By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
In his third installment on the intricacies of the golf swing, British PGA Member Cameron Robinson works with Caddi Club golf instructor Henry Edwards on the proper setup to hit a draw. Caddi Club is a membership-based indoor golf facility with two locations in London and a third opening in early 2024.
In this interview, Edwards shares some information that will help Robinson diagnose any issues in the setup or swing and prescribe a fix that will enable the student to draw the golf ball more proficiently.
Probing Q&A
How long have you been playing golf?
Edwards: 16 Years
Are you right or left-handed?
Edwards: Right-handed
What is your motivation for playing golf?
Edwards: As a golf coach, it’s my passion, hobby and job. Working on my own game helps me gain a better understanding of the player’s development journey. I also enjoy the social aspect, playing with friends and having fun on the golf course.
Where do you play most of your golf?
Edwards: Surrey, England. There are many wonderful parkland/heathland golf courses.
What is your best score for 18 holes?
Edwards: 66
What injuries or restrictions to movement do you have?
Edwards: None.
What is your background in sport/physical activity?
Edwards: I played club and school football, cricket, tennis and rugby. I’m a highly active individual and play a lot of sports and train in the gym.
Who is your favorite tour player and why?
Edwards: Rory McIlroy plays with such flair, and he answers questions honestly in the press room.
How much time do you spend working on your game and do you practice before rounds?
Edwards: 1-2 hours per week. Sometimes I will play for multiple days in a row playing in professional tournaments and traveling on golf trips with members and fellow golf professionals.
For a driver, describe your best shots.
Edwards: Straight (Mid-flight) – The ball starts on target and finishes on target without any curve.
For a driver, describe your worst shots.
Edwards: Low Pull Hook – The ball starts left of the target line and curves right to left with a low trajectory.
High Push slice – The ball starts right of the target and curves further right of the target.
For a 5-iron, describe your best shots.
Edwards: Medium Flight Draw – The ball starts right of the target and curves right to left finishing on target.
For a 5-iron, describe your worst shots.
Edwards: Strike – Sometimes Heavy Contact (Before the ball)
Pull Hook – The ball starts left of the target line and curves right to left.
Push slice – The ball starts right of the target and curves further right of the target.
On wedge shots, do your divots tend to be shallow or deep?
Edwards: Pretty Deep
Around the green, what is your favorite club for playing chip shots?
Edwards: 59-degree wedge
What is your favorite club in the bag?
Edwards: Putter
What is your desired Ball Flight?
Edwards: Draw
Precisely what ball flight characteristics would you like to improve?
Edwards: Repeatability of direction, curve and strike.
Robinson’s Diagnosis
Due to where Henry had the ball positioned (too far forward), it consequently aimed his shoulders left of the target at setup (see figure one, ball under the buttons on the shirt). Henry combined this with a clubface that was aiming right of the target and his shoulder alignment. This made it hard to produce right-to-left curvature or draw ball flight characteristics for a right-handed player. The opposing directions of shoulder alignment (left of target) and the clubface pointing right caused a miss that produced the opposite curve than desired (left to right). The most common ball flights were push slices; however, the pull hook would happen occasionally due to an overcorrection of the clubface from setup to impact. This combination of opposing club path and clubface alignment also led to strike issues.
Specifically, how this setup encouraged a push slice
The ball forward at setup encourages an out-to-in (leftward) club path. The clubface was aiming in the opposite direction (right of club path and target) causing a left-to-right curvature to be produced. The ball starts predominately 85 percent closest to where the iron clubface is aiming with a centered strike; therefore, the ball’s initial direction frequently started right of the target and curved further right (push slice). Hence the need for over-corrective measures (clubface closure). Please note the clubface pointing right of the target is a draw feature as the ball needs to start right and curve back to the target (right-to-left curvature). However, it was the leftward club path (out to in) that created the undesired opposite curvature (left to right).
Figure 1. Ball under the buttons on the shirt.
Robinson’s Solution
At address, move the back of the ball under the nose.
Figure 2. Back of the ball under the nose.
Henry’s new ball flight – Push or push draw.
“It doesn’t feel like I need to close the face now and the strike has improved”
How the fix worked
The two-way miss has been reduced by creating a setup specific to Henry’s ball flight goal – the draw. The change in Henry’s setup at address helped to consistently produce right-to-left curvature because moving the ball back under his nose, as reflected in Figure 2, shifted the club path rightward of the target line and the clubface pointed slightly left of the club path at the moment of impact. Sometimes the clubface aligned square to the rightward club path which produced a push – a ball that starts right of the target and flies on the same line without curvature finishing right of the target.
This setup change allowed for the functional club path to hit the draw, and Henry didn’t have to make any in-swing compensations to get the ball to fly toward the target. Creating an appropriate setup to hit your desired ball flight is a surefire way to ensure a functional impact to produce the said flight. If the ball position opposes your ball flight decision, then compensations will have to be made in-swing. There is no standard setup among all golfers; however, moving the ball further forward towards the target shifts the club path towards a more out-to-in path (fade bias), and moving the ball further back shifts the club path to a more in-to-out (draw bias).
Please note there is often a misconception; to hit a draw you need to align the clubface closed to the target at the moment of impact. To execute a draw (right-handed player) the clubface needs to be aligned right of the target, and pointing left of (closed) the club path (in-to-out) at the moment of impact to create a shot with right-to-left curvature which finishes on target.
Robinson’s Summary
It is paramount to consider where the ball is specifically positioned in your setup when you are attempting to achieve your desired ball flight. The next time you consider a swing change, make sure the desired effect on the ball flight cannot be achieved by setup changes first.
The best players in the world will continually be checking their setup principles for this specific reason – to repeat the same ball flight over and over again.
Cameron Robinson, a British PGA Member, brings his golf expertise from London to Brentwood Country Club in Los Angeles, California. With a background as a lead assistant at London’s top private clubs and a coaching record that includes PGA Professionals and British Senior mid-am champions, Cameron is dedicated to helping golfers reach their goals by enhancing their current technique to achieve desired ball flight results while preserving their functional swing tendencies.
