In today's edition of Play Smart, we explain how to use Nick Faldo's pre-set drill to find the perfect backswing position.
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Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.
Finding the correct positions during your backswing is crucial for your ball-striking consistency. Everything you do during the backswing influences how your club moves during the downswing, so it’s critical you have a proper backswing.
One easy way to ingrain a proper backswing? Take a page out of Nick Faldo‘s book and try his “pre-set drill.”
Back in the 80s, Faldo went through a series of swing changes to get more consistency out of his ball striking. During that process, he leaned heavily on this pre-set drill to find the perfect backswing position on every swing.
Faldo’s pre-set drill
During the backswing, one of the key moves you will make is hinging your wrists. When you do this, you can get the clubface in an optimal position and give yourself a nice power boost.
To execute Faldo’s pre-set drill, all you need to do is stand at address and then hinge your wrists to this set position before doing anything else.
Get into your normal setup, and then hinge your wrists to the position they would be at the top of the backswing. Get the shaft parallel to your target line and completely horizontal. From this position, simply make a full turn to the top of your backswing.
“As you can see, I’ve completed the backswing in a perfect position,” Faldo says.
Hit a few balls doing this pre-set routine to get a nice feel for where you want your wrists to be at the top of the backswing. After drilling that, you can make your normal swing and easily find that position again.
Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the team at GOLF, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all things instruction and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.
