Is this the best drill ever? (not kidding)

[slantsflood]

http://www.golfwrx.com/308896/practice-the-nail-drill-to-improve-your-swing-without-thinking-about-it/

 

Anyone use this as their base swing? It really opened my eyes to everything going on to generate balance and power. Adam Young is remarkable about thinking outside the box about practice habits and instruction. i know this was around back in the day with peter cowen and his axe drill. But it was always confusing to me on how to piece it together. This article is clear and simple, and reminds you to stay out of your own way. All the right elbow/right knee/left hip swing thoughts. ive been working on internal swing thoughts which feel like forever with minimal change. But yet, i can can swing an axe, and put the blade in the same place repeatedly with balance and power. This is the best feel I've ever seen that can fix 10 bad things in one swing. I've played this game for a long time and I've never had this much power and control in my life.

[Evil Ecstasy]

Hmm this drill wouldn't help me.. I think I know how to swing a golf club better than using a hammer

[Fairways_and_Greens]

It seems like a good drill. Don't read the comments in that article, jeesh.

[slantsflood]

The biggest thing I felt right away were the hips on the backswing. You can tell on the images how his lower half is reacting.

I wish more people would at least try this movement if they are struggling and inconsistent. Even if it's for fun in your living room. See what you can find with just playing around with it.

[robrey85]

Didn't Shawn Clement preach this way back when?

[AndyC]

The biggest thing I felt right away were the hips on the backswing. You can tell on the images how his lower half is reacting.

I wish more people would at least try this movement if they are struggling and inconsistent. Even if it's for fun in your living room. See what you can find with just playing around with it.

 

Tried it yesterday on the range. It does a great job of syncing up swing without trying to do so. Seems like it would be very beneficial to use while warming up to play.

[Sabre3]

Is there any issue with this drill being to "hit" focused? Instead of swinging to a target you are more concerned with hitting the ball/nail. Plus when hitting a nail there is a let up at impact instead of a follow through. Just curious.

[DavePelz4]

Frankly I'm a DeWalt guy. Lots of power and torque.

 

[slantsflood]

Is there any issue with this drill being to "hit" focused? Instead of swinging to a target you are more concerned with hitting the ball/nail. Plus when hitting a nail there is a let up at impact instead of a follow through. Just curious.

I was concerned with this too. I've basically been a left sided swinger most of my life. My right hand would occasionally get me in trouble at the top, so I took it out.

 

To me, this does not feel like hitting at all. You have so much power going through that it throws your body through. I've "hit" with the right side before, and this axe does not feel like that

[Tiemco]

If you have a pretty sound swing with good fundamentals, then this is a great drill that helps you focus on hitting the ball without distracting yourself with tons of swing thoughts. All this talk of being ball focused and letting up on the strike is ridiculous. You should be ball focused, the point of golf is hitting the ball, and the nail you imagine should point towards the target. If you are letting up because you would when hammering an actual nail then you are thinking too literally. Your follow through happens after the strike, make a good strike, and the follow through will be fine.

[naval2006]

This seems like a helpful drill for golfers who are overanalytical and can't get to a smooth sequence during the swing. Perhaps the technique for the a real good swing is more complex, but the idea of a smooth athletic motion is great in golf.

[slantsflood]

I agree 100 percent, especially with your first sentence. As far as technique for a real good swing, this is not far off at all. I am a phone recording on bag guy. And I've checked all the "positions" one should be. And it was shocking how many positions this intent captured.

[dlygrisse]

Search Pete Cowan on Youtube, he has a very similar drill on video.

[AndyC]

I found that the drill worked better if the nail was angled to the right of the target line and not directly down the target line.

[ofortuna]

I would think this drill will keep you from releasing the club and steer the face too much.

[AndyC]

I would think this drill will keep you from releasing the club and steer the face too much.

 

The drill gives confidence that you can control the face without steering. As for releasing, if you were pounding a 2 inch nail through a board would you release the hammer?

[Grayback1973]

Didn't Shawn Clement preach this way back when?

This is very much how Shawn Clement teaches.Loves to give analogies of all sorts.

[slantsflood]

I think this really connects with people who have used a axe in the past. A lot of people are from the city, therefore no reason to ever take axe to tree.