It’s time for another episode of ‘Second Hand Shorts’. You can watch some of the other episodes of the series below: 

What I see a lot of people doing with their irons in the set up is they make a one piece takeaway and the club gets too open and starts to go around the body. Everything then gets disconnected.

I have a very simple but effective drill I’d like you to try.

Get the left hand at the top of the grip and the right hand at the bottom. Don’t overlap your fingers. This is the split hand drill.

By doing this set up you can create a better angle and a good hinge. By doing this you’ll see the quality of the strike improve all because you are simply creating a better angle of attack into the ball.

Equipment editor James Savage had been desperate for a drill to help him work the ball more from right to left with a stronger flight.

His usual shot shape had been more of a fade and tended to his his irons a bit thin from time to time.

It was time to find a drill to help his game and the split hand drill was something that the Pro highly recommended he worked on.

Fault Fixes: Split hand drill
This drill helped me get the club set into a better position on the takeaway by keeping my right elbow a bit tighter to my body,” James said.

Through impact it allowed me to then get the right hand working across my body a bit better and I noticed a better strike and ball flight.

I found this a really good drill to take to the range as I could hit 10 shots using the split grip then five with my normal grip and repeat.

It’s nice to have a drill which can add a bit more purpose to your practice sessions rather than just aimlessly whacking balls at the range.

View all our Second Hand Shorts here.

Craig Middleton

Handicap: 12

Subscribe to NCG