrist shape are you using right now flat cup bode and how did you get there and don’t forget my self- assessment tools the link is in the description down below if you want to go through three self- assessments to help you better understand your body mechanics until Monday I will see you for our red light live series i am unavailable again on Sunday as I am making my rounds to drop off some summer stuff for our curriculum but I’ll see you Monday pherohs and greens [Music]
43 Comments
Which one do YOU use — cup, flat, or bow?
And more importantly… did you choose it on purpose or copy it from a pro?👇
FIRST!!! Beat you Doc!
Love these quicker videos, not that I dont like your longer stuff, but this flows really nicely as well! Great video.
I’m cupped. Just feels natural to me. Always has. 73 yo, 69 kg, not that strong, 80mph swing speed, strong grip, senior flex shafts, lack of distance but straight. Always wondered about this. However, your analysis sort of confirms that my grip is correct considering the above stats. Thank you. Greetings from Down-Under.
Yes folks I realize I reversed the cup and bow in my explanation of deloft / adding loft. I was just testing you! 🤣actually its my lack of sleep…. BUT anyway…let me know what you do…cup? bow? and have you tried to change them up?
Great video, thanks for all the work you do for us
Flat or slightly bowed with irons, but because my miss is a hook with driver I cup my wrist with driver.
Sadly the answer to which one I use is probably: yes. 🤣 Ahh consistency, wouldn't that be nice? I will say that I hit my best iron shots when I feel like the toe of the club is crazy pointed at the ground on the downswing, so that is probably more of a bowed wrist.
Weak grip equals bowed wrist? Im cupped with weak grip😢
Two knuckle left hand grip and slight cupped wrist at the top.
Interesting video. Malaska M System subscriber here, so a strong grip and early wrist set, and slightly bowed at the top, i tend to hit a lower more boring penetrating flight with a tiny draw.
I used to bow it for a draw, flattish for a fade. I recently am trying it flattish at the top and bow it coming down by “more” lead forearm rotation both directions. Seems to generate a lot more clubhead speed but I’m also making sure I post up my lead side rather than sliding through. 🤔
I’m one year in seriously playing. 25 rounds already this year. I bought a golf aid to achieve a bowed wrist. I feel like I create more lag and get better compression when I bow, and I also prevent a fade that I have with all of my irons. I started getting better tilt and angles because of your videos and shot great this week.
This is really useful. I have been finding that for me a glat / bowed wrist required a weaker trail hand grip. Basically the trail hand gives the club face control at impact.
I have tried everything weak grip bowed wrist strong grip cup wrist strong grip bowed wrist but every time I video it and mind you, I feel the cup and bow, it’s always a dead flat wrist on camera lol so I guess that answers the question for me flat wrist it is for me
I try to keep a flat wrist but feel like I exaggerate a bowed wrist when having trouble controlling the club face.
Strated as a beginner with a weakish grip learning from Hogan's 5. Bowing felt good but sliced to often. Was told to strengthen my lead hand and started overdoing that till I got to a 5 hcp. Clubface became so shut and delofted that it was better to neutralise the lead hand and accept some right misses now and then, also helps me get sizzling spinners and hold greens. However, so much easier when fullswinging to strengthen grip and hit hard with everything to not hook. Because I want to get closer to scratch I am in a neutral middle zone where I feel like I am walking on a tightrope. It was previously much easier to control one grip extreme or the other, but when I am more neutral, I seem to have more workability, shot options, and never get the huuuuuuge misses. At the moment I am seeing a lot of variability but I sorta feel like I will imporve my understanding and skill more hoisitcally long-term if I am as neutral as possible, although I know that I might be mistaken. At the moment I a neural with slight cup at top. However, it can be a lottery because my wrists are very flexible but also very strong, so depending on how the club moves, I can find it overly bowing or cupping my wrist for me.
Bit long – but wanted to give some context.
I don’t really think about my wrist position. I just try to keep the club on plane and a neutral grip that is firm but not overly, and just sort of trust it to do what it’s supposed to. 🤷🏼♂️
I try to keep it flat to the top of the backswing regardless of desired shot shape. This helps me get to the correct position more consistently. From there, I feel a slight bow at impact to reinforce my natural feeling slight draw. Depending on desired shot, I will cup or increase bow to get ball started through window desired. Cup goes high and fades. Bow to go low and draw ( and sometimes hook below a branch or whatever.)
One thing I cannot do, is try to change the top position like DJ or others. I will miss the ball!!
I switched from neutral/bowed to strong/cupped. Neutral/bowed hurt my lead wrist so I switched to the opposite and haven’t looked back. I’m older and do not have the extreme turn/side bend that the younger kids do. Another bonus of switching to strong/cupped is I increased distance. I’m not an advocate of either. I’ve encouraged and taught both depending on how the person moves through impact. Thx for the info, Tony!
I've been trying to incorporate a bowed wrist in recent months, but it's hard to say whether that's the proper choice for me. I sometimes feel like it helps with better shaft lean at impact and I also think I've been hitting my driver better with it, but on the other hand, it may be working against what I'm trying to do at the top of my backswing with my irons. I'm trying to get my right palm (I'm right handed) pointing more upward at the top to combat my tendency to be in too steep of a position. Having a lesson with my instructor tomorrow so we'll probably discuss this a bit.
If you haven’t already analyzed his swing I think doing Moe Norman’s swing would be a fun one to do. https://youtu.be/5ykmkqeUDlc?si=y1dBZyriO4qdiXcv
what I arrived to with my coach was to have a backswing and top of swing with a slight cupped feeling because that actually gives me a neutral takeaway and the club perfectly in line with the target at the top of swing, not actually cupped or across the line. Then after transition in the downswing I'm bowing as much as I can (not much) as the club travels down and that helps with my tendency of holding the release for too long and pushing. It has given me a very controllable draw shape.
Another great video. Where would you say Scheffler is? Interested to know what percentage he fits into
I use the opposite bow. Thi is the same but the wrist are 180degree left.
Ain't no other "coach" saying what you did in the first 38 seconds! 💪💪🏆
Hey coach can you one day do an analysis of my favorite swing model, the tempo king Ernie Els? I was doing some of my own armchair analysis and it looks to me like he maintains an identical spine tilt and swing plane at impact that he has at address.
It’s content like this that makes your channel a must watch for any golfer. I have a flat wrist and neutral grip. Anything else feels like I am adding more variables.
i am cupped for sure…. i hinge too late and then cup and over hinge with clubhead facing right in DTL vids (or i just never finish the backswing 🙂 ) and then get super steep, come from the inside and flip…..sometimes i push my hands away to make it more fun with "el hosel"
perfect for consistency
I used to have a severely strong grip until I noticed I had a bad case of Peyronie's disease. 🍌🍌🍌
I had a lesson last week and the poor pro spent at least the first 15 minutes removing all the YouTube crap from my swing.
The thing is. He looked at ME as I hit and made adjustments to MY swing.
That is what a lesson I’d for
YouTube is for making money not teaching you better golf
Not that is stops me from watching 😉
Just nice to know there is a bloke out there trying to say the same thing.
I’d send you a clip of my swing mate but I reckon you’d die laughing 😜
60 years, 7 cancers and a dodgy swing 😉
Bowing my wrist like Dustin Johnson (in my mind, no idea how bowed it actually is in the swing) cured my slice. Step one on the journey was great shots 7i – LW but 6i-4i all the same distance. So then I tried to not have so much shaft lean. Then I developed the snap hook that I haven't cured yet.
Great topic, you make the perfect points that few consider, flat wrist neutral grip for me, glad you back up what you’re the correct way to understand this aspect of the swing
I have a cup wrist with a neutral grip at the start. At impact it’s more flat. The only thing I need to watch for is the dreaded hard hook.
Congratulations on 10K!!!!
I've been trying to bow, if it's like decelerating a motorcycle grip motion. Im thinking it's helping my hands get more forward and my brain feels like I can aim better.
Another great vid. I would love to see what you have to say about some other odd swings from the past, like Eamon Darcy and Jim Thorpe. You don't need a trained eye to see that those swings were different, but successful.
congrats on 10K Tony, thanks for what you’re doing 🥳
By far the best YouTube golf channel! I use cup wrist it works for me I play to a 4.6 hdcp , thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge with us!
Bowed or cupped for which wrist? Lead or trail? Is it me or was this video confusing?
So I played all the sports, blue collar worker , bowed wrist and my grip is too strong. Could this lead to missing left with great shots just feels like a pull?
So I’ve just started playing with this because I didn’t realize how big of an impact it can have on your swing.
I usually play with what feels like a very bowed wrist for both irons and driver.
However lately for irons I’ve been experimenting with a cupped wrist and it feels like I get more solid contact because I can snap the club head closed which also feels like I’m getting additional speed in my swing.
I tried this with the driver and the results were not good. In fact when I hit my driver really well it feels like it starts off with an extremely bowed wrist and I can really rotate into the ball. The problem I have is that I can lose the extreme bowed feeling and I end up hitting pushes or large fades.
Any tips?
Something, people don't mention but I've always found important is hand shape and proportions. Shorter fingers in proportion to palm with also affect your grip and how the wrists and club will work during the swing.