Best Young Teachers
Give your swing a lift and improve your ball-striking with this crucial drill
Photographs by James Farrell
One thing I see with most amateurs, especially slicers, is that they don’t know how to take the club back the correct way, a key to accuracy and solid ball-striking. Whereas the best players lift the club up using their shoulders to start the backswing, the average golfer takes the club away very low to the ground and to the inside, behind the body. As a result, they have to make all sorts of in-swing compensations to get the club and body back in position to finish the swing.
Watching 3-D motion-capture video of the pros, it’s evident there’s some early lifting of the club from underneath the shaft during the initial stages of the backswing. There’s no twisting or sideways pressure on the grip that pulls the club to the inside and off plane. By the time the clubhead is waist high, it’s even with their hands and directly between the arms. The clubface is square, and the shoulders are aligned perfectly to complete the backswing. The rest of the swing doesn’t require any compensations.
The early lift on the club ensures that your body is in sync with the club and is in the best position to deliver a square blow on the ball.
DRILL: ELEVATE FROM BELOW
To train yourself to apply pressure from underneath the shaft during the initial stages of the backswing, take your normal left-hand grip and open your right hand so that your fingers lie flat against the underside of the handle. Rehearse taking the club back to waist high, allowing your chest to turn while raising the clubhead up with your shoulders (below). The open-faced hand helps isolate your shoulder joints so that they do the primary lifting. Repeat several times and then make several half swings with both hands on the club, mimicking the same feel of lifting from under the grip. Check to see that when the club reaches hip high, it is directly between your arms (above). If it’s on plane, it will feel balanced and light, not heavy. Complete your backswing by twisting your ribcage and keeping the clubhead between your arms. So long as the clubhead stays centered, it will feel as if it’s right on top of your hands at the completion of your backswing, and the clubface will be square.
CHECKPOINT: KEEP CLUBHEAD BETWEEN ARMS
Another good way to validate your takeaway is to loosen your left-hand grip on the club halfway back and let the shaft fall to your shoulders. If you’ve correctly lifted the clubhead with your shoulders and the shaft is on plane, or between your arms (below, left), it should come to rest close to your right shoulder joint (below, right). Conversely, if you pull the club to the inside on the takeaway, it’s likely to fall behind this shoulder. The relationship between the club and your arms is critical to your swing. Keep it centered between them and you’ll strike the ball solidly every time, just like the pros.
CJ NAFUS, one of Golf Digest’s Best Young Teachers, is director of instruction at Roxiticus Golf Club in Mendham, N.J.
