How to Fix a Flat Golf Swing

A flat golf swing can feel powerful right up until the moment it sends your ball rocketing left or skidding low and to the right. If you’re tired of fighting those dreaded hooks and pushes, you’ve come to the right place. This guide will walk you through exactly what a flat swing is, how to know if you have one, and most importantly, provide clear, easy-to-follow drills to get your swing back on a more consistent and powerful plane.

What is a Flat Golf Swing?

Imagine your swing plane as a giant, angled sheet of glass resting on your shoulders and pointing down to the golf ball. A fundamentally sound swing will see the club travel up and down along this pane of glass. When you have a flat golf swing, the club drifts under this plane, wrapping too far around your body in a horizontal, merry-go-round-like motion.

In a flat backswing, the club gets sucked deep and behind a player’s body. From this "stuck" position, a lot of strange compensations have to happen in the downswing just to make contact with the ball. This usually results in a few common, frustrating misses:

• Severe Hooks: Because the club is so far behind you, your hands have to flip over aggressively at impact to square the clubface. This rapid closing of the face sends the ball snapping hard from right to left (for a right-handed golfer).
• Pushes or Blocks: Sometimes, the opposite happens. Your body outpaces your arms, and you're unable to get the club back in front of you. This leaves the face wide open at impact, sending the ball weakly out to the right.
• Thin Shots: A swing that is too flat often has a very shallow angle of attack. Instead of compressing the ball with a slightly descending blow, the club comes into the ball too level, catching it on the equator and producing a low, skipping shot.

While some legendary players, like Ben Hogan, had famously flatter swings, they also possessed world-class timing that most amateur golfers can't replicate week in and week out. For the majority of us, a more neutral or slightly upright swing is a far simpler and more reliable path to consistency.

How to Tell If Your Swing is Flat

One of golf's biggest challenges is that “feel” isn’t always “real.” What feels athletic and powerful to you might look completely different on camera. Fortunately, a couple of simple checks can quickly confirm if your swing plane is dipping too low.

The Down-the-Line Video Check

This is the most reliable method. Have a friend take a video of your swing from directly behind you, with the camera pointing straight down the target line. Once you have the video:

1. Pause the video when your club reaches the top of your backswing.
2. Imagine or draw a line from the golf ball up through your right shoulder (for a righty). This line represents a good, neutral swing plane.
3. Look at the position of your hands and club. Are your hands below this line? Is the club head pointing well to the outside of the target line? If your left arm is flatter than this imaginary line, you almost certainly have a flat swing.

The Wall Drill

This is a an old-school diagnostic you can do without a camera. Find a wall and get into your driver setup posture, standing just far enough away that your club butt isn't touching the wall.

• Take a slow, deliberate backswing.
• Does your clubhead immediately hit the wall on the way back?

If you're making contact with the wall, it's a clear sign that you are pulling the club too far inside and around your body - the hallmark of a flat golf swing. In a good, on-plane swing, the clubhead should trace a path that moves both back and up, easily clearing the wall.

The Common Causes of a Flat Swing Plane

A flat swing doesn't happen in a vacuum. It's usually the result of a flaw somewhere else in the setup or takeaway. By addressing the root cause, you can make the fix much more permanent.

1. Posture and Ball Position

How you stand to the ball sets the stage for your entire swing. If you stand too far from the ball or bend over too much from your hips, you almost force your arms to swing around your body rather than up. Your body instinctively seeks balance, and from a hunched or reaching posture, a flat swing feels more stable. Ensure your arms are hanging naturally from your shoulders, with just enough room for them to swing past your body.

2. The "Inside" Takeaway

This is the number one cause of a flat swing. The takeaway is the first couple of feet the club moves away from the ball. Many golfers mistakenly believe the first move is to rotate the body, which causes them to immediately roll their wrists and whip the clubhead far behind their hands and inside the target line. Once that happens, the club is off-plane from the very start, and the rest of the swing is just a compensation to get back to the ball.

3. A Turn-Only Backswing Philosophy

rotation (your body turning) and elevation (your arms lifting). Golfers who get too fixated on "turning" often neglect the "lifting" part. They rotate their shoulders horizontally but fail to let their arms move the club vertically. This results in the hands staying low and getting trapped behind the torso, leading directly to a flat position at the top.

Drills to Fix a Flat Golf Swing and Get More Upright

Fixing your plane is all about giving your body the feeling of a more correct motion. These drills are designed to stop the "instide" pull and encourage a more upright, on-plane path.

Drill 1: The Takeaway Gate

This drill gives you instant feedback on your takeaway. Set it up a couple of different ways:

• First Setup: Place a headcover (or a water bottle) about a foot behind your golf ball, just outside the target line. Your goal is to swing the clubhead over the headcover during your takeaway. If your swing is too flat, you'll slam right into it.
• Second Setup: For more precision, place one golf ball about six inches outside your clubhead at address, and another one six inches behind that ball. This creates a "gate." Your objective is to start the swing by moving the clubhead back and through this gate. This forces you to keep the clubhead outside your hands in the initial move, preventing that inside pull.

Drill 2: The Right-Shoulder Feel

A flat swing finishes with the hands deep behind the right shoulder (for a righty). A more upright, on-plane swing will have the hands feeling like they've finished more above the right shoulder. You can practice this feeling with slow-motion rehearsals in front of a mirror or using your phone camera.

1. Get into your setup.
2. Slowly swing to the top of your backswing.
3. Pause and look at your reflection. Where are your hands? If they're low and behind you, work on feeling like you are lifting them higher. Feel the upper-right part of your back stretch. This creates the vertical "lift" that many flat swings are missing.

The goal isn't to be perfectly vertical, but to find a powerful position where your arms are in sync with your body turn, not trapped behind it.

Drill 3: Headcover Under the Armpit

Often, a flat swing is caused by the right arm separating from the body too early in the backswing. Tucking a headcover or a glove under your right armpit (for a righty) can work wonders for this.

• Place the headcover snugly under your arm.
• Take your normal backswing. Your goal is to keep the headcover in place until the top of your backswing. If you try to swing the club too far around your body (flat), the headcover will drop out immediately.
• This drill forces your arms and body to turn together as a connected unit, promoting a much better club path.

Start with half swings on the range, focusing entirely on a clean takeaway and a more "up" feeling rather than "around." As the movement starts to feel more natural, you can build up to full swings and hit shots. Don't worry about the results at first - the goal is to retrain the motion itself.

Final Thoughts

Battling a flat swing boils down to fixing the takeaway and re-educating your body on how to combine rotation with arm elevation. By using simple drills to prevent the club from getting sucked inside and behind you, you can establish a more neutral swing plane that will make it far easier to hit consistent and powerful golf shots.

Understanding your personal swing plane can be tough, as what you feel isn't always what's actually happening. That's why we created a tool like Caddie AI to act as your personal, on-demand golf expert. If you’re at the range working on these drills and aren't sure if you're getting more upright, you can ask us for instant clarification. When a flat swing leads to a tough situation on the course, you can snap a photo of your lie, and we’ll give you smart, strategic advice on the best recovery. We're here 24/7 to take the guesswork out of both practice and play, helping you focus on making better swings and smarter decisions on the course.