Instruction
You can learn to hit a draw
For many golfers, the most coveted shot in golf is the draw, that beautiful shot that starts down the right side of the fairway and curves back to the center.
And I’ve got good news, even for you slicers it’s not that hard of a shot. Even if you’ve never hit a true draw, you can learn to do it time after time. You just need to understand why a draw happens, and how you can achieve those circumstances at impact.
The very first thing to understand about hitting a draw is it involves two things — the position of the club face and the direction of the swing, which need to work together.
You see, the golf ball curves as a result of the clubface’s direction relative to its the path, not relative to its target line. So even if the clubface is open to the target line, a ball can still draw as long as the clubface is closed to the direction of the swing.
Yes, it seems complicated, but what it basically boils down to is that if you hope to hit a draw, you have to hit the ball from the inside. And the clubface has to point slightly left of your swing path, which means that you’re going to have to release the club.
To do this, first you have to see the inside.
Get a good visual in your mind what the inside is and where it is. The inside is defined as the area between you and the target line. The golf club must arrive at impact on that side of the target in order to hit a draw. See a path approaching the target line from your side of the ball.
When I play, I like to think of the target line as a wall; you might visualize something else, but I suggest thinking of it as something you can not hit.
A good swing arrives from inside that wall and exits after impact back to inside the wall. So if the idea is to “stay inside the wall,” the very first thing you need to do is give yourself some room to swing from the inside. And the best way to do that is to turn your shoulders in the backswing and get the hands and club behind you. That will give you some room to swing from the inside.
If there is no turn, and the hands and club swing simply swing above you, you are too close to the wall and will have no room to arrive from the inside.
One word of caution on this point: I am not suggesting that you pull the hands and club too far in behind you (from there, you will have to come out and crash into the wall). I am saying that the shoulders turn and the hands swing up over the rear shoulder. So if you slice, or you cannot draw the ball, the first thing you should concentrate on is a good full shoulder turn in the backswing.
Now that you have created some room from the inside, you can take advantage of it by getting the arms and club down from that area. The sequence will be: Turn, swing down, turn.
You probably understand what turn means — turn behind the ball, and turn through the ball — but the “swing down” part might baffle you, so let me explain, because it’s very important.
If the shoulders open too early on the downswing, which can happen when a golfer focuses too much on “turning” during the early portion of the downswing,” a golfer has no chance to hit the ball from the inside.
He or she will be forced to move their hands outside, which creates a hand path that is horizontal, not vertical, which is needed for a draw.
That’s why many teachers advocate having their students “keep their back to the target” during the downswing, or simply try keeping their shoulders closed a little longer on the downswing to keep the arms coming from the inside (see the Sergio video to see what I mean by getting the arms to fall, not push out).
The other key component to the draw is getting the golf club on a plane from where you can release it into impact.
In the Sergio video, notice how he “lays the shaft down” to get onto a lower plane to enter impact. When the golf club is on a very vertical plane, the face is often left open, and there is a reverse rotation of your hands and arms into impact, which drastically opens the club face.
A good drill to feel this is to hit balls from a sidehill lie with ball well above the feet. You will feel a more “baseball-like” swing from the inside, which gets the shaft to “lay down.” This gets it under the arms, which is critical to face control.
That’s why it is not enough to simply hit from the inside, because if the shaft is too vertical and the hands come in high, it is difficult to feel the proper release on the lower plane to control the face. My favorite golf scientist and researcher, Dr. Sasho Mackenzie describes it best:
“Starting the club below the swing plane generated positive angular momentum about the longitudinal axis of lead arm resulting in the club face completely squaring at impact. Starting the club above the swing plane generated negative angular momentum resulting in the clubface remaining significantly open to the target line at impact. Minor deviations (less than 5 cm) of the club from the swing plane can significantly affect the longitudinal rotation of the club, and thus a golfer’s ability to square the clubface. The results also suggest that the club can rotate through 90 degrees, about the longitudinal axis of the forearm in order to square the clubface for impact without a muscular torque producing supination.”
Those terms are more technical than I communicate to my students, but basically what Dr. Mackenzie is saying is this: turning and releasing from the inside is the key to drawing the golf ball.
Finally, a few considerations about set up: If you struggle to hit a draw, you may want to favor a slighly back ball position and a slighly stronger left hand grip. Also, be sure that your upper body is tilted a little to the right (if you’re a righty).
If you still can’t hit a draw, you can even try closing your shoulders and cocking your head a little to the right, which might help help you see and feel the inside. This is considered setting up “strong” on the inside, and I suggest it for all those who want to learn to draw the ball.
As always, feel free to send a swing video to my Facebook page and I will do my best to give you my feedback.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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Martin
Apr 15, 2013 at 6:55 pm
Would a player with a one plane backswing still has to “swing down”? Or is this much more important for a two plane backswing?
Dennis Clark
Apr 7, 2013 at 5:25 pm
Thx T&R,
It’s a feeling of patience more than anything. Just keep the back to the target a nana-second longer. That magical, imperceptible pause is the key!
Turn & Release
Apr 7, 2013 at 4:57 pm
This is great article. I don’t find this complicated at all. You paint a perfect picture of “the inside”. It makes perfect sense to me. Do you have any hints on something I can “feel” during my swing, or during a practice swing? Again; great stuff Dennis! Just seems to click when I read your articles.
D Sgalippa
Apr 6, 2013 at 5:48 am
“a ball can still draw as long as the clubface is closed to the direction of the swing”
Substitute “can still” with the word “will” and that should be the end of the article. Everything else written overcomplicates, or misleads the average golfer.