This drill is a great way to understand the amount of right side bend needed in your downswing. It focuses on bringing your right shoulder closer to your right hip, which is a key movement for an effective golf swing.
By using two sticks—one across your shoulders and one across your hips—you can visually track the rotation and tilt during your downswing. The goal is to have both sticks turn fully 90 degrees to the target line by impact. This shows that you’re not just tilting but also rotating properly through the swing.
How to Perform the Drill
Start by placing an alignment rod through your belt loops, which works best for this drill. If you don’t have one, you can use a club or any similar object across your shoulders. The key is to get the stick across your shoulders to hit the one across your hips just after impact.
As you swing down, push your belt buckle up and forward toward the target. This movement encourages the right side bend and rotation needed for a powerful and consistent strike.
Why Right Side Bend and Rotation Matter
Watching professional golfers from down the line in slow motion reveals a healthy amount of shoulder tilt through impact. The best ball strikers combine pelvis and ribcage rotation with trail side bend, which helps achieve good contact, control, and power.
This combination leads to a better low point, clubface control, neutral club path, speed, distance, and consistency. It’s a holistic approach to improving your downswing mechanics.
Prerequisites for Success
Before you can effectively implement this drill, make sure your fundamentals are solid. This includes a reasonable grip and clubface alignment, a proper backswing pivot and depth, and correct downswing shaft and clubface angles.
Once these basics are in place, incorporating this drill into your practice can help you transfer the feel of the right side bend and rotation into your actual ball striking.
Practice hitting balls with this drill to start transferring these sensations into your full swing as soon as possible. The micro-movements involved can be complex, but this drill provides a clear, big-picture feel for the necessary body motions.