Golf Smart Academy
This drill trains how your right hand position influences the clubface during the release. If you tend to flip, cast, or struggle to control start direction, this is an excellent checkpoint. Many solid ball strikers deliver the club with the feeling that the right hand is more covering the golf ball rather than sitting too far underneath the handle. That difference changes how the face behaves through impact. When your right hand is too far under, it often encourages a throwaway release. When it is more on top, it pairs better with body rotation, shaft lean, and a more stable strike.
How the Drill Works
The drill centers on a simple comparison: right hand underneath versus right hand on top during the delivery and release. Your key checkpoint is when the shaft is roughly parallel to the ground on the downswing, around waist height.
At that position, look at the “V” formed by your right thumb and index finger. That V tells you a lot about how your right wrist is organized and how the clubface is being controlled.
- If the right-hand V points more underneath, the club is often being delivered in a way that encourages a more throwaway, cast-style release.
- If the right-hand V is more on top, the clubface may feel more closed early, but that pattern works much better when you keep rotating through the shot.
This is why the drill is so useful. It helps you identify whether your face-control issue is happening because of how you organize the club in transition, or because of how you release it coming into impact.
From a down-the-line view, the right hand too far underneath tends to match up with a release that uses more of the palm and base of the hand to throw the clubhead. That can make contact inconsistent and force timing. A more on-top right hand, by contrast, tends to support the kind of release good players use: the body keeps moving, the handle keeps working forward, and the clubface is controlled without a last-second flip.
From a face-on view, this right-hand-on-top pattern blends with what many players know as the motorcycle movement of the lead wrist. As the lead wrist flexes and the trail hand works more on top, the club can look closed if you freeze the motion without turning your body. But once you add proper pivot, left-side pressure, rotation, and side bend, the clubface no longer looks excessively shut. Instead, it looks like it is in position to cover the ball through impact.
That “covering the ball” sensation is one of the best descriptions of a compressed strike. You are not trying to roll the face over with your hands. You are organizing the wrists so the body can keep moving and the club can be delivered with structure.
Step-by-Step
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Start with your normal grip. Set up to the ball as you normally would. You are not necessarily changing your grip permanently for this drill. You are learning to notice how the right hand is oriented during the downswing.
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Make a slow backswing. Take the club back to about hip height or slightly farther. Keep the motion controlled so you can feel what your hands and wrists are doing.
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Move into the delivery position. Bring the club down slowly until the shaft is roughly parallel to the ground on the downswing, around waist high. This is your main checkpoint.
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Check the right-hand V. Look at the V between your right thumb and index finger. Ask yourself whether it points more vertically, more on top, or more underneath.
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Exaggerate the “underneath” version first. Put the right hand noticeably more under the handle and rehearse the delivery position. Notice how this tends to make the club want to release early. For many golfers, this pattern feels easier if they cast the club.
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Now exaggerate the “on top” version. Rehearse the same waist-high checkpoint, but feel the right hand more on top of the handle, as if it is covering the ball. From here, notice that a cast would send the face left very quickly. That is why this pattern needs continued body rotation.
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Add lead-wrist flexion. As you rehearse the club down to shaft parallel, feel the lead wrist bowing slightly, like the motorcycle move. This pairs naturally with the right hand being more on top.
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Turn your body through the checkpoint. Rehearse getting pressure into your lead side, opening your torso, and continuing to rotate. Add a little side bend so your chest does not simply spin level. This is what keeps the face functional instead of shut.
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Pause and inspect the clubface. If you stop at waist height with the right hand on top and your body moving correctly, the face should no longer look wildly closed. It should look organized and ready to strike the ball with forward shaft lean.
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Hit short shots. Start with small punch shots or half-swings. Your goal is not speed. Your goal is to feel the right hand more on top while your body keeps moving through impact.
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Build toward fuller swings. Once the ball starts coming off the face with better compression and more predictable start lines, gradually lengthen the swing without losing the same release pattern.
What You Should Feel
This drill is more about sensations than positions alone. The visual checkpoint matters, but the right feel helps you reproduce it at speed.
The Right Hand Covers the Ball
The most important sensation is that the right hand feels more on top of the handle, almost as though the palm is helping cover the back of the ball. It should not feel like the right hand is scooping under the shaft or trying to help the ball into the air.
The Clubface Looks Closed Early—but Not at Impact
At first, this pattern may feel as if you are going to hook everything. That is normal. If you simply place the right hand on top and stop rotating, the face will indeed want to shut down. But when you keep turning and moving pressure into your lead side, that same orientation becomes a powerful way to control the strike.
The Handle Keeps Moving
You should feel less throwaway and more forward-moving handle. The clubhead is not racing past your hands early. Instead, the shaft is being delivered with more structure and less need for last-second timing.
The Body Must Keep Going
This drill should create a strong connection between clubface control and pivot. If the right hand is on top, your body has to keep rotating. You should feel your chest opening, your lead side clearing, and your torso continuing through rather than stalling at impact.
Compression Instead of Flip
When you do it correctly, the strike often feels more trapped, heavy, and compressed. The ball tends to come off with a stronger flight and a more predictable start direction. It should feel like you are striking through the ball, not rescuing it with your hands.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Confusing the drill with a permanent grip change. This is primarily a release and delivery drill. You are training awareness and movement, not necessarily rebuilding your grip from scratch.
- Putting the right hand on top without rotating. If your body stalls, the face can shut down quickly and send shots left.
- Trying to hold the face open. Many golfers react to the on-top feeling by adding tension and leaving the face open. The answer is body rotation, not a frozen release.
- Casting from the top. If you throw the club early, the drill loses its value. The whole point is to see how a more on-top trail hand discourages that cast pattern.
- Overdoing it at full speed too soon. Start with slow rehearsals and short shots. If you jump straight into full swings, you may only feel the clubface shut and miss the body motion that makes it work.
- Ignoring the shaft-parallel checkpoint. The drill becomes much clearer when you stop and inspect that waist-high delivery position.
- Using only the hands to square the club. Better ball strikers blend wrist organization with pivot. The hands set the conditions, but the body motion makes them functional.
How This Fits Your Swing
This drill gives you a clearer picture of how clubface control really works in the downswing. A lot of golfers think of face control as something they do at impact, but impact is just the result of what was organized earlier in the delivery.
If your right hand tends to get too far underneath, you may be forced into a release that relies on timing. That often shows up as casting, flipping, or inconsistent contact. You can still hit decent shots that way, but the pattern usually requires compensation.
When your right hand is more on top and the lead wrist is working into flexion, the clubface is better organized earlier. That does not mean your swing is automatically fixed. It means you now have a pattern that rewards the right body motion. To make it work, you need:
- Pressure moving into the lead side
- Ongoing rotation through impact
- Side bend that supports the pivot
- Shaft lean instead of early release
In other words, this drill connects the hands to the bigger motion. It helps you see whether your release pattern matches the kind of impact you are trying to create.
If you tend to hit blocks, flips, or weak high shots, this drill can help you feel a more structured delivery. If you fear the left miss, it can also teach you an important lesson: a clubface that feels more covered is not a problem by itself. The real question is whether your body keeps moving in a way that balances it.
That is why this drill is so valuable. It is not just about the right hand. It is about understanding how the right wrist, left wrist, clubface, and pivot all work together. Once you can recognize that shaft-parallel checkpoint and match it with the proper body motion, you give yourself a much better chance to strike the ball with the kind of control and compression you see from elite players.
