The Angle Drill

The Angle Drill

As I’ve played golf throughout the years, the biggest issue I’ve had is overdoing things. When I get a helpful tip for my golf swing, I immediately do TOO MUCH of it. I reason, “Well, if a little of this helps, a LOT of it will be even better.” I’ll bet a lot of you can relate.

A perfect example of this is the idea of swinging “from the inside.” We’re told that if we swing from the outside-in, we’ll slice the ball. But if we swing from the inside-out, we’ll draw the ball. So in an effort to swing from the inside, we take the club back to the inside.

I’m here to tell you — nothing could be more damaging to the golf swing more than this. Why? Because it causes us to actually DO the very thing we’re trying NOT to do, which is to swing from the outside. 

When we take the club back inside the path to the hole, we re-route the club at the top and swing from outside-in. That causes us to slice the ball even more — or in my case, because I have fast hands, to pull-hook the ball.

The objective here is to take the clubhead back STRAIGHT for as long as our body will allow. Notice the key word there — clubhead. THAT’S what needs to go back straight. Not our arms. Not the shaft of the club or the grip. The clubhead. 

So how do we accomplish this? We’re going to use a wonderful little trick called the Angle Drill.

Here’s what you do. Have an alignment stick or a club handy. Set up to hit a shot. Now take the alignment stick and put it between your feet at an angle, from your front heel to your back toe. As you can see, it forms about a 45-degree angle from your target line.

Now, as you take the club back, try to match the angle of your club to the angle of the alignment stick. THIS is the proper path for the backswing. From your vantage point, it may FEEL like your clubhead is outside the target line, but if you could look from behind yourself down the target line, you’d see that it’s actually perfectly straight. 

Practice making this move several times before you hit a ball. Get the feel for it. It’s going to feel weird at first, but stick to it.

Now do it again, but make the swing and hit the ball. I think you’ll be amazed at the results. 

Do this drill every time you go to the range. Use the alignment stick for 15-20 shots, then put it away and go for it on your own. Over time, taking the club back straight will become a habit, and you’ll hit better, more solid shots.