Early extension is one of the most common swing faults in amateur golf — and one of the hardest to fix through feel alone. When the hips thrust toward the ball on the downswing, the whole body has to stand up to make room, the shaft pitches steep, and the path goes out-to-in. The slice is the inevitable result. Most golfers feel this happening and try to fix it by keeping the head down or staying bent — both of which are compensations for the root problem rather than solutions to it.
Brad Pluth fixes it at the source: the lead foot.
The drill
Brad Pluth — PGA Master Professional Teaching & Coaching (Class of 2025), Golf Digest Best in State (Minnesota), US Kids Golf Top 50 Master Coach, Founder of Brad Pluth Golf Achievement™ at Dick's House of Sport, and three-time Minnesota PGA Award winner — places the TrueStrike foam block under the lead heel at address and uses it as a ground force trigger for the correct lower body sequence.
The setup:
- ✓Place the TrueStrike under the lead heel at address
- ✓Make a normal backswing
- ✓At the start of the downswing: stomp the lead heel down into the TrueStrike while shifting laterally toward the target
- ✓The hips rotate around and away from the ball — not toward it
- ✓The shaft shallows naturally as a downstream consequence of the correct lower body direction
Launch toward the ball and the shaft pitches out — you have to come out and across. Stomp and shift and the shaft lays down — you're in the delivery slot and you can smash it.
Watch Brad demonstrate the drill:
Watch Brad demonstrate the drill:
Watch on YouTube: STOP Early Extension! | PGA Master Pro Brad Pluth's TrueStrike Heel Stomp Drill
Why it works
The TrueStrike under the lead heel works because it converts an abstract sequencing concept — ground force and weight shift — into a concrete physical sensation. Most golfers who early-extend have never felt what a genuine stomp-and-shift feels like, because their instinct is always to launch. The TrueStrike gives the heel something firm to press against, which creates the proprioceptive awareness of lead-side pressure that the nervous system needs to recognize and reproduce the correct lower body direction.
The shallowing that follows is the payoff — and Brad is explicit that it's automatic rather than manufactured. When the lower body stomps and shifts correctly, the upper body tilts away from the target naturally, the trail shoulder drops, and the club falls below the backswing plane without any conscious arm or hand manipulation. This is the same mechanical chain that elite ballstrikers produce through force plate sequencing — the difference is that they feel it instinctively and the pathpal drill makes it teachable to any golfer in a single session.
Shallowing is not an arms-and-hands move. It's the automatic consequence of correct lower body sequencing — stomp and shift first, and the shaft delivers itself into the slot.
Who this is for
The chronic slicer
Golfers who consistently slice or block with the driver due to an out-to-in path caused by early extension.
The "stay in posture" student
Players who've been told to stay in posture without a physical cue that explains how the lower body produces that result.
The hand-drill dropout
Anyone who's worked on shallowing with arm and hand drills without success — because the problem is actually lower body initiated.
This drill is also ideal for golfers who feel like they generate no ground force and want a physical trigger for the stomp-and-shift sequence.
Try it
Place the TrueStrike under your lead heel and make 10 practice motions — no ball — focusing entirely on the stomp-and-shift feeling at the start of the downswing. Feel the heel pressing into the TrueStrike while the hips move laterally rather than forward. Then hit 15 shots at 75% effort, maintaining the stomp cue on each one. Track whether the shaft pitch reduces and the path moves more inside-out.
Once the feeling is consistent, remove the TrueStrike and hit five full shots — the lower body sequence you've built will continue delivering the shaft into the slot without the physical reference. Full drill breakdown and setup instructions are on the TrueStrike Heel Stomp Drill page.
Step 1: 10 reps, no ball — focus entirely on the heel-stomp sensation and lateral shift.
Step 2: 15 shots at 75% effort — maintain the stomp cue. Track shaft pitch and path direction.
Step 3: Remove the TrueStrike. Hit 5 full shots and feel the lower body sequence carry forward.
Related drills
Early extension is a full-body pattern — fixing it from multiple angles builds a more durable correction. These three drills pair naturally with the Heel Stomp and address the same fault from different entry points:
The Brick Wall Impact Drill — Janean Murphy
Brad's drill fixes the lower body cause of early extension; Janean's drill addresses the upper body expression. When the upper body chases the hips forward, the face can't square. Used together, they correct both ends of the same fault chain.
The Anti-Early Extension Drill — Matt Tindale
Matt uses the pathpal at 90 degrees with a pool noodle to intercept early extension at its origin — the trail leg. When the right leg fires toward the ball, the noodle provides immediate tactile feedback at the exact moment the fault begins. A natural next step once the heel stomp sequence feels solid.
The Dual-Barrier Drill — Jacob Tilton
Jacob combines the pathpal and TrueStrike in a single setup to address over-the-top and early extension simultaneously. If you've fixed the heel stomp sequence but are still catching the path barrier, Jacob's drill closes the loop between lower body direction and club delivery.
About Brad Pluth
Brad Pluth is a PGA Master Professional Teaching & Coaching (Class of 2025), Golf Digest Best in State (Minnesota), US Kids Golf Top 50 Master Coach, and Founder of Brad Pluth Golf Achievement™ at Dick's House of Sport. He is a three-time Minnesota PGA Award winner in Youth, Player, and Professional Development.
Follow Brad on Instagram bradpluthgolf.com Follow pathpal on Instagram
Ready to feel the ground force difference?
The TrueStrike is part of the pathpal integrated training system — built for focused, repeatable practice at every skill level.
Shop pathpal View the drill pageFrequently asked questions
What is early extension and why does it cause a slice?
Early extension happens when the hips thrust toward the ball on the downswing instead of rotating around it. When the hips move toward the ball, the whole body stands up to create room, the shaft pitches steep, and the swing path becomes out-to-in. That steep, outside-in path is the direct cause of the pull-slice most amateur golfers struggle with.
Why does stomping the lead heel fix early extension?
When the lead heel stomps into the ground at the start of the downswing, the ground reaction force drives the lead hip up and back — the correct rotational direction — rather than forward toward the ball. This is the same ground force sequencing elite ballstrikers produce naturally. The TrueStrike gives the heel a firm surface to press into, making that sensation immediately accessible and repeatable.
Do I need to consciously shallow the club during this drill?
No — and that's the point. Brad is explicit that the shallowing is automatic rather than manufactured. When the lower body stomps and shifts correctly, the upper body tilts away from the target naturally, the trail shoulder drops, and the club falls below the backswing plane without any deliberate arm or hand action. Focus entirely on the stomp-and-shift; the shallow delivery follows as a consequence.
How many reps should I do before hitting shots with a ball?
Start with 10 practice motions without a ball, focusing entirely on the heel-stomp sensation and lateral shift. Then move to 15 shots at 75% effort with the TrueStrike in place. Once the feeling is consistent, remove the TrueStrike and hit five full shots to confirm the lower body sequence carries forward without the physical reference.
I've worked on shallowing before with hand drills and it didn't last. Why would this be different?
Hand and arm shallowing drills address a downstream symptom. The root cause of most early extension patterns is lower body initiated — the hips moving toward the ball before the arms can shallow on their own. The Heel Stomp drill targets the origin of the fault by retraining the lower body sequence first. When the hips rotate correctly, the shaft delivers itself into the slot without any arm manipulation required.
