Cover The Ball

The golf swing is a complicated event, full of many moving parts and varying demands on your body at different points during the motion. A well-oiled swing flawlessly keeps all of these parts in order by synchronizing their movement, from takeaway to finish. Here’s a great drill you can use on the course to synchronize your swing and create more powerful, more accurate golf shots.

Assume your address position with your club soled behind the ball. Then, keeping your clubhead in position, remove your target hand (the left for right-handers) from the handle and place it on the butt end of the club so that you can hold the club in position with that hand only. Now, simulate a golf swing using your right hand, allowing it to move to the top of your swing, then down to the ball until it moves under your front forearm through impact.

I call this drill the “Cover Drill” (Corey Pavin once used it as part of his preshot routine) because it forces the front shoulder to move upward through impact—just as it should—without spinning open. Thus, your shoulder “covers” the ball at impact and returns your arms back in front of you like they were at address.