Tommy Fleetwood’s go-to drill is simple. He grabs an alignment stick, lines it up with the angle of his shaft and sticks it in a device called the Swing Plane Perfector. This gives him visual feedback of what “on plane” looks like as he practices.
“[Using the swing plane perfector] for me basically takes care of the one that I would probably struggle the most with at early stages in my career, which would be the shaft angle,” he said. “Keeps me nice and on plane.”
It’s hard to argue with the results. In the last calendar year, Fleetwood has elevated himself to No. 3 in the OWGR, won his first PGA Tour event and claimed the FedEx Cup crown.
Not too shabby.
But while Fleetwood’s go-to drill is excellent reinforcement for his swing, trying it for yourself may come with disastrous results. In the video below, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Cameron McCormick explains why.
Why you shouldn’t try Fleetwood’s drill
Fleetwood’s go-to drill is a great shaft-plane visual for high-level players. However, for the vast majority of recreational golfers, it will do more harm than good.
“Good for the pros,” McCormick says. “Cancerous to 98 percent of golfers.”
You see, recreational golfers rarely have the same swing flaws as pros, so blindly copying their drills is foolish. In this case, Fleetwood uses the alignment stick to give him a visual of the proper swing plane and to help him from coming in underneath that spot.
Recreational golfers typically have the opposite problem. They usually come too far from the outside and swing over the top.
“It’ll only have you swinging more over-the-top and heeling it more,” McCormick says.
What you should do instead
Grab a few alignment sticks and place one on the ground down your target line, and the other sticking out of the ground at a 45-degree angle parallel to the target line at about knee height, with the end of it sitting right over the ball. Now take the third alignment stick and stick it in the ground in front of the ball at a 45-degree angle splitting the difference between the target line and your lead hip.
“Then swing and miss the sticks,” McCormick says. “It’s going to have you hitting draws for days.”
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