[Toolish]

Jeff....

Hold a golf club between the tips of your fingers at the end of the grip so the club dangles vertically. Now twist it in your fingers, note how the shaft moves around the COG of the club, not the head moving around the hosel.

A robot with fully flexible wrist joints won't know where the shaft is...it will know where it (the robot) mounts to (grips) the club, and where the COG is. As the club is swung then the plane through the COG will be what the robot can "sense" as centrifugal force will not be pulling down the shaft, but rather through the COG.