HOW TO TRAIN TILT
Because it is so rare to see the club golfer swing back on too steep a plane, we’ll focus here on how to take the far more common flat backswing and build more tilt or angle into it. Achieve this and you can tidy up swing path and low point, making your iron shots far more consistent. Try these two drills...
TILT DRILL 1: Windmill
Simplicity itself, this drill asks you to set the club aside and take your golfing posture… but with arms stretched out either side of you, at shoulder height.
BACKSWING: Steepen the pitch
From this starting position, make your backswing rotation… but steep enough to allow your lead arm to point down at the ball. Avoid lateral sway as best you can, rotating around a fixed point. Aim to keep as straight a line as possible through your shoulders and up your trail arm. This will almost certainly feel like a steeper or more tilted rotation than you are used to.
THROUGHSWING: Return the compliment
Repeat the mission on the way through, this time pointing your trail arm down towards the ball. As before, keep lateral motion to a minimum. As you repeat this back-and-through rotation on this steep angle, you will start to develop a feel for the tilt we need in our irons if we are to swing the club up and down the ideal plane. Look to repeat the feeling – and the swing pitch – as you return to hitting balls.
TILT DRILL 2: Trail arm on top
Watch Rory’s first move away from the ball and you will see how his trail arm has a definite look of remaining ‘on top’ of or over the lead arm. This may seem a subtle thing, but if you want to set up a steeper tilt or pitch to your swing, it’s an excellent focal point.
Flat wrong
From your set-up, take your trail hand off the club. Flex and roll the forearm as shown, keeping the elbow at belt height. Feel how this move pulls your head and shoulders off the ball, keeps your shoulders level and gives your action an instant and unwanted flat look.
On top... and tilted
Now repeat the exercise, but this time keep the trail arm extended and its palm facing broadly downwards. Feel how this creates a definite sensation of tilt in your shoulders … and how it might help create a sharper angle or plane to your backswing. Naturally, we don’t want to overdo this... but for the legions of golfers who swing too flat with their irons, it’s a great concept to examine and, if necessary, improve.