Martin Hall's Downswing Drill (Video)

This short Home School video is actually pretty sweet. It's an equipment-free, do-it-in-your-living-room drill to help you learn an in-to-out swing path. And all you need is a magazine and a convenient wall.



Just a few simple steps.

• Roll up the magazine and hold it like a club. Martin says a golf magazine; that's because it will give you a 'club' that's roughly a foot long.
• Stand with your back to the wall and make a 3/4 backswing. That's means your hands are shoulder high.
• At the top of your 3/4 backswing, the tip of the magazine should touch the wall. And it should stay in touch with the wall during your downswing until your hands are waist high.
• Then return your hands to their impact position.

As Martin says, this is an extreme move. It's a drill for players who either come over the top or tilt the clubhead toward their aimline at the top of their backswing. If you don't have those problems, this drill probably won't help you.

Still, you might want to try it a time or two, just to get a feel for starting your downswing in a more downward manner. After all, if you don't 'drop the club' a bit as you start down, you'll really have trouble learning to draw the ball. But in that case, I would only try to keep the magazine tip against the wall for perhaps half as long as Martin shows in the video -- that is, halfway between your shoulders and waist. That way, it will help improve your footwork if you tend to drive your legs too hard to start your downswing.