Watching your golf shot start left of the target and stay there is one of the most frustrating feelings in the game. That dead-left pull robs you of distance, accuracy, and confidence. This guide will walk you through exactly why you pull the ball and provide simple, effective-to-follow steps and drills to straighten out your ball flight for good.
Before we can fix it, we have to understand what’s happening. A pulled shot isn't a mystery, it’s a simple result of club-and-ball physics. For a right-handed golfer, a straight pull occurs when two things happen at impact:
Think of it like this: your swing is crossing over the target line from the outside, and the clubface is pointing exactly where the swing is going - straight left. The result is a ball that takes off left and never has a chance to curve back. The most common culprit for this out-to-in path is the classic "over-the-top" move, where the upper body and arms dominate the downswing. Let's fix it by starting with the very first thing you do: setting up to the ball.
Many golfers who pull their shots don’t have a massive swing flaw, they have an alignment flaw. They subconsciously aim their body so far to the right of the target that the only way to get the ball back online is to make an aggressive move with the upper body, throwing the club out and across the line - the definition of an over-the-top, out-to-in swing.
Your body has an internal GPS, and it knows where you're aiming. If your feet, hips, and shoulders are pointed way right, your brain will instinctively reroute the swing to try and rescue the shot and send it towards the target.
Grab two alignment sticks or two golf clubs. This simple check can reveal a lot about your setup.
After you have set yourself up with the sticks, step back and look. Many players who pull shots are surprised to find that what feels square is actually aimed significantly to the right. Dedicate your first ten shots at the range to this alignment drill. Getting your setup neutral and square to the target gives you permission to make a swing that travels down the correct line.
The path your swing will follow is often set in the first two feet of the backswing. A common error that leads to an over-the-top move is a takeaway that is whipped inside too quickly and flat. When the club gets that far behind your body early, the next logical move is to loop it up and over on the downswing to get back to the ball. We need to create more width and keep the club in front of the body.
The goal is a "one-piece" takeaway, where your hands, arms, and upper body turn together. Here’s a great feeling to have:
Place a headcover or a spare golf ball on the ground about two feet behind your golf ball and slightly to the outside of the target line. As you start your backswing, your goal is to take the club back without hitting the headcover. This forces you to avoid sucking the clubhead inside too quickly and encourages a wider, more on-plane starting motion.
The "over-the-top" downswing is the primary cause of the pulled shot. It happens when your shoulders and arms start the downswing aggressively instead of your lower body. This throws the club onto an outside path, and from there, your only option is to cut across the ball, producing either a pull or a slice. The solution is to change your swing sequence, letting the lower body lead the way.
The opposite of "over the top" is "dropping it in the slot." This is the feeling of the club dropping on plane behind you as you initiate the downswing with your hips. The club then approaches the ball from the inside, which is the path required to hit a straight shot or a soft draw.
This is a fantastic drill for retraining your downswing sequence. You don't even need to hit a ball at first.
This drill ingrains the correct sequence. The lower body goes first, the arms and club follow. The powerful upper-body muscles are the last part of the chain, not the first.
Another incredible way to force an in-to-out swing path is to physically get your right side out of the way.
Once you’ve corrected your alignment and your swing path, the final component is how you release the club through impact. Many golfers who have been pulling shots for a long time develop a passive or stiff-wristed release, trying to hold the clubface open to prevent the ball from going left. But once your path is corrected, you need to let the club release naturally.
A proper release isn’t an aggressive flick of the wrists. It’s a natural result of your body rotating. As you turn your body through the shot, your arms and hands will naturally catch up and the clubface will rotate from open to square to closed post-impact. You don’t need to force it, you just have to allow it. With a better swing path, you can trust that rotating your body will square the club for you.
Fixing a pulled shot boils down to fixing an out-to-in swing path. By addressing your alignment and then focusing on a one-piece takeaway and a lower-body-initiated downswing, you can reroute your club to approach the ball from the inside, finally getting rid of that frustrating shot to the left.
We know that it can be difficult to diagnose swing faults and even harder to know what to do next, especially in the middle of a round. With that in mind, my team developed Caddie AI. While it's there to answer all your golf questions off the course, its true power comes to life when you're playing. If a pulled shot leaves you in a tough spot in the trees or the rough, you can take a picture of your lie, and we’ll give you instant, strategic advice on the smartest and safest way to play your recovery shot - preventing one mistake from ruining your hole.
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