The Speed Drill takes away the luxury of a long backswing, not because short is magic, but because less runway makes the body self-organize faster, better. From a shorter, paused position, the lower body and core have to show up in the proper order—resulting to better face control, contact and … yes, effortless speed.

Start with your wedges all the way to your driver.

Instructions—

1. Set up to the ball.

2. Make a short backswing, somewhere hip-high where the shaft is parallel to the ground.

3. Pause.

4. Swing through from this paused position.

5. Repeat once or twice—or until you find a natural rhythm.

6. Swing with your normal backswing.

Move on to your next club.

Note—

Always hold your finish while watching the ball flight.

Coach Note—

• Even with a short backswing, shift pressure from your lead foot to the inner part of your trail foot.

• From the paused shaft-parallel position, and intention to swing through, pressure would naturally shift back to your lead foot.

• From the paused shaft-parallel position, you could set the clubface angle to influence ball direction. You could also influence swing path by having the shaft parallel to the target, clubhead slightly behind (in-to-out) or slightly in front (out-to-in) the hands. This is variability practice.

• After Variability Practice, move on to Competition Practice.