Early extension is one of the most common faults in amateur golf and one of the hardest to feel while it's happening. The body thrusts toward the ball, the upper body stands up to create room, and the whole delivery goes vertical when it should be staying connected. The result is thin shots, heel strikes, blocks, and a swing that never quite reaches its potential — no matter how hard you swing.
Jacob Tilton has a drill built around a single feel that reverses the entire pattern.
The drill
Jacob Tilton — Golf Digest Best Young Teacher in America (2024), 2023 Georgia PGA Section Champion, PGA Tour debut at the RSM Classic (2023), winner of the 91st Yamaha Atlanta Open (2024), and Junior Golf Leader at Ansley Golf Club and Settindown Creek — uses the pathpal with an alignment stick to create a physical delivery zone that catches early extension in real time.
See the full drill at pathpalgolf.com/pages/pathpal-golf-heel-drag-exit-drill-for-eliminating-early-extension.
The setup:
- Position the pathpal at your club's address angle with the alignment stick pointing toward you
- Place the ball underneath the rod at the tip
- Deliver the club lower and more openly, feeling the heel drag through impact
- If you stand up and extend early, the rod catches the club — instant, undeniable feedback
The heel-drag sensation Jacob trains is the physical opposite of the early extension move. Where early extension has the toe digging and the handle rising, the heel-drag feel keeps the delivery low, connected, and on plane through the hitting zone.
Watch the drill
Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=-TvBUONfC60
Why it works
You either extend and catch the stick, or you stay in your posture and deliver it lower. The choice is physical, not analytical.
Jacob's approach is rooted in feel-based feedback rather than mechanical cues. He's not asking golfers to think about hip depth or spine angle mid-swing — he's giving them a sensation (heel dragging) and a consequence (catching the rod) that together rewire the delivery pattern faster than any verbal instruction can.
The pathpal placement is what makes it work at the right moment. The rod sits right at the delivery zone — not during transition, not at the top of the backswing — so the feedback lands exactly when the early extension fault manifests.
Early extension pattern: toe digs into the ground, handle stands up, body rises out of posture through impact.
Heel-drag pattern: delivery stays low and open, heel has a dragging sensation, handle works below and outside the rod tip — the swing exits on plane.
Who this is for
- ✓ Golfers who hit thin shots or struggle with heel/hosel contact
- ✓ Players who've been told they "stand up" or "early extend" through impact
- ✓ Anyone whose swing feels powerful but never translates to consistent compression
- ✓ Golfers working on ground force and delivery angle who need a postural anchor
Try it
Set up the pathpal at address shaft angle with the ball at the rod tip. Make 10 slow-motion swings focusing entirely on the heel-drag sensation — no ball. Then add the ball and hit 15 shots at 75% effort. Pay attention to whether you're catching the rod and on which swings the contact feels most pure. Those clean ones are the pattern you're building toward.
Full drill breakdown: pathpalgolf.com/pages/pathpal-golf-heel-drag-exit-drill-for-eliminating-early-extension
- Set the pathpal to your club's address angle, alignment stick pointing toward you
- Place the ball under the rod at the tip
- Make 10 slow-motion rehearsal swings — no ball — focusing on the heel-drag sensation
- Add the ball and hit 15 shots at 75% effort
- Track which swings catch the rod and which produce the cleanest contact
- The clean reps with no rod contact are the delivery pattern to build toward
Related drills
Early extension is a lower-body sequencing fault with multiple entry points for correction. These drills from the pathpal library target the same fault chain from complementary angles:
Anti-Early Extension Drill — Matt Tindale
A pool noodle on a 90-degree pathpal rod sits just outside the trail leg — if the leg fires toward the ball on the downswing, it catches the noodle immediately. Same fault, trail-leg-specific feedback.
"Stop the Slide" Lead Leg Rotation — Eric Barlow
A 90-degree pathpal barrier outside the lead leg enforces rotation over slide through impact — the lead-side complement to Jacob's delivery drill, building the same connected, postural exit from the opposite side.
The pathpal Hip Rotation Drill — Brent Witcher
Former Korn Ferry Tour player Brent Witcher uses a lead-knee pathpal barrier to teach the shift-then-rotate sequence — preventing the hip slide that drives the standing-up pattern Jacob's drill directly addresses.
Browse the full drill library: pathpalgolf.com/pages/all-drills
About Jacob Tilton
Jacob Tilton is a Golf Digest Best Young Teacher in America (2024), 2023 Georgia PGA Section Champion, and PGA Tour participant at the RSM Classic (2023). He is a Junior Golf Leader at Ansley Golf Club and Settindown Creek, and holds Trackman Level 2, V1 Level 3, Boditrak, and Plane Truth certifications.
@tiltgolfer on Instagram · pathpal on Instagram
Frequently asked questions
What is the "heel drag" feel and why does it fix early extension?
The heel drag sensation refers to keeping the delivery low and connected through impact — as if the heel is being pulled along rather than the toe digging in and the handle rising. It's the direct physical opposite of the early extension pattern. Jacob trains this feel because golfers who early extend almost always have the toe digging and the handle standing up at impact; the heel-drag cue reverses both tendencies at once.
How do I set up the pathpal for this drill?
Position the pathpal so the alignment stick is angled at your club's address angle, pointing toward you, with the ball placed underneath the rod at the tip. The rod creates an upper boundary at the delivery zone — if you stand up or extend early, the club contacts the stick. The goal is to deliver the club lower and more openly, keeping the hands below and slightly outside the rod tip as you swing through.
What ball flights does early extension typically cause?
Early extension produces a range of contact and direction issues: thin shots (the low point rises with the body), heel strikes or shanks (the hosel moves toward the ball as the body extends), and pushes or blocks to the right (the club path flattens and the face stays open). Some golfers also develop a flip through impact as a compensation, which introduces a mix of pulls and inconsistent face angles on top of the original fault.
How do I know if I'm early extending versus rotating correctly?
The simplest check: record your swing from face-on and watch your spine angle through impact. If the hips thrust noticeably toward the ball and the spine straightens significantly before or during impact, that's early extension. Jacob's on-range feel check is equally useful — if the toe is digging and the handle is rising through impact, you're extending. If the heel has a dragging sensation and the handle stays lower, you're maintaining your posture.
Why does Jacob start with slow-motion swings before hitting balls?
The heel-drag feel is a new motor pattern for most golfers, and the brain needs to register it before the swing reaches full speed. Ten slow-motion rehearsal swings without a ball let you focus entirely on the sensation without the instinct to guide the ball. Once the feel is established, adding the ball at 75% effort keeps you focused on the delivery rather than the outcome — and the clean contact reinforces the pattern faster than full-speed swings would.
Ready to stop standing up and start delivering?
pathpal gives you the physical feedback to feel — and fix — the early extension fault in real time, rep after rep.
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