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Full Swing · Drill

Shallow your path with an angled alignment rod drill

A drill to shallow the swing path for golfers with a steep downswing who tend to hit pulled fades and weak shots that slide off to the weak side. Stick an alignment rod into the ground at about a 45-degree angle so it points down the line of your shots, measure a club length from its base, and tee a ball almost right underneath the stick. From a setup with lines parallel to the target, a crooked pass will hit the rod on the way down, giving feedback to feel how you extend back and approach the inside of the ball on the way down. Balls flying down the channel means it is done correctly; hitting the rod flags the mistake.

Channel: Mark Immelman

Watch official source at 0:02

Try it

  1. Stick the alignment rod into the ground at about a 45 degree angle so it points down the line of your shots
  2. Measure a club length from the base of that stick
  3. Tee the ball up and put it almost right underneath that stick
  4. Address it and make sure your lines are parallel with where you are going
  5. Make a smooth pass
  6. Done correctly you should see golf balls fly down the channel; if you're hitting the rod you're making your mistakes

Why this context matters

A feedback drill for golfers with a steep, over-the-top downswing.