TPI Physical Screen - Wrist Pronation and Supination Test
By Mark Pajich
A TPI golf screen is a physical assessment of how well your body moves in relation to your golf swing. There are 16 movement patterns that we check and depending on your results we may find that you have one or more of the 12 most common swing faults, each of which will have a direct effect on your game.
This series of articles will go through the TPI Physical Screen and how each movement pattern can impact your golf. Today’s article will focus on movement pattern no 14, Wrist Pronation & Supination Test.
WARNING: All TPI Tests should be performed with no pain whatsoever. Perform in a safe environment with proper form.
Movement Pattern No 14: The Wrist Pronation and Supination Test
The objective of the Wrist Pronation and Supination Test is to measure if your wrists can perform the turning motion with the palms facing up (Supination) and down (Pronation) to a sufficient degree. This test shows if the golfer has enough mobility in this motion to set the club in place and have a proper position at release as well. There are two main causes of lacking sufficient wrist Pronation and Supination:
Bone structure complications.
Muscle strength and mobility complications.
Fixing this will result in a more efficient swing as well as prevention of other injuries.
How to do the Wrist Pronation and Supination Test
Firstly, stand up straight with your feet together and bring both your arms up to parallel while keeping your elbows tucked by your sides. From this position, keep your hands in a neutral position with your palms facing each other. Now, turn your wrists down till your palms are completely facing the ground for pronation. Next, turn your wrists upward till the palm faces the ceiling to determine the degree of supination. Two key points to note when performing this test are your elbows should always stay in place with no flaring or loss of position, and make sure wrists are not flexing or hinging either. Ideally, you would like to achieve a position where your wrist probation and supination is more than 80 degrees.
Watch the following video for the proper technique. You can check yourself in a mirror to see if you are doing it correctly.
Swing faults: TPI research shows that if you have limitations in the Wrist Pronation and Supination Test then you have a 35% chance of swinging over the top, 25% chance of having” chicken wing” positionings during the swing, and 20% chance of casting the club or scooping. These swing faults can cause you to have inconsistent impact, wrist strains, and/or golfer’s elbow.
Exercise: Weighted Wrist Tilts
Start by kneeling in front of a box that’s about knee height and put your right arm on the box just to where your hand is hovering over the edge of the box. From here, grab anything that can have sufficient resistance and hold the end of it to point it straight up. Now simply perform the wrist pronation and supination movement with the weight in your hand and repeat this for 8 to 12 times without pain. Repeat the exercise on the left side as well. Make sure the resistance is not too heavy to avoid injury. This will strengthen the muscles that are activated in the wrist Pronation and Supination movement. Watch the following video for the proper technique.
Exercise: Dynamic Pronator Stretch
Start by standing up straight and bringing your right hand to your chest with your palm facing toward your chest as well. From this position, grab your right hand with your left with your four fingers gripping the right thumb and the left thumb placed firmly on top of your left pinky. Now gently push the wrist into further pronation, then extend the arm fully exposing the elbow crease. Repeat this motion for 8-12 repetitions on each arm with no pain. Watch the following video for the proper technique.