Lesson Tee: The Clock Drill

The clock drill is a simple three step process that will help you create proper setup positions and get you hitting the ball more consistently is a short period of time. The clock drill begins with the setup. The key component with the setup is the proper weight distribution in your feet. When you assume your stance (with an iron) our goal is to have 60% of your weight on your left foot and 40% on the right foot. This will put your body in a position of impact before you make the golf swing. Now we will look at the three swings.

The first swing is called an 8-to-4. The idea is that your hands will travel to 8 o’clock in the backswing and will finish at 4 o’clock in the through swing. Once you get in the proper setup position our thought is to hit the ground. The shot should be lower in flight and should not travel very far. Our goal in this swing is to swing at 75% effort.

The next swing is called 9-to- 3. The idea is that your hands will travel to 9 o’clock in the backswing and will finish at 3 o’clock in the through swing. You may notice that when the hands get to 9 0’clock your clubhead is quite a bit further, and that is ok. We are focused only on our hands. Just like 8-to-4 once you get in the proper setup position our thought is to hit the ground. The shot should be a mid trajectory and the ball will travel a little further. Our goal in this swing is to swing at 75% effort.

The last swing is called 10-to- 2. The idea is that your hands will travel to 10 o’clock (left hand to right shoulder for right handed players) in the backswing and will finish at 2 o’clock in the through swing (right hand to left shoulder). Just like the 8-to-4 and the 9-to-3 shots, once you get in the proper setup position our thought is to hit the ground. This shot will produce a higher ball flight and will travel max distance.

I firmly believe that if you incorporate the clock drill, you will hit better shots and start shooting lower scores.

Alan Reese - PGA Professional (areese@pga.com)