Bowed Wrist

The term describes the back of the lead hand sitting flat or arching slightly toward the forearm, as though bent gently in the direction the clubface points. At the top of the backswing that closes the clubface relative to the swing plane, which counterintuitively puts it in a more powerful orientation. The position is widely discussed in modern instruction because several of the longest and most consistent ball-strikers on tour show it strongly.

The practical consequence is a more closed face both at the top and through the strike. For a slicer fighting an open face this is a powerful correction. This is because it pre-positions the face to arrive square rather than asking the hands to rotate hard and close it late. For golfers who already have a neutral or strong face position, adding bow creates a face that is too closed and produces hooks.

It is not simply the mirror image of the classic cupped position, though the contrast is often taught that way. The precise movement is radial deviation — the thumb side moving toward the forearm — combined with palmar flexion, the palm curling slightly in. That combination flattens the back of the hand and closes the face directly. Tour players who exhibit this include Dustin Johnson (extreme bow) and Jon Rahm (moderate bow), while others play effectively with flatter or slightly cupped lead wrists.