bburke45

The "right foot back drill" was recommended by a PGA teaching professional, several colleagues, and (ta-da) David Leadbetter in his book 100% Golf. The "split hands" drill also came from Leadbetter. What I did was combine the drills to cure the over the top problem and a casting problem that surfaced because of the over the top problems. I'm not saying that this approach works and the other guy's doesn't, I'm just telling you the source of the instruction. You should use what works. Another drill: address the ball by standing with your back to the target. Turn you upper body to address the ball, but leave your feet pointing 180 degrees opposite the target, and hit the ball. Swing slow or you might hurt someone (not to mention yourself).

I have been fighting an over the top problem coupled with a casting problem that has developed after a few years of the over the top problem. This season, I spent most of my range time doing a drill that is really a combination of two drills. First, take your normal grip and address position. Slide your right hand (for right-handed golfers) down almost to the end of the grip (the good old split-grip drill). Next, slide your right foot back until the toes of your right foot are even with the heel of your left foot. Hit an entire bucket of balls like this, swinging along the line of your feet (not the target line) and focus on feeling your right elbow collapse on the backswing. Having the right foot back will encourage your downswing to come from the inside, as opposed to the outside angle which occurs from swinging over the top. At some point, if you are doing the drill correctly, you will hook the ball a bit, so you can pull your right foot forward a bit. The split-hands drill focuses on feeling the wrist hinge, and helps you hold and release the club through impact. I found that, after a long period of over-the-top moves that I was casting the club severly, and so this drill, over time, has helped me regain some of my lag. For a while, I was actually holding the club in a 10-finger grip on the course to let this drill do its work on the course. I first did this combination drill on a Sunday afternoon. The following Saturday, which was the first time I played after doing the drill, I was hitting the ball much longer and much straighter than I had in years, and every member of my foursome commented as such. Now, about half my range time is spent doing this drill or some variation of it.