Fix Overdraws with Better Trail Arm Connection

If you fight an overdraw or a hard pull hook, this drill helps train a better release pattern through impact and into the follow-through. The goal is to improve trail arm connection so your body, not an overly active trail shoulder and hand action, carries the club through. When the trail arm flies away from your side, the hands tend to travel too far out to the right, the clubface rotates too quickly, and the ball can dive left. This drill teaches you to keep the trail arm working more with your torso so the release is more stable and the face is easier to control.

How the Drill Works

The drill is built around keeping your trail upper arm connected to your rib cage during the downswing and early follow-through. For a right-handed golfer, that means the right upper arm stays closer to the side of your body instead of separating and “throwing” away from you.

A simple way to create this feedback is to place a folded glove or small towel in your trail armpit. You do not need to squeeze it aggressively. You only need enough pressure to notice whether the arm stays working with the body or whether it disconnects too early.

This matters because many golfers who hook the ball have too much independent motion from the trail shoulder and arm through release. From a down-the-line view, you often see the trail arm move away from the torso, creating a large gap between the arm and rib cage. That pattern tends to send the hand path too far out to the right. Once the hands work too far outward, the clubface usually has to rotate more aggressively to square up, and that is where the big hook shows up.

With better connection, your hands tend to travel more around you to the left in the follow-through, driven by body rotation. That reduces the need for a last-second flip or roll of the wrists. In other words, you are training a release that is powered more by your pivot and less by a scooping trail arm.

Step-by-Step

Set up your feedback aid. Fold a glove, hand towel, or small cloth and place it under your trail armpit. If that feels too bulky, lightly pinch your shirt under the armpit instead.
Make short rehearsal swings first. Start with slow, waist-high to waist-high motions. Your job is to keep the trail upper arm working against the side of your torso as you turn through.
Focus on the body carrying the club. Through impact and into the follow-through, feel your chest and torso rotating left while the trail arm stays “with” that motion. Do not try to throw the clubhead past your body with the trail hand.
Maintain connection into the early follow-through. You do not need to keep the glove trapped forever, but it should stay in place long enough to train a connected release. The trail arm should straighten without flying away from your side.
Hit small shots. Move to short punch shots or half-swings. Keep the same feeling: connected trail arm, rotating body, quieter clubface.
Gradually lengthen the swing. As your contact and start line improve, build up to three-quarter swings. The longer the swing gets, the more important it is that the body continues moving through instead of the trail arm taking over.
Use video from down the line. Check whether the space between your trail arm and rib cage stays relatively consistent through impact and early follow-through. You are looking for less “gap” and less outward throw.

What You Should Feel

At first, this drill will likely feel restricted. That is normal. Many golfers who hook the ball are used to a release that feels free because the trail arm and shoulder are overly active. A better pattern often feels tighter at first because the club is no longer being slung outward by the hands.

Here are the key sensations to look for:

The trail upper arm stays closer to your side instead of separating from the rib cage.
Your torso keeps turning through the shot, carrying the arms with it.
The hands work more around you in the follow-through rather than far out to the right.
The clubface feels quieter, with less need to flip or rapidly rotate the forearms.
The trail arm straightens with structure, not with a scooping or throwing action.

A useful checkpoint is your follow-through. If the trail arm stays more connected, your finish will look more organized and less “stuck out” away from your body. The release should feel like it came from rotation, not from a last-second hand save.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Squeezing the glove too hard. This is a connection drill, not a tension drill. Too much pressure will make your arms stiff.
Stopping your body turn. If you only hold the arm in without rotating, you will trap the club and create a different problem.
Using this drill for the wrong ball flight. If you are a slicer with a severe chicken wing and a path that cuts too far left, this is usually not the right fix.
Trying full-speed swings too early. Start with rehearsals and short shots so you can actually learn the movement.
Letting the trail shoulder shove the club outward. That outward push is exactly what tends to create the hand path and face rotation problems behind hooks.
Confusing connection with being pinned. The arm should stay coordinated with the body, not jammed tightly against it.

How This Fits Your Swing

This drill is especially useful if your misses are the ones that start left and keep going left, or start right and snap back too hard. In that pattern, the problem is often not just the clubface by itself. It is the relationship between hand path, trail arm motion, and face rotation.

When the trail arm disconnects and the hands move too far outward, the clubface tends to close too quickly. That is why overdraw players often feel as though the hook appears suddenly, even when the swing feels powerful. The release is being driven too much by the shoulder and hands rather than by the pivot.

By improving trail arm connection, you train a release where the body swings the arms more effectively. That helps reduce a scoop or flip, improves face control, and gives you a follow-through that matches better players: connected, rotating, and stable.

Used correctly, this drill does not make your swing weak or overly mechanical. It teaches you how to organize the release so the club can exit left with your body turn instead of being thrown out to the right by the trail side. For the golfer who battles the big hook, that is often the difference between a two-way miss and a ball flight you can trust.