Swing Plane Alignment Stick Checkpoint Drill
Drill by Chris Ryan Golf
Why this drill works
The club naturally wants to swing toward the balance point set by the hands' motion, so a laid-off top position tends to re-route the shaft steep in transition, causing an over-the-top move. These two checkpoints give real-time visual feedback on the shaft's plane at two moments in the backswing, training the feel needed to keep the club on-plane and stop it steepening in transition.
How to do it
- 1
Place an alignment stick on the ground on your target line, just behind the ball.
- 2
Attach (or hold) a straight visual-reference device on the grip end of a club so it extends past your hands.
- 3
Checkpoint 1: when the lead arm reaches parallel with the ground in the backswing, the device should point straight down at the alignment stick.
- 4
Checkpoint 2: at the top of the swing, the device should point back parallel to the target line (toward the tee), not laid off behind you.
- 5
Practice by exaggerating both extremes — swing so the device overshoots toward the stick, then the opposite way — to find the correct middle position by feel.
