David Ogrin's Axe Handle Drill (Video)

Former PGA Tour winner David Ogrin has a neat drill to help you forestall topping your fairway woods. I'm going to help you recognize how it allow you to... And how to avoid hitting slices with it.

The reducing motion of this drill can also appear a bit counter-intuitive to you. While you could see how it'll assist you learn how to measure the gap to the ground -- and therefore allow you to hit down at the ball extra always without hitting it fats -- you may surprise in case you're going to hit wild slices this manner.

It's a logical query. To get that cutting movement for the duration of your downswing, you need to uncock your wrists down the target line. And in case you do this, aren't you commencing the clubface an excessive amount of?

One of the troubles of the use of any drill is that the total variety of movement you use at the same time as appearing the drill often is not defined due to the fact, to the instructor, that variety need to be apparent to the scholar. But if it isn't always, the scholar -- even when that scholar is a Tour seasoned -- can focus an excessive amount of on only one a part of the swing, after which fall into different errors.

Let's make certain that doesn't take place with this drill!

The slicing movement is precisely the same whilst you make your swing as it's miles whilst you simply faucet the ground in the back of the ball -- that is, the membership is moving vertically in front of your frame. If you drew a line throughout your shoulders, the membership is moving perpendicular to that line. It's obvious when you're simply tapping the ground.

But it's doing the equal factor while you make your swing. The distinction here is that your shoulder line has became 90? From that authentic 'tapping' function. Your lead arm extended outward when you made your shoulder turn, and you need to let it return to the placement it had when you began your backswing. This is why such a lot of players practice with a glove tucked in their lead armpit -- it allows then hold that original connection between higher arm and chest.

If your higher arm returns to that related function, your shoulders will retain to turn to their original cope with role. That method the 'cutting' movement continues to be transferring perpendicular to your shoulder line and now not down the target line. And that means the clubface closes as you hit the ball, so you do not hit slices.

I know this sounds a bit strange and, as I said earlier, counter-intuitive. But that's because we are only thinking about our arm and hand motion and not the motion of the clubhead. The clubhead is traveling on an inclined plane -- that's a pure Hogan basic of the swing -- and if you think about it, you'll realize that the clubhead can only travel on that plane if the clubhead moves farther away from you than your hands do. The closer the clubhead gets to the ball, the farther out from your body it MUST move.

Think approximately that. Simple physics says that, unless you allow that lead arm disconnect out of your chest as you hit the ball, your palms have to lightly close the clubface as it nears the ball. At effect, the clubface ought to be as square because it was at cope with. If it isn't rectangular, you did certainly one of things:

  • You pulled your trailing elbow in closer to your body on the downswing than it was at address, or
  • You let your lead elbow rise higher away from your body than it was at address. (That's what happens when your lead arm disconnects.)
In fact, if you'd like a drill to help you feel -- in an exaggerated way -- how a proper downswing should feel, here's what you should do. As you reach the decrease part of your downswing, deliberately straighten your trailing elbow and bend your lead elbow as you swing from waist excessive to impact. Do it SLOWLY! This is only to help you learn how the squaring motion works, how returning the clubface to its square address position feels.

Once you get the hang of it, you can try to work a less exaggerated version of that feel into your practice swings on the range. This isn't something you want to have to think about when you're actually playing a round, and you don't want to incorporate a big version of this feel into your swing because then you'll start hooking the ball too much. This is just a way to gain an awareness of where the clubface is pointing at impact, which is key to improving your ballstriking.

Again, we are not sincerely trying to make this motion as we swing on the path. If we do, we're going to tighten up our muscle tissues and purpose issues. We just want our top body to return our fingers to kind of the identical position they were at address. (I realize it won't be precisely the equal. But at the velocity we'll be moving at effect, it'll feel near.) But your frame not often makes a movement your mind can not recognize. We just want to train our minds the primary idea after which permit it figure out a way to observe it.

Try my drill if you dare. It may revolutionize your sport with out making any most important exchange for your swing.

0 comments