Trevor Ng
Hitting a draw in golf is a valuable skill to have in your arsenal. For right-handed players, a draw is a ball flight that moves slightly right-to-left in a controlled manner, and slightly left-to-right for left-handers. To hit a draw, you need to understand the conditions required for this right-to-left ball flight. This involves having a slightly in-to-out path and a slightly closed clubface relative to that path. A few simple changes can help you achieve this, such as bumping your hips towards the target during the downswing, ensuring a square clubface at impact, and making sure your grip is correct, with your top hand more on top of the club and your bottom hand square to slightly underneath.
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What You'll Learn
Keep the clubface square
Keeping the clubface square is crucial for hitting straight shots in golf. A square clubface at impact will send the ball straight forward, with minimal side spin. Here are some tips and drills to help you keep the clubface square:
Check Your Grip
The way you grip the club plays a significant role in keeping the clubface square. Avoid gripping the club too tightly, as this can lead to a closed clubface, causing hooks. Instead, hold the club with a relaxed grip, allowing the clubface to remain square. For right-handed golfers, an open clubface occurs when the clubface points to the right of the target line, while a closed clubface points to the left.
Wrist Mechanics
The wrist angle at impact also affects the position of the clubface. Too much wrist flexion can result in a closed clubface, causing hooks. On the other hand, insufficient wrist flexion can lead to an open clubface, resulting in slices. Practise drills that focus on wrist mechanics, such as the Release Drill, to improve your wrist angle and control the clubface.
Slow and Controlled Takeaway
A common mistake among amateur golfers is rushing the setup and takeaway. Take your time and ensure that you start with a square clubface. Practise a low and slow takeaway, focusing on controlling the rotation of the clubface. This will help you maintain a square clubface throughout your swing.
Evaluate Your Swing
Analyse your swing and identify any errors that may be causing an open or closed clubface. Use checkpoints to monitor the position of the clubface throughout your swing. Pay attention to the clubface angle at the top of your swing, as this can indicate whether you tend to open or close the clubface prematurely. Make adjustments as needed to ensure a square clubface at impact.
Practice Drills
In addition to the Release Drill, try the drill suggested by Maggs Golf. Grip the club at the hosel with the shaft to the left of your body. Use an alignment rod to set up square, and place a tee about two feet behind the ball. This drill helps you visualise the movement of the clubface during your swing without actually hitting the ball. Another drill is to focus on your lower body movement. Start by shifting your weight to your heel and turning with your lower body. This will help you square the clubface and compress the ball.
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Move your hips towards the target
Moving your hips towards the target is an essential step in hitting a draw in golf. A draw shot is one that curves gently from right to left for a right-handed golfer, adding extra distance to your shots. The spin imparted causes the ball to roll further upon landing, ideal for long par-5s and tight driving holes.
To move your hips towards the target, it is recommended that you start by focusing on your backswing. Ensure your backswing is taken slightly inside the usual line. As you start the downswing, keep your hands close to your body, allowing the club to drop further inside than usual. This movement promotes the inside-to-outside swing path necessary for a draw.
As you rotate, turn your body into your trail hip and keep your rear end back. You should feel weight on the inside of your trail leg and on the heel of your back foot. This will give you enough room to make an aggressive turn into the ball and allow your arms to return to the correct position to attack the ball from the inside.
It is important to note that simply sliding your hips is not enough; you must also rotate them. Your hips should be continually rotating to the left until your swing comes to a stop. This takes practice to get right, but it will result in a smooth swing with a lot of power.
The GOLFTEC SwingTRU Motion Study found that the best golfers move their hips an average of 3.9 inches toward the target at the top of the swing, compared to just 2.5 inches for golfers with a 30 handicap. This hip sway encourages the bottom of the swing arc to occur more ahead of the golf ball, resulting in better contact.
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Position the ball forward in your stance
To hit a draw in golf, the ball must curve from right to left in the air (for right-handed golfers). A key checkpoint to achieving this is the ball position in your stance.
Positioning the ball forward in your stance can be a more advanced technique to achieve a draw. While moving the ball back in your stance makes it easier to hit a draw, moving it forward can also be effective if executed correctly. However, it is much more difficult to hit a draw if the ball position is too far forward.
To position the ball forward in your stance, you will need to make adjustments to your swing path. You will need to swing more from the inside to create lag, allowing the ball to start to the right of the target. This is known as an inside-out swing path, which is crucial for producing a draw ball flight.
To achieve this inside-out swing path, it is recommended to bump your hips towards the target at the start of your downswing. This promotes a more in-to-out swing path. After this initial shift, focus on rotating your trail arm over your lead arm as you release the club through impact. This movement will encourage your wrists to roll over, closing the clubface and promoting the desired draw ball flight.
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Control the clubface with your grip
To hit a draw in golf, you need to control the clubface with your grip. The clubface should be slightly closed relative to the path but still slightly open to the target line. This precise alignment helps produce the right-to-left spin characteristic of a draw.
To achieve this, you need to adjust your grip. This doesn't mean gripping the club harder, but rotating your hands slightly to the right on the club handle (or to the left for left-handers). This rotation promotes a closed clubface at impact, which is crucial for producing a draw. A slightly stronger grip will help you achieve this.
For right-handed golfers, you want your top hand to be more on top of the club and your bottom hand to be square to slightly underneath the club. An easy way to check your grip is to cock your wrists up and see if the V's formed by your thumb and forefinger are pointed up at your trail shoulder. If not, you can strengthen your grip by slightly rotating your hands clockwise.
It's important to note that this grip will feel very uncomfortable at first for most golfers. However, if you want to hit different shots, you need to try out different techniques. Additionally, you should check your trail hand grip position to ensure it's more under the club, making it easier to square or slightly close the face at impact.
By controlling the clubface with your grip, you can increase your accuracy and distance, as well as reduce the chance of a slice or hook.
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Swing inside-out
To hit a draw, you need to swing inside-out. This means that the clubhead travels from inside the target line to outside the target line in a right-to-left path. Imagine a line drawn from the ball to the target – the clubhead should approach the ball from the inside of this line and then cross over to the outside as it makes impact.
To achieve this swing path, you need to make sure your body is aligned correctly. Set up with your feet, hips, and shoulders aimed to the right of the target. The amount you adjust your alignment will depend on how much draw you want to put on the ball. A slight adjustment will produce a gentle draw, while a more extreme adjustment will result in a more pronounced curve.
As you take your backswing, focus on keeping the clubhead swinging to the right of the target line. This will help you create the necessary inside-out path on the downswing. A good drill to practice this is to swing back and forth with a towel held between your arms and body. This will help you feel the correct swing path and promote a fluid, inside-out swing.
On the downswing, focus on swinging the clubhead to the left of the target line. This is the "out" part of the inside-out swing path. You want the clubhead to approach the ball from the inside and then swing across to the outside as you make impact. This path will help you deliver the clubhead with the correct angle of attack and face position to produce a powerful draw.
To summarise, swinging inside-out involves aligning your body to the right of the target and swinging the clubhead from the inside to the outside of the target line. Practice this technique with a controlled, fluid swing, and you'll be hitting powerful draws in no time.
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Frequently asked questions
A golf draw is a ball flight that moves right-to-left for right-handed players and left-to-right for left-handers. It is a controlled movement, and the opposite of a fade.
You need to have a slightly in-to-out path and a slightly closed clubface relative to that path. The clubface should point slightly to the left of the club path.
The clubface should be square at impact, not open. An open clubface increases sidespin, which can cause a slice.
Control the clubface by ensuring your top hand is more on top of the club and your bottom hand is square and slightly underneath. This will help you achieve a square clubface at impact.
Bump your hips towards the target at the start of your downswing. This will promote an in-to-out path. Then, rotate your trail arm over your lead arm as you release the club.
