Photographs by Walter Iooss Jr.“TO SWING FROM THE INSIDE, YOU HAVE TO BE CONFIDENT THE FACE ISN’T OPEN.”
staying to the inside
▶ The first move down is when
slicers think, Oh no, I have to
start this thing left, and I was
no exception. I used to throw
the club out on the downswing
to force my swing more to the
left. That made me steeper and
opened the face even more.
Check out how the shaft is in
line with my right arm (below);
it used to be in line with my left.
These days I just keep that
feeling of the right arm staying in
close. I’m confident that the face
learning new sightlines▶ People see my swing has
changed a lot, and they ask me
what was the toughest part.
Boyd and I worked hard on the
setup fundamentals, which natu-
rally began to change my swing
mechanics. I started seeing less
curve immediately. The funny
thing is, I was able to adapt my
technique quicker than my eye.
I’ve had to get used to new sight-
lines when I play. For so many
years I was watching my tee
shots slide hard to the right.is taken care of, so I can swing
freely out to the ball without
worrying about losing it right.
As I said before, I can stay in
my posture, too. I used to pull
my head away from the ball and
yank the club left. I know now, the
more you go left, the more open
the face is relative to the path—
it’s an ugly cycle. Boyd and I joke
about holes I used to play where
I didn’t have room to hit driver
because there was a tree on the
left. I hit driver everywhere now.I used to think I was hitting a
draw at times, and the ball was
still curving to the right! I still
prefer to play a little fade, but I’ve
had to recalibrate my visuals.
One drill we use is setting up
a gate for my shots using two
alignment rods. We set the gate
about two feet wide just to the
left of the target line and about
10 yards in front of me. I work
on starting the ball through the
gate. If I do that, I know my ball
will fade a touch to the target.