Full Swing & TempoIntermediateFixes: Early Extension

Ball Below Feet Drill (Natural Tilt Fix)

Curated PGA Drill by Alistair Davies Golf

Focus Area

Full Swing

Rep Guidance

3 sets of 10 slow rehearsal reps

Equipment

Golf club, alignment stick (optional)

Skill Level

Intermediate

Video walkthrough by Alistair Davies GolfWatch on YouTube ↗

Why This Drill Works (Kinetic Mechanics)

This environmental constraint forces the body's natural response to gravity and ball position. Since standing up will cause you to miss the ball completely, the brain and body instinctively work to maintain the necessary spine and hip tilt to reach the low-lying ball, eliminating early extension.

How to Perform the Drill

Follow these step-by-step instructions. Rehearse slowly to build proper motor patterns before adding full swing speed.

  1. 1

    Step 1

    Set up with the ball way below your feet: Find a lie where the golf ball is significantly lower than your feet (2:55).

  2. 2

    Step 2

    Maintain tilt to make contact: To make good contact with the ball, you will naturally have to stay tilted throughout the swing (3:02).

  3. 3

    Step 3

    Focus on consistent contact: The goal is to set up tilted and manage your tilts to consistently make contact with the ball (3:15).

What Good Feels Like

Focus on smooth tempo and maintaining body connection through impact. Your body and club should move as a single synchronized unit.

Common Mistake to Avoid

Rushing transition before completing backswing or lunging upper body forward towards ball at impact. Keep movement controlled.

Swing Faults & Ball Flights Addressed

Loss of PostureStanding Up at ImpactInconsistent StrikeThin Shots

Comprehensive Guides Featuring This Drill

How to Fix Your Golf Posture

Fix golf posture by hinging from the hips, not rounding the upper back (C-posture) or over-arching the lower back (S-posture), with a neutral spine tilted over the ball. Then train yourself to keep that tilt through impact, because posture you lose mid-swing costs you the same strikes as posture you never had.

Not sure this is your real fault?

Upload one swing video and our AI will identify whether early extension is actually what's costing you strokes, using physics-backed metrics and a practice plan matched to what it finds. Your first analysis is free.

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