When I head to the range, I carry an arsenal of drills in my head from years of teaching golf. If I start to struggle or my children or friends do, I can offer a “here, try this”. It’s a real plus, but I still forget the good ones from time to time and I like to find them and get them out in one session.
If you’re a dedicated practitioner like me, that’s what this series is for. Each week, I will share one of my favorite exercises. Take a look, see if it applies to your game, and make your practice sessions more useful and much more interesting.
To kick things off, here’s one that looks like someone’s warming up. It is not. There is much more. If you prefer to watch how it works, the video from PGA instructor Dana Darley is below.
How it works
This is a lead arm drill that requires you to swing the club with one arm. You can use any iron you want.
- Take your normal setup, but hold the club with your leading hand only. Keep the grip in your fingers, not in the palm.
- Swing back only until your lead arm is parallel to the ground.
- Hinge the wrist and then pull down so the club falls into the slot with the back of the lead wrist leading the way.
- Keep your body moving. Your chest should stay above the ball as it passes.
- Work up to three groups of 10.
Because it’s worth your time
One of the reasons I like this drill is that there are so many benefits. Some of them include:
- Contact center: Repeatedly dropping the club into the same slot creates a more consistent strike.
- Path and face control: It is difficult to pass out or under the path when swinging with one arm.
- Low point control: Your chest stays above the ball as you pull, which creates awareness of where the club is at the bottom.
- Lag: The downward pull of the lead arm is what keeps your wrist angle so the club doesn’t get thrown off the top.
- Rhythm: A smooth and repeatable pull-down helps your tempo.
- Strength: You are building the strength of the lead arm to stabilize the club and drive the downswing instead of letting the track arm take over.
Mistakes to watch out for
- Grip drifts in the palm. When the hand gets tired, it tends to slide back. Check that the club stays in your fingers.
- Going too far. You just need to get there in parallel. If you go past that, you lose the point of the drill.
- Stalling the body. Your chest should continue to move and cover the ball. If you are all arms, you are missing half.
For who it is
This lead arm drill works for every handicap level and every stage of the game from players who are just starting out to people who have been at it for decades. If you work in something like wedge distance controlit will help you gain more awareness to the position of the club. It’s a good all-around drill.
My take
I was surprised by how difficult it is once you get to the third set. It starts out feeling easy, but in the end, your upper arm is working. That’s what makes it a strength builder as well as a technique drill for me. Having that strength in your lead arm gives you stability throughout the swing and that’s always a good thing. Try the range this week.
.mgs-kr{container-type:inline-size;container-name:mgskr;margin:32px 0 !important;font-family:var(–kr-body,inherit)}.mgs-kr *{box-sizing:border-box !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr .mgs-kr .mgs-kr . !important;color:#121212 !important;padding:14px 14px 12px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__eyebrow{display:flex !important;align-items:center !important;gap:8px !important;font:700 11px/1 var(–“Ariallow Condensed,”Kr-Display Narrow”, Arial, sans-serif) !important;letter spacing:.14em !important;text transformation:uppercase !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__bar{width:24px !important;height:8px !important;background:#F5C400 !important;flex:none !important}.mgs-mgsghead-mgs:mgs-kr_mgsk-mgs-kr: 0 0 !important;font:700 19px/1 var(–kr-display,”Barlow Condensed”,”Arial Narrow”,Arial,sans-serif) !important;text-transform:uppercase !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__grid{display:grid !important;grid-template:-column-sgap:-columnn-template !important;margin-top:10px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__card{display:grid !important;grid-template-columns:96px 1fr !important;background:#fff !important;color:heir !important;text-decoration:none !important;min-height;borderkrgrgs !important:8. .mgs-kr__card:focus-visible{outline:3px solid #121212 !important;outline-offset:2px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__img{position:relative !important;overflow:hidden !important;display:block !important;flex:none !pximportant;width;8min !important;height:auto !important;margin:0 !important;padding:0 !important;border-radius:0 !important;background-color:#D9D4C7 !important;background-size:cover !important;background-position:center !important;background-repeat:no-repeat !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr .mgs-padding:_mgs-padding: !important;display:flex !important;flex-direction:column !important;gap:3px !important;min-width:0 !important;justify-content:center !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__tag{font-size:10px !important;font-weight:600 !important;letter-spacing:uppercase; !important;color:#4A4A45 !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__title{margin:0 !important;font:700 17px/1.05 var(–kr-display,”Barlow Condensed”,”Arial Narrow”, Arial,sans-serif) !important;text-transform:overflow-mrportant:overflow-mrportant ! .mgs-kr__hook{margin:0 !important;font-size:13px !important;line-height:1.3 !important;color:#4A4A45 !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__cta{display:none !important} /* Wide layout: three cards in a row. Key to the column width of the article, not to the screen. */ @container mgskr (min-width: 620px){.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__img{width:100% !important;min-height:0 !important;aspect-ratio:5/3 !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__wrap {2padding !important:26pxr.pxmgskr .mgs-kr__eyebrow{font-size:14px !important}. .mgs-kr__heading{font-size:34px !important;margin-top:8px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__grid{grid-template-pepx:2,1:fr important !important;margin-top:20px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__card{display:flex !important;flex-direction:column !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__body{padding:16px 18px 18px !important;gap:8px !important:flex-starify:1content !important:flex-starify:1content !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__tag{font-size:12px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__title{font-size:26px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__hook{font-size:15px !important} .mgs-kr__cta{display:inline-block !important;align-self:flex-end !important;margin-top:auto !important;background:#F5C400 !important;padding:6px 12px !important;font-size:14px !important;font-weight:600 !important}} } /* Container browsers do not support width of the browser. (container-type:inline-size){ @media (min-width:760px){.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__img{width:100% !important;min-height:0 !important;aspect-ratio:5/3 !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__template:-grid:-100% !important; !important;gap:20px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr___card{display:flex !important;flex-direction:column !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__cta{display:inline-block !important;align-self:flex-end !important;margin-top:0pximportant :00000000000000000000 12px !important} } } .mgs-kr .mgs-kr__tag,.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__hook,.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__cta{font-family: inherit !important} .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__cta a.mgs-kr__card:link,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card:visitato,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card:hover,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card:focus,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr:2{2:_2#1:1:2#active !important;text-decoration:none !important;border:0 !important;box-shadow:none !important;background-image:none !important;outline-offset:2px} .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card *{text-decoration:none !important;border:0 !important;box-shadow:none :flo:noneimportant ! .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card *:not (.mgs-kr__img){background-image:none !important} .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card .mgs-kr__title{color:#121212 !important} .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card .mgs-kr__tag,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card .mgs-kr__hook{color:#4A4A45 !important} .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card .mgs-kr__cta{color:#121212}krmg .mgs-kr__heading,.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__title{font-style:normal !important;letter-spacing:0 !important} @media (hover:hover){.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card:hover .mgs-kr__ration:{underlinedecoration !important;text-decoration-color:#F5C400 !important;text-decoration-thickness:3px !important;text-underline-offset:3px !important}} .mgs-kr .mgs-kr__title,.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__hook,.mgs-grkr !important;text-indent:0 !important} .mgs-kr .mgs-kr__img img{position:absolute !important;top:0 !important;left:0 !important;width:100% !important;height:100% !important;max-width:none !important;object-fit:covered !important;margin;border:0 !important;margin:0 !important; !important;border-radius:0 !important;box-shadow:none !important;filter:none !important} .mgs-kr.mgs-kr–noimg .mgs-kr__img{display:none !important} .mgs-kr.mgs-kr–noimg a.mgs-kr.mgs-kr–noimg a.mgs-kr.mgs-kr–noimg a.mgs-kr.mgs-kr–noimg !important;min-height:0 !important} .mgs-kr.mgs-kr–noimg a.mgs-kr__card .mgs-kr__body{border-top:4px solid #F5C400 !important;padding-top:12px !important;justify-content:flex-start !important}
The place MyGolfSpy Drill Of The Week: The Lead Arm Drill appeared first MyGolfSpy.
