What Is Casting In Golf (Causes & Fixes)

As a golfer, you might not have heard about the term casting. Unless, you have some professional guidance or assistance, understanding the term casting can often be forgotten. While many anglers understand it, it is also applicable to golf. However, casting might not be as positive for your game in golf as it will be when fishing.

If you are one of the golfers that struggle with your game, you might be casting and this could offset your game and you might need to make a few adjustments to ensure that you can rectify this issue. Dealing with casting can be daunting and it could also be painful if you continuously make this small adjustment with your wrist.

Players dealing with casting will want to make sure they deal with the issue as soon as possible. Once you have addressed the issue, it should be much easier to make the correct adjustments and improve your swing. Fortunately, we have created this article to show you some of the causes and fixes to this common issue.

What Is Casting In Golf?

Casting is something found in the wrist of a golfer. Much like fishing, casting the rod into the water, you can cast your club as well. Traditionally, casting is when a player loses their wrist angle as they come down for the swing. As you lift the club to the top of your swing, your wrist should be hinged to add some power and help you control the swing.

For a good shot, you will want to keep the wrist hinged as you come down for the downswing. Your wrist angle should remain in place to ensure the energy and power are effectively stored. Unfortunately, many golfers tend to unhinge their wrists when they come down for the downswing and this can lead to issues.

Once the wrist begins to unhinge, the player will automatically cast the club out away from the body. If this happens and the wrists are no longer in complete control of the shot, they will lose power and connection. It is something that any professional should spot when looking at your form and could lead to a problematic impact position.

Why Does Casting Happen In Golf?

If you have mastered the basics of playing golf, one of the first things you will start to notice is that you want more power. One thing that every golfer wants to add to their game is some additional power. As you practice by yourself, you will notice that you significantly increase the power behind your shots. Once you have mastered adding more power, you might be reluctant to get rid of the power. Here are some main causes for casting:

Looking For More Power

As you might have noticed by now, looking to add more power to your shot can be one of the main reasons for casting. Many players tend to unhinge their wrist with the thinking that a loosened wrist will lead to more power in the shots. However, the opposite is true and players lose power when casting the gold club.

Wrong Technique

The wrong swing technique could lead to plenty of issues for the player. Many players will use subpar coaching or even teach themselves and the coach might not notice them unhinging the wrist. Generally, we revert to the topic of power and players don’t understand those small adjustments could improve the power while keeping the wrists hinged.

The Downsides Of Casting

Now that you have seen how casting can occur and what the main reason for casting is, you will also need to understand some of the downsides of casting. If you are casting the golf club, you will have a couple of downsides to your game. These can significantly hold back your overall performance when playing:

Loss Of Power

Let’s look at the obvious option first. One of the first issues you might need to deal with is a loss of power. Your wrists will break the stiffness of the motion before you impact the ball and this will reduce some of the tension in your arms and the club. Since they won’t be in position at the proper angle, you will lose impact position and power.

Lifting The Ball

Another major issue many people will deal with is lifting the ball. While some players believe that lifting the ball will increase launch, they are often shocked by the power they can achieve with the correct swing. If you don’t hit down on the ball, you will not only lose launch, but you will also lose some of the spin you could have had.

Angle Of Clubface

Accuracy is another important factor when playing golf and you want to make sure that you can play shots as accurately as possible. While many golfers have the talent to square up the club when they come down, others might not find it as easy to do. Once you lose the angle of the club, you might be faced with accuracy issues and this could lead to bad shots that could get you into trouble.

How To Fix Casting When Playing Golf

Now that you have seen some of the causes of casting and which effect it could have on your game, you might want to focus on fixing your casting issues. There are a couple of things you can do to make sure you don’t continue with the issue. Once you have fixed the casting issue, you will be able to get greater power and more comfort:

Hinge Early

One of the issues that some golfers have is not hinging in time. Fortunately, this is something you can premeditate and make sure that you hinge your wrists as soon as possible. While some players tend to hinge only when the club passes past the wrist, others will forget completely and this may lead to casting as an issue.

Focus On Hitting Down On The Ball

As mentioned, many players tend to hit up on the ball and this might cause some issues. The misconception that hitting up on the ball will give you more launch has already been broken. As a rule of thumb, you want to hit down on the ball as much as possible

However, you will need to consciously focus on hitting down on the ball to ensure that you master it. Hitting down on the ball comes with plenty of benefits, and these benefits include creating more spin and improving your launch. Additionally, you will be eliminating the casting and this also means that you will have more power when playing.

Getting Your Wrists In The Right Position

For each player, the feeling of having their wrists in position might differ. However, you want to make sure that you can set your wrists in the right position as soon as possible. Once you have your wrists in the right position, you should keep them there. It is important to keep them in the set position until you have the impact of the ball.

Setting your wrists and keeping them will take some mental work. You will need to be cognizant of the fact that your wrists are in position and continuously think of them on the way down. While this will only be for training, the skills will be transferred to competition and you will notice that your wrists automatically remain in the correct position.

Good Weight Transfer

One of the issues many players have is transferring their weight correctly. Many players tend to hang back on the trailing foot when they should be transferring their weight to the leading foot and following through with the shot. By correctly managing your weight, you should inevitably keep the ball going in the correct direction.

BY simply keeping your angles correct and transferring your weight at the right time, you can significantly improve the quality of your shots. You will also begin to notice some casting and you can continue to work on them to improve your swing and your game.

Training Aids

Finally, you will need to understand that casting is a common issue among players. Since the issue needs to be addressed, companies have created a few training aids like the Orange Whip Golf Swing Trainer. A flexible club like this is not only designed to reduce casting but will also improve your swing speed.

If training aids are available and at your disposal, you should try to use them. You can significantly improve the quality of your game and see some big improvements when using them. They can be used in the comfort of your home.

Wrap-Up

Dealing with casting can be daunting and you will need to make sure that you understand the issue and know how to deal with it. For some players, it might not be as easy, but when you start making small adjustments, you will notice how much casting can affect your game. We would recommend using training aids and performing the correct drills to manage it.