This Drill To Shallow The Golf Club is Pure Gold!

Are you struggling with hitting steep shots and want to learn how to shallow the club during your downswing? Shallowing the club is an essential skill for achieving consistent ball striking and maximizing distance, but it's simpler than you think. In this post, we’ll walk you through the critical concepts of the proper sequence in your downswing, highlight common mistakes, and provide actionable drills to help you shallow the club like a pro.

The Importance of Shallowing the Golf Club

A steep downswing is one of the most common issues golfers face. When the club comes down too steep, it often leads to weak contact, mis-hits, or a big slice. The key to fixing this is understanding how to effectively unload your arms in the downswing. Rather than focusing on forcing lag or rotating your wrists, the secret is extending your arms, particularly your trail arm, to create a shallower path.

The issue often lies in players trying to pin their lead arm against their chest as they start the downswing, leading to steep and inconsistent shots. The solution is much simpler and more effective than you might think.

Shallowing the Club: It’s All About Sequence

To shallow the golf club properly, you need to focus on the sequence of your downswing. The key movement is extending your trail arm early in the downswing. This motion helps shallow the shaft, keeping the clubface in check and allowing your body to pivot naturally into impact.

Here’s what you need to understand about the process:

Initiate the Movement: As you reach the top of your backswing, your trail arm should start to extend, not just pull in closer to your body. This extension helps create a shallower path, keeping the club from coming in too steep.

Maintain Fluidity: A common mistake is trying to make the arms "unload" too quickly, which leads to an uncontrolled, steep swing. By simply allowing your arms to extend during the transition, you can promote a smoother, shallower downswing.

This might sound simple, but it’s something many golfers overlook. By focusing on your arm extension and body pivot rather than forcing wrist manipulation, you can drastically improve your ball striking.

Key Drills to Shallow Your Swing

The Arm Extension Drill

Setup: Start in your regular address position.

Execution: Take the club back to the top of your swing, then focus on extending your trail arm (the arm closest to the target) as you start your downswing. This will help shallow the shaft and control the clubface.

Tip: Ensure that you’re not pulling your arms too close to your body during the downswing. Keep your arms extended and rotate your body into the strike.

The Sword Pull Drill

Setup: Imagine that you’re holding a sword at the top of your swing.

Execution: As you transition to the downswing, visualize pulling the sword out of its hilt as you shift your pressure to the left side of your body. This feeling of "widening" the swing helps encourage arm extension and shallow the club naturally.

Tip: Focus on shifting pressure to the left and feeling the lengthening of your arms. This creates a fluid, shallow path into impact.

Avoiding Common Mistakes

One major mistake that players make is keeping their lead arm too pinned against their chest during the downswing. While it might work for a few players, it generally leads to an inconsistent swing path. If your arms are locked in and you're trying to force a lag or extension later in the downswing, you’ll often face big issues with club path and control.

Another mistake is over-manipulating the wrists. A common misconception is that you need to create excessive wrist angles to achieve lag and shallowness. In reality, trying to force wrist movements can throw your timing off and make it harder to strike the ball consistently. Instead, focus on getting your arms extended and letting the natural sequence of your body take care of the rest.

The Right Wrist Position for a Shallow Swing

Wrist position plays a huge role in the shallowing process. When your wrist is cupped (i.e., bent backward) at the top of your swing, it can lead to a very steep downswing path, making it difficult to compress the ball and create solid contact. On the other hand, a bowed wrist (a wrist that’s bent forward) can help keep the clubface square or even slightly closed during the downswing, promoting a more controlled strike.

To ensure the best results, you don’t need to manipulate your wrists excessively. The key is to focus on getting the arms extended and the wrist in a neutral position. From there, let your body turn and naturally shallow the club through impact.

Conclusion

Shallowing the golf club doesn’t require complicated wrist movements or forcing lag. It’s all about understanding the proper sequence of the downswing and allowing your arms to extend naturally. By practicing the drills mentioned above and focusing on extending your trail arm, you’ll be able to shallow your swing and enjoy more consistent, powerful ball striking.

Remember, golf is about body coordination and timing. By focusing on extending your arms and allowing the natural rotation of your body to do the work, you'll be able to hit the ball with more control and consistency. So next time you're on the range, practice these concepts, and watch your swing transform. Happy golfing!