Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you play smarter, better golf.
One of the biggest swing mistakes recreational golfers make — particularly beginners — is getting overly steep during the downswing. This causes the clubhead to come over-the-top, resulting in weak fades and slices.
If you watch pro golfers, you’ll see that they drop the shaft into a much shallower position during the downswing, allowing them to attack the ball more from the inside. This is a powerful position, and one that allows for consistently solid strikes.
It’s not so easy to get into this shallow position for everyone, though. When you’re used to coming over-thetop, getting the shaft to shallow out can be nearly impossible — even for good players.
Most golfers will try to “manually” shallow out the shaft by manipulating their wrists and arms during the downswing. However, this is difficult to consistently accomplish and can be tough to replicate. Instead, try the feel below from Bryson DeChambeau.
How to shallow the shaft
First and foremost, you want to make sure you get to the top of the swing with proper fundamentals. Make sure you have a good setup, proper takeaway, and make a full swing to the top. Once there, all you need to do is look for one feel.
“The biggest tip,” DeChambeau says. “Feel as if your hands drop into your [trail-side] pocket as you rotate through the shot.”
If you can feel your hands lowering towards your pocket, and then make a turn through the ball, the shaft will automatically get into that desired shallowing position. It’s as easy as that!
