The legendary Mike Austin, whose 515-yard drive was the longest in competitive golf history, had a unique but very effective way to describe a square clubface, which he demonstrated to me in his front lawn many years ago. It had to do with shaft rotation.
We went to the edge of his driveway which he used as the target line (I instead us an alignment stick in the photos here). Then he set the club so that the toe of the club was at the edge of the target line, as I’m doing in Photo 1 at right. Then he said “the clubhead is closer to the target line than the shaft, right?” I agreed.
The key, he said, is that it should remain closer to the target line than the shaft throughout the swing. When this happens there is an absolute minimum of shaft rotation on the way back and on the way through, as I’m demonstrating in Photos 2-4 below. And when shaft rotation is reduced, accuracy increases in a big way.
Remember this simple drill the next time you hit the practice tee.
Georgia-based John Marshall, PGA, is just one of just five Golf Channel Swing Fix instructors selected to teach at the Tour Championship. He is a two-time American Long Drivers Association super senior national champion and five-time RE/MAX World Long Drive finalist.
