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Clap Drill

Clapping Drill for a Smoother Golf Swing

The clapping drill helps you build body-centered tempo for a smoother, more fluid golf swing. Learn how to pulse your core and coordinate your transition without activating the muscles too early.

After this video, you'll be able to:

  • Develop a better sense of timing and rhythm in your swing
  • Feel how to engage your core and lower body for improved power
  • Recognize the importance of muscle activation to maintain a shallow swing path
Tyler Ferrell. Golf Digest Best Teachers in California, 2026-27. The only person named to both Golf Digest's Best Young Teachers in America and Best Golf Fitness Professionals lists. Author of The Stock Tour Swing.
Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.060
This drill is the clap drill.

2
00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:08.700
So this is designed to work on a body-centered tempo.

3
00:00:08.700 --> 00:00:13.250
So many golfers who struggle with getting the hips in the core to lead the

4
00:00:13.250 --> 00:00:14.120
swing, who struggle

5
00:00:14.120 --> 00:00:19.940
with getting more of shallowness tend to do so because of how they power the

6
00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:20.760
swing, especially

7
00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:22.060
in transition.

8
00:00:22.060 --> 00:00:26.660
So if you find that you can do slow motion drills and you have no problem,

9
00:00:26.660 --> 00:00:27.740
shallow things

10
00:00:27.740 --> 00:00:31.610
out and then you go to try to hit the ball and boom, you look on video and

11
00:00:31.610 --> 00:00:32.480
everything

12
00:00:32.480 --> 00:00:37.040
gets steep, then there's a good chance that you're applying too much force to

13
00:00:37.040 --> 00:00:37.640
the club

14
00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:38.640
too soon.

15
00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:43.050
Or I should say too much muscle activity too soon because most of the muscles

16
00:00:43.050 --> 00:00:43.580
when the

17
00:00:43.580 --> 00:00:47.930
upper body really tries to apply force to the club, most of the muscles are

18
00:00:47.930 --> 00:00:48.560
going to

19
00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:51.920
steepen the path of the club.

20
00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:54.960
If you activate them, it's very hard to have a natural showering.

21
00:00:54.960 --> 00:01:01.080
So this is a clap drill that I got from Stu McGill in his back pain program.

22
00:01:01.080 --> 00:01:06.220
He focuses a lot on throwing and striking sports and creating more of a feeling

23
00:01:06.220 --> 00:01:06.840
of a

24
00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:09.200
pulse of speed down at the bottom.

25
00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:14.360
I have referred to this as bracing, but I like his idea of creating a pulse.

26
00:01:14.360 --> 00:01:18.410
So what we're going to do is we're going to do this clap drill where you're

27
00:01:18.410 --> 00:01:18.960
going to

28
00:01:18.960 --> 00:01:25.060
feel hopefully you've done some muscle activation, some core exercises at some

29
00:01:25.060 --> 00:01:26.080
point in your

30
00:01:26.080 --> 00:01:27.080
career.

31
00:01:27.080 --> 00:01:31.630
And now you're going to try to use that to create speed all at once down at the

32
00:01:31.630 --> 00:01:32.200
bottom.

33
00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:39.960
So I'm going to try and tighten my quads, my glutes, my abs, and my lats.

34
00:01:39.960 --> 00:01:45.680
So there's a little, just a pulse of tightening, just like that.

35
00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:50.790
Now I'm going to put my hands about six inches apart like so, and I'm going to

36
00:01:50.790 --> 00:01:51.560
pulse and

37
00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:55.360
create a little clap, just like so.

38
00:01:55.360 --> 00:02:00.360
Now if I'm applying too much muscle effort, then I'll push my hand like so, as

39
00:02:00.360 --> 00:02:01.040
opposed

40
00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:06.800
to having a rapid contraction and a rapid relaxation.

41
00:02:06.800 --> 00:02:10.930
So spine is fairly neutral on this, I'm clap, and then I'm going to clap back

42
00:02:10.930 --> 00:02:11.520
the other

43
00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:12.520
way.

44
00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:13.520
Okay.

45
00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:15.120
So that's the warm up version.

46
00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:20.220
The actual drill, we're now going to add a fluid motion and then try to apply

47
00:02:20.220 --> 00:02:21.440
that clap

48
00:02:21.440 --> 00:02:23.040
as late as possible.

49
00:02:23.040 --> 00:02:24.720
So now I'm going to get in my golf posture.

50
00:02:24.720 --> 00:02:29.840
I'm going to make a slow, slow, slow, quick, slow, slow, slow pop, and I'm

51
00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:30.880
going to have

52
00:02:30.880 --> 00:02:38.480
this slow little pop and this slow rapid acceleration through my hips, my core,

53
00:02:38.480 --> 00:02:41.120
and my lats, all

54
00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:42.360
at once.

55
00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:46.410
Once I have this feeling of kind of this slow, slow, slow pop, now I'm going to

56
00:02:46.410 --> 00:02:47.080
add a little

57
00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:48.080
bit more speed.

58
00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:51.910
And I do recommend wearing a golf glove when I do this demonstrating for

59
00:02:51.910 --> 00:02:52.720
students, two or

60
00:02:52.720 --> 00:02:56.040
three of these, and my hands don't like it.

61
00:02:56.040 --> 00:03:03.050
So now I'm going to apply a little bit more of a swinging, but I'm not overly

62
00:03:03.050 --> 00:03:04.540
accelerating

63
00:03:04.540 --> 00:03:09.720
it until down at the bottom.

64
00:03:09.720 --> 00:03:14.730
Once you have this feeling of applying this pulse of speed down at the bottom,

65
00:03:14.730 --> 00:03:15.480
you're then

66
00:03:15.480 --> 00:03:21.300
going to do a nine to three version, trying to feel a little bit of a bracing

67
00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:22.960
at the bottom.

68
00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:24.680
So now I'm going to bring it back to here.

69
00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:29.000
It's going to be slow, slow.

70
00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:34.130
You won't see a dramatic acceleration on video when you're swinging the club,

71
00:03:34.130 --> 00:03:34.600
but you'll

72
00:03:34.600 --> 00:03:37.240
probably feel one.

73
00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:43.120
And when you do that pulse in the clap drill, everything was stopping.

74
00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:49.280
The relaxation happens so quickly that the club should pull you back into or

75
00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:50.080
pull you

76
00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:54.080
and bring the club helping into the follow through position.

77
00:03:54.080 --> 00:04:01.430
But it's this pulse that you can sometimes see in half or in slow motion videos

78
00:04:01.430 --> 00:04:02.920
in especially

79
00:04:02.920 --> 00:04:03.920
lean golfers.

80
00:04:03.920 --> 00:04:07.210
For example, when you look at Rory McElroy and down near the bottom of the

81
00:04:07.210 --> 00:04:08.460
swing, you see

82
00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:12.680
that right leg really start to extend because he's using that right glute.

83
00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:16.400
And then through the ball, his hips actually rotate the opposite direction.

84
00:04:16.400 --> 00:04:21.360
That's a golfer really channeling this pulse to help create a little bit of

85
00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:22.380
stiffness last

86
00:04:22.380 --> 00:04:26.280
minute to get most of the speed into the club head.

87
00:04:26.280 --> 00:04:30.690
So then once I've done a few of these nine to three, then I can do either three

88
00:04:30.690 --> 00:04:31.200
quarter

89
00:04:31.200 --> 00:04:36.000
swings, tend to twos, or I can go straight to full swings, trying to feel a

90
00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:37.060
really slow

91
00:04:37.060 --> 00:04:45.760
transition followed by rapid acceleration down at impact.

92
00:04:45.760 --> 00:04:50.540
So if you struggle with getting really quick and active in transition, then

93
00:04:50.540 --> 00:04:51.360
work on this

94
00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:57.180
clap drill in order to get a feeling of more of a late acceleration, that'll

95
00:04:57.180 --> 00:04:57.760
ultimately

96
00:04:57.760 --> 00:05:01.810
help you with the shallowing of your path, the arm extension in the follow

97
00:05:01.810 --> 00:05:02.440
through, and

98
00:05:02.440 --> 00:05:07.030
overall your tempo, which helps control low point and allows you to do the

99
00:05:07.030 --> 00:05:07.920
better wrist

100
00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:09.680
mechanics to help control clubface.

101
00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:16.980
So now quick demo, if I don't pulse, if I go really early, you'll see I tend to

102
00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:17.440
get

103
00:05:17.440 --> 00:05:18.440
more vertical.

104
00:05:18.440 --> 00:05:23.400
I even shank that one because that's what happens if I get too vertical in my

105
00:05:23.400 --> 00:05:24.520
transition.

106
00:05:24.520 --> 00:05:29.660
So then on the next one, I'm going to let that really shallow out and I feel

107
00:05:29.660 --> 00:05:30.600
personally

108
00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:34.000
like my swing starts right about there.

109
00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:38.640
It's very similar to if I was throwing a ball, the feeling of throwing the ball

110
00:05:38.640 --> 00:05:39.600
really happens

111
00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:45.650
between there and there, all this extra motion feels very slow and doesn't feel

112
00:05:45.650 --> 00:05:46.400
like I'm

113
00:05:46.400 --> 00:05:50.360
accelerating the ball or accelerating my hand rapidly yet.

114
00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:54.910
So I'm going to try to apply that same principle, getting a good clap feeling

115
00:05:54.910 --> 00:05:59.760
down at the bottom.

116
00:05:59.760 --> 00:06:05.980
That clap involves a rapid acceleration, followed by a rapid relaxation through

117
00:06:05.980 --> 00:06:06.400
that

118
00:06:06.400 --> 00:06:07.360
follow through position.
Related topics
This video hasn't been assigned to any topics yet. Browse all topics in the sidebar.
Tyler Ferrell. Golf Digest Best Teachers in California, 2026-27. The only person named to both Golf Digest's Best Young Teachers in America and Best Golf Fitness Professionals lists. Author of The Stock Tour Swing.

Clap Drill

Clapping Drill for a Smoother Golf Swing

The clapping drill helps you build body-centered tempo for a smoother, more fluid golf swing. Learn how to pulse your core and coordinate your transition without activating the muscles too early.

After this video, you'll be able to:

  • Develop a better sense of timing and rhythm in your swing
  • Feel how to engage your core and lower body for improved power
  • Recognize the importance of muscle activation to maintain a shallow swing path
Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.060
This drill is the clap drill.

2
00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:08.700
So this is designed to work on a body-centered tempo.

3
00:00:08.700 --> 00:00:13.250
So many golfers who struggle with getting the hips in the core to lead the

4
00:00:13.250 --> 00:00:14.120
swing, who struggle

5
00:00:14.120 --> 00:00:19.940
with getting more of shallowness tend to do so because of how they power the

6
00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:20.760
swing, especially

7
00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:22.060
in transition.

8
00:00:22.060 --> 00:00:26.660
So if you find that you can do slow motion drills and you have no problem,

9
00:00:26.660 --> 00:00:27.740
shallow things

10
00:00:27.740 --> 00:00:31.610
out and then you go to try to hit the ball and boom, you look on video and

11
00:00:31.610 --> 00:00:32.480
everything

12
00:00:32.480 --> 00:00:37.040
gets steep, then there's a good chance that you're applying too much force to

13
00:00:37.040 --> 00:00:37.640
the club

14
00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:38.640
too soon.

15
00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:43.050
Or I should say too much muscle activity too soon because most of the muscles

16
00:00:43.050 --> 00:00:43.580
when the

17
00:00:43.580 --> 00:00:47.930
upper body really tries to apply force to the club, most of the muscles are

18
00:00:47.930 --> 00:00:48.560
going to

19
00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:51.920
steepen the path of the club.

20
00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:54.960
If you activate them, it's very hard to have a natural showering.

21
00:00:54.960 --> 00:01:01.080
So this is a clap drill that I got from Stu McGill in his back pain program.

22
00:01:01.080 --> 00:01:06.220
He focuses a lot on throwing and striking sports and creating more of a feeling

23
00:01:06.220 --> 00:01:06.840
of a

24
00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:09.200
pulse of speed down at the bottom.

25
00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:14.360
I have referred to this as bracing, but I like his idea of creating a pulse.

26
00:01:14.360 --> 00:01:18.410
So what we're going to do is we're going to do this clap drill where you're

27
00:01:18.410 --> 00:01:18.960
going to

28
00:01:18.960 --> 00:01:25.060
feel hopefully you've done some muscle activation, some core exercises at some

29
00:01:25.060 --> 00:01:26.080
point in your

30
00:01:26.080 --> 00:01:27.080
career.

31
00:01:27.080 --> 00:01:31.630
And now you're going to try to use that to create speed all at once down at the

32
00:01:31.630 --> 00:01:32.200
bottom.

33
00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:39.960
So I'm going to try and tighten my quads, my glutes, my abs, and my lats.

34
00:01:39.960 --> 00:01:45.680
So there's a little, just a pulse of tightening, just like that.

35
00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:50.790
Now I'm going to put my hands about six inches apart like so, and I'm going to

36
00:01:50.790 --> 00:01:51.560
pulse and

37
00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:55.360
create a little clap, just like so.

38
00:01:55.360 --> 00:02:00.360
Now if I'm applying too much muscle effort, then I'll push my hand like so, as

39
00:02:00.360 --> 00:02:01.040
opposed

40
00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:06.800
to having a rapid contraction and a rapid relaxation.

41
00:02:06.800 --> 00:02:10.930
So spine is fairly neutral on this, I'm clap, and then I'm going to clap back

42
00:02:10.930 --> 00:02:11.520
the other

43
00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:12.520
way.

44
00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:13.520
Okay.

45
00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:15.120
So that's the warm up version.

46
00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:20.220
The actual drill, we're now going to add a fluid motion and then try to apply

47
00:02:20.220 --> 00:02:21.440
that clap

48
00:02:21.440 --> 00:02:23.040
as late as possible.

49
00:02:23.040 --> 00:02:24.720
So now I'm going to get in my golf posture.

50
00:02:24.720 --> 00:02:29.840
I'm going to make a slow, slow, slow, quick, slow, slow, slow pop, and I'm

51
00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:30.880
going to have

52
00:02:30.880 --> 00:02:38.480
this slow little pop and this slow rapid acceleration through my hips, my core,

53
00:02:38.480 --> 00:02:41.120
and my lats, all

54
00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:42.360
at once.

55
00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:46.410
Once I have this feeling of kind of this slow, slow, slow pop, now I'm going to

56
00:02:46.410 --> 00:02:47.080
add a little

57
00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:48.080
bit more speed.

58
00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:51.910
And I do recommend wearing a golf glove when I do this demonstrating for

59
00:02:51.910 --> 00:02:52.720
students, two or

60
00:02:52.720 --> 00:02:56.040
three of these, and my hands don't like it.

61
00:02:56.040 --> 00:03:03.050
So now I'm going to apply a little bit more of a swinging, but I'm not overly

62
00:03:03.050 --> 00:03:04.540
accelerating

63
00:03:04.540 --> 00:03:09.720
it until down at the bottom.

64
00:03:09.720 --> 00:03:14.730
Once you have this feeling of applying this pulse of speed down at the bottom,

65
00:03:14.730 --> 00:03:15.480
you're then

66
00:03:15.480 --> 00:03:21.300
going to do a nine to three version, trying to feel a little bit of a bracing

67
00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:22.960
at the bottom.

68
00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:24.680
So now I'm going to bring it back to here.

69
00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:29.000
It's going to be slow, slow.

70
00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:34.130
You won't see a dramatic acceleration on video when you're swinging the club,

71
00:03:34.130 --> 00:03:34.600
but you'll

72
00:03:34.600 --> 00:03:37.240
probably feel one.

73
00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:43.120
And when you do that pulse in the clap drill, everything was stopping.

74
00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:49.280
The relaxation happens so quickly that the club should pull you back into or

75
00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:50.080
pull you

76
00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:54.080
and bring the club helping into the follow through position.

77
00:03:54.080 --> 00:04:01.430
But it's this pulse that you can sometimes see in half or in slow motion videos

78
00:04:01.430 --> 00:04:02.920
in especially

79
00:04:02.920 --> 00:04:03.920
lean golfers.

80
00:04:03.920 --> 00:04:07.210
For example, when you look at Rory McElroy and down near the bottom of the

81
00:04:07.210 --> 00:04:08.460
swing, you see

82
00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:12.680
that right leg really start to extend because he's using that right glute.

83
00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:16.400
And then through the ball, his hips actually rotate the opposite direction.

84
00:04:16.400 --> 00:04:21.360
That's a golfer really channeling this pulse to help create a little bit of

85
00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:22.380
stiffness last

86
00:04:22.380 --> 00:04:26.280
minute to get most of the speed into the club head.

87
00:04:26.280 --> 00:04:30.690
So then once I've done a few of these nine to three, then I can do either three

88
00:04:30.690 --> 00:04:31.200
quarter

89
00:04:31.200 --> 00:04:36.000
swings, tend to twos, or I can go straight to full swings, trying to feel a

90
00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:37.060
really slow

91
00:04:37.060 --> 00:04:45.760
transition followed by rapid acceleration down at impact.

92
00:04:45.760 --> 00:04:50.540
So if you struggle with getting really quick and active in transition, then

93
00:04:50.540 --> 00:04:51.360
work on this

94
00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:57.180
clap drill in order to get a feeling of more of a late acceleration, that'll

95
00:04:57.180 --> 00:04:57.760
ultimately

96
00:04:57.760 --> 00:05:01.810
help you with the shallowing of your path, the arm extension in the follow

97
00:05:01.810 --> 00:05:02.440
through, and

98
00:05:02.440 --> 00:05:07.030
overall your tempo, which helps control low point and allows you to do the

99
00:05:07.030 --> 00:05:07.920
better wrist

100
00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:09.680
mechanics to help control clubface.

101
00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:16.980
So now quick demo, if I don't pulse, if I go really early, you'll see I tend to

102
00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:17.440
get

103
00:05:17.440 --> 00:05:18.440
more vertical.

104
00:05:18.440 --> 00:05:23.400
I even shank that one because that's what happens if I get too vertical in my

105
00:05:23.400 --> 00:05:24.520
transition.

106
00:05:24.520 --> 00:05:29.660
So then on the next one, I'm going to let that really shallow out and I feel

107
00:05:29.660 --> 00:05:30.600
personally

108
00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:34.000
like my swing starts right about there.

109
00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:38.640
It's very similar to if I was throwing a ball, the feeling of throwing the ball

110
00:05:38.640 --> 00:05:39.600
really happens

111
00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:45.650
between there and there, all this extra motion feels very slow and doesn't feel

112
00:05:45.650 --> 00:05:46.400
like I'm

113
00:05:46.400 --> 00:05:50.360
accelerating the ball or accelerating my hand rapidly yet.

114
00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:54.910
So I'm going to try to apply that same principle, getting a good clap feeling

115
00:05:54.910 --> 00:05:59.760
down at the bottom.

116
00:05:59.760 --> 00:06:05.980
That clap involves a rapid acceleration, followed by a rapid relaxation through

117
00:06:05.980 --> 00:06:06.400
that

118
00:06:06.400 --> 00:06:07.360
follow through position.
Related topics
This video hasn't been assigned to any topics yet. Browse all topics in the sidebar.