DRIVING ACCURACY

DITCH OVER-THE-TOP FOR GOOD

For most club golfers, reconstructing your driving means getting to grips with a damaging slice – that excessive left-to-right curvature for the right-handed golfer. If you're looking for an anti-slice role model, it’s hard to look past Rory Mcilroy. A naturally shallow swinger of the club, his action produces a beautiful soft draw shape time and time again. This is a swing exemplifying many of the swing traits the typically slicing mid-to-high handicapper should try to emulate.

Here, Rory gives us his own thoughts on where his draw comes from. It is instructive that he focuses on the top of the backswing, and the first move down. The transition from up to down is where so many golfers lose their swing path, steepening the attack for a wide range of reasons. This is why, over the page, PGA pro Chris Ryan will give you two drills that will help you start down on a shallower, more effective plane.

They might not turn the chronic slicer into a pure drawer of the ball, but they will help get your delivery more neutral; and any time we're taking curvature out of a big slice, that’s an excellent result. RORY SAYS... I don’t really have to think about dropping the club on the inside from the top; It's a natural move for me. However, if I analyse my own technique, there are several elements that promote this desirable, shallowing shift. Consider the following:

Feel like you're a loaded spring. On the backswing, I turn my shoulders as much as I can. But

I brace this turn against the inside of my right leg; I can feel it pushing down into the ground, resisting my rotation. This allows me to feel like a spring at the top. When you create this coiling sensation, it becomes almost natural to move in the correct sequence on the way down – it’s just a matter of releasing it back down to the ball.

As you swing down, hold on to the wrist angle created between your lead arm and clubshaft. It feels almost like pulling down on a rope or chain. This stops you casting the club – throwing it outside the ideal plane – and helps you get into a great delivery position.

Build up gradually. The golf swing should be a gradual build-up of speed, yet I see amateurs try to swing fast from the start. That’s just going to cost you speed through impact. For me, it's a slow and smooth takeaway, and then a build-up of speed on the way down; you should be hitting at your maximum at the bottom.