One of the most important drills I teach is the 'Butt on the Wall' drill. I always write it on my lesson sheets for students to practice. The reason the 'Butt on the Wall' drill is so important is because it is the # 1 drill for learning the straight-back-into-the-mitt takeaway. It will cure sucking the club too inside, trying to make the inside-to-out swing path that golfers believe will cure the outside-to-in path that causes slices. More importantly, the 'Butt on the Wall' drill teaches the vertical stand the club up to 12:00 o'clock, limited turn backswing. I also remind them that this drill is for backswing only. If they try to swing through and to a finish, their left elbow will smash into the wall.
The essence of the drill is for a player to back up to a wall and then get into good address posture. The key is that your butt must lightly touch the wall. There is a variation of this drill in that some pros teach standing around 1 foot from the wall. But that's not close enough to really learn the PPGS limited turn vertical backswing. The first thing I tell a student who has been sucking the club inside is to be sure to protect the wall. If they are using a wall on the inside of the garage or in the house or basement, even outside walls, they need to cover it with a rug or something that will protect the wall from denting, nicking and punching holes in the wall. I'm certain I've saved several relationships with this advice.
Another way to do the drill that will save the wall and the club head is to use a clothes line and hang a carpet or rug over it. Swinging too inside and the club head hits the carpet, which is easily felt and heard. One last way is to use a tree or pole. Again, you must back up and your butt must touch the tree trunk or pole. Using a tree or pole is great for checking the 12:00 o'clock vertical position but it does not help in making sure the takeaway is straight back and not to the inside. You can also have this checkpoint by placing a stick or golf shaft out from, and in line with, the outside edge of the tree or pole, just about where the hosel at the end of the shaft of the club you are using would hit it if you swing too inside.
About a month ago at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC, the 'Butt on a Wall' drill got national attention during the Friday telecast with the aid of a tree. Davis Love was playing his 18th hole, which I believe was actually the 9th hole. This hole is lined, all the way down on left, with huge hardwood trees with trunks 2 to 3 feet or more in diameter. Davis hit his drive down the left side and it kicked a little far left. It stopped right in front of one of these oaks, around 2 feet in front of the tree.
When Davis got to the tree, he took a club, straddled the trunk with his butt definitely touching it and made some practice swings. This shot was a piece of cake for 'Lefty' Phil Mickelson, but for a right hander like Davis, it was definitely a test to not hit the trunk in his backswing and then in his follow through. Davis was making practice swings and it looked obvious he could make the swing. The announcer commented that he needed to make par to make the cut, which upped the ante for him to pull this shot off.
Then the same announcer made the comment I loved hearing. He said that Davis Love was one of the few players on the PGA Tour that could hit that shot because he was a 'VERTICAL SWINGER.' Davis hit a good shot. His club never touched the tree trunk on the backswing and he hit a cut off, knockdown type finish to avoid hitting it on the follow through. He made his par, made the cut and played the weekend. The 'Butt on the Wall/Tree Trunk' saved the day. Davis Love could do it because he is a 'Vertical Swinger.'
The Surge!