What Is a Block in Golf?

You made a great swing - the contact felt pure, the sound was a satisfying thwack, and for a split second, you thought you'd flushed it. But instead of soaring toward your target, the ball takes off on a straight line, flying directly into the woods 30 yards to the right of the fairway. That, my friend, is the block. It’s one of the most frustrating shots in golf because it often feels so good off the face, yet the result is so wrong. This article will show you exactly what causes the block and give you a clear, step-by-step plan with actionable drills to turn that push into a dead-straight shot.

What Exactly Is a Block in Golf?

First, let’s get clear on what we’re talking about. A block, sometimes called a "push," is a shot that starts right of the target and stays on that line without curving back (for a right-handed golfer). For left-handed golfers, it’s the exact opposite - a shot that starts left of the target and stays left.

It's important to distinguish a block from a slice. A slice is a shot that starts relatively straight (or even left) and then curves dramatically to the right in the air. A block doesn’t curve, it's a straight-flying shot that simply started in the wrong direction.

The puzzling part of the block is the strike. Unlike a thinned or chunked shot, a block can feel incredibly solid. You generate power and compress the ball, but your entire shot is simply offset to the right. This mix of a good feeling with a bad result is what makes the block so maddening and confusing for so many golfers.

The Real Reason You're Hitting a Block: Getting "Stuck"

At its core, a block is caused by one primary flaw: your swing path is traveling too severely from inside-to-out, while your clubface remains square to that path.

Imagine your target line is a straight railroad track heading toward the hole. An ideal swing path travels down this track. In a block, your swing path starts from inside the track and aggressively cuts across it, heading out to the right. Because your clubface is pointing right (square to this new path), the ball has no choice but to follow.

But why does this happen?

The cause almost always comes down to poor sequencing in the downswing, leading to a feeling of being "stuck." Here's the chain reaction:

• The Over-Eager Lower Body: The problem usually starts at the transition from backswing to downswing. Trying to generate power, many golfers fire their hips open way too fast. Their lower body spins out aggressively toward the target.
• The Trapped Arms: As your hips spin out of control, your arms and the club, which were coiled behind you, get left behind. They get "stuck" or trapped behind your rotating body.
• The Only Way Out is "Out": With your body having cleared out so early, there is no room for your arms to drop down and swing toward the target. Their only available path is to swing outward, away from your body and across the target line.

Think of it like a gate swinging open. If the gate (your hips) swings open too quickly, the person trying to walk through it (your arms and club) gets left behind and has to find a different path. This dynamic is the engine driving your block.

Common Setup and Swing Faults That Cause Blocks

That "stuck" feeling doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. It's often encouraged by a few common mistakes in your setup or backswing. Check if any of these feel familiar.

1. Setup Flaws that Invite a Block

Sometimes, you're set up for a block before you even start the club back. An incorrect setup can make getting stuck almost unavoidable.

• Ball Position Too Far Back: Placing the ball too far back in your stance promotes an inside-out path. By the time you reach the ball, your club is naturally still traveling from the inside. Moving the ball slightly forward (closer to the center for a mid-iron) gives your club more time to get back on a neutral path.
• Too Much Spine Tilt at Address: Leaning your spine too far away from the target at setup can drop your right shoulder too low (for a right-handed player). This encourages a flatter, more inside backswing, pre-loading the club on a path that is already behind you.

2. Backswing Mistakes

How you take the club away from the ball sets the stage for the rest of your swing. A poor takeaway can practically guarantee your arms get trapped.

• Whipping the Club Inside: A very common mistake is pulling the clubhead inside the target line immediately on the takeaway. This is often done with the hands and arms, without rotating the torso. When the club gets that deep and behind you that early, it has a very difficult journey to get back in front of you on the downswing.

How to Fix Your Block: 4 Drills for a Neutral swing Path

Understanding the "why" is great, but fixing the block requires changing your movement patterns. These drills are designed to re-sync your arms and body, eliminating that stuck feeling and neutralizing your swing path.

Drill #1: The Gate Drill (Swing Path Feedback)

This is the classic drill for fixing an over-the-top swing, but when we flip it, it works perfectly for fixing a block. It gives you instant, unmissable feedback on your swing path.

How to Do It:

1. Set up your shot as normal.
2. Place an object (a headcover, a water bottle, a second golf ball) about a clubhead's width outside and slightly ahead of your golf ball. If your ball is at 6 o'clock, place the object at about 1 o'clock.
3. Your goal is to hit the golf ball without hitting the object on your follow-through.

Why It Works:

If you swing with your typical block path (severely in-to-out), you will inevitably hit the object you placed outside the ball. It's impossible not to. To avoid it, your body and brain will be forced to adjust. You'll have to keep the club swinging more "down the line" toward your target, rather than flinging it out to the right. This drill reteaches your mind what a neutral swing path feels like.

Drill #2: The "Right Pocket Back" Feel (Hip Rotation Sync)

Since the block is often caused by the hips spinning open too fast, this drill focuses on changing the feeling of your hip rotation.

How to Do It:

1. Set up to the ball without a club. Get into your golf posture.
2. Make a few slow-motion practice swings.
3. From the top of your backswing, instead of feeling like your left hip is spinning aroud toward the target, I want you to feel as if you are pulling your right back pocket straight back, away from the ball.
4. This will feel strange. It will feel like you are restricting your hip turn, but watch what happens: your hips will still rotate, but they will do so on a better angle, staying deeper and giving your arms space to drop down in front of you.

Why It Works:

The "hip spin-out" is an aggressive, horizontal rotation. The "right pocket back" thought promotes a rotation that is deeper and less aggressive. This subtle change in feel keeps your hips from clearing out too early, which creates a "slot" for your arms and club to swing down into from the inside, but not too far from the inside. It's the perfect antidote to getting stuck.

Drill #3: The Towel Drill (Arm & Body Connection)

This is an all-time great drill for promoting better connection between your arms and your body, which is essential to prevent your arms from lagging behind.

How to Do It:

1. Take a small towel (or a headcover) and place it under your trail armpit (your right armpit if you're right-handed).
2. Make some relaxed, half-speed swings, focusing on keeping the towel held snugly between your arm and your chest throughout the backswing and into the downswing.
3. Don't let the towel drop until after you've made impact with the ball.

Why It Works:

If your arms get disconnected and stuck behind you, the towel will drop to the ground. This drill forces your arms to stay in front of your chest as your body turns. When your arms and body rotate together, in sync, the club naturally stays on a much more neutral plane. It eradicates the sequence where the body outraces the arms, directly fixing the root cause of the "stuck" feeling.

Drill #4: The Feet-Together Drill (Quiet the Lower Body)

To really ingrain a better sequence, sometimes you need to take away the temptation to overuse the lower body. This drill does just that.

How to Do It:

1. Set up with a mid-iron, but place your feet completely together, ankles touching.
2. From this position, hit half-shots focusing on balance and a smooth tempo. You won't be able to generate much power, and that's the point.

Why It Works:

With your feet together, you physically cannot spin your hips aggressively without losing your balance and falling over. This forces you to use a more arm-and-torso-driven swing. It trains your body to rely less on the violent hip spin that causes the block and to learn a new sequence where the arms and body move together in a more unified, controlled manner.

Final Thoughts

Beating the block comes down to fixing your swing's sequence. It's not a power issue or a talent issue, it's a timing issue where your lower body outraces your arms, forcing the club onto an inside-out path. By working on drills that quiet your hips, improve your arm-body connection, and provide feedback on your swing path, you can sync everything up again and get that club attacking the ball from the right angle.

One of the hardest parts of fixing a swing fault is knowing if you're working on the right thing. That's a spot where our app, Caddie AI, comes in. You can get instant, on-demand feedback on what might be causing a bad shot or get a smart strategy before you even tee off, so you feel confident over a tough tee shot. For tricky situations on the course - like a ball in deep rough where a block would be disaster - you can even snap a picture and get an immediate recommendation on the smartest way to play it, helping you avoid those big mistakes.