Tommy Fleetwood has been seen doing it. Elite instructors build entire lesson plans around it. And Jacob Tilton uses it as the capstone of his entire path correction series — the drill that catches both the over-the-top slicer and the too-inside hooker in the same setup.
It's a half-swing gate drill. And the TrueStrike makes it the most precise version available.
The drill
Jacob Tilton — Golf Digest Best Young Teacher in America (2024), 2023 Georgia PGA Section Champion, PGA Tour participant (RSM Classic, 2023), winner of the 91st Yamaha Atlanta Open (2024), and Director of Instruction at Ansley Golf Club — uses both TrueStrike pads to create a bilateral gate around the impact zone that simultaneously corrects both major path faults.
- Position one TrueStrike pad to catch an over-the-top path, the other to catch an excessively inside-out path
- Leave a couple of inches of clearance from the shaft end to each pad at address
- Start with slow-motion half swings — back to waist high (9 o'clock), through to waist high (3 o'clock)
- Check for a neutral face and neutral hands at both waist-high positions
- Clear both pads = neutral path, neutral face, pure strike
Jacob demonstrates the faults in real time: an over-the-top swing catches the outside pad, and an excessively inside-out swing catches the inside pad. A clean pass through the gate means everything is where it needs to be.
Watch the drill
See Jacob Tilton demonstrate the Precision Gate Drill at Ansley Golf Club — including live demonstrations of both fault catches and what a clean, neutral 9-to-3 swing looks like through the gate.
Watch on YouTube: The TrueStrike Precision Gate Drill with Jacob Tilton →
Why it works
This drill is the culmination of Jacob's entire path correction approach. Where the Wedding China Drill fixes one specific fault and the Outside-In Fade Drill fixes the other, the Precision Gate Drill addresses both simultaneously — because the correct swing lives in the corridor between them.
The closer you make the gate, the harder the drill — and the better your center strike gets. Start with clearance. Earn your way tighter.
Why the 9-to-3 framework changes everything
By limiting the swing to waist-high back and through, Jacob eliminates the timing, tempo, and power variables that obscure path and face faults at full speed. Neutral at both checkpoints means neutral through impact. Clear the gate at half speed, and the full swing follows.
The two checkpoints — the 9 o'clock backswing position and the 3 o'clock finish — are where you pause and verify. At each stop, Jacob looks for a neutral clubface (roughly parallel to the forearm) and neutral wrist position. These pauses make the drill a slow-motion self-diagnostic tool, not a guess-and-check ball-striking exercise.
Why this drill scales with your game
The progressive difficulty element makes this drill permanently useful regardless of skill level. Jacob explicitly invites golfers to tighten the gate as their accuracy improves — the same drill that corrects a beginner's over-the-top move can also sharpen a scratch golfer's center contact to tour-level precision. As the tolerance narrows, the nervous system recruits more precise motor control to consistently clear both barriers.
Many golfers see Tommy Fleetwood working on these exact concepts — solid strike, neutral path, neutral plane, neutral face. The 9-to-3 gate drill is Jacob's precision implementation of those same principles, with the added benefit of simultaneous bilateral feedback for both path faults in the same setup.
Who this is for
Both faults, one session
Golfers who need to address over-the-top and inside-out path faults in a single focused practice.
Beyond individual drills
Players who've worked through separate path correction drills and want one comprehensive challenge.
Long-term precision work
Golfers looking for a scalable drill that gets harder as they improve — all the way to tour-level strike precision.
Try it
Set both TrueStrike pads with a couple inches of clearance and run 20 slow-motion half swings, stopping at both waist-high checkpoints to verify your face and hand positions. Once you're consistently clearing both pads, close the gap slightly and repeat. Remove the pads after 15 clean passes and hit five full shots — the neutral delivery you built in the gate will show up immediately.
Continue your training
The Precision Gate Drill is the capstone of Jacob's path correction series. These are the drills that lead into it — each one addressing one half of the gate before you put both together.
The drill that builds one half of the gate — training the inside-out path that clears the outside pad. Jacob uses the TrueStrike to train the same concept that used to require your wedding china. Master this in isolation before adding the bilateral challenge.
The drill that builds the other half of the gate — catching the path that's gone too far from the inside. Together with the Wedding China Drill, it defines the full corridor the Precision Gate enforces. If you're blocking or hooking after fixing a slice, start here.
Before the gate, understand the plane. PGA Master Professional Eric Barlow teaches the backswing/downswing plane relationship in four words and zero balls — the conceptual foundation that makes the Precision Gate's bilateral feedback meaningful rather than confusing.
About Jacob Tilton
Jacob Tilton is a Golf Digest Best Young Teacher in America (2024), 2023 Georgia PGA Section Champion, and PGA Tour participant (RSM Classic, 2023). He is the Director of Instruction at Ansley Golf Club and holds Trackman Level 2, V1 Level 3, Boditrak, and Plane Truth certifications.
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The gate that catches every path fault
The TrueStrike by pathpal gives you padded, full-speed feedback on path and impact — without damaging your clubs or your hands. One setup. Both faults. Instant results.
Shop the TrueStrike by pathpalFrequently asked questions
How do I set up the TrueStrike Precision Gate Drill?
Use both TrueStrike pads to create a gate around the impact zone — one positioned to catch an over-the-top path, one to catch an excessively inside-out path. Jacob recommends starting with a couple of inches of clearance between the shaft end and each pad at address. This gives you room to succeed while still providing meaningful feedback when the path deviates in either direction. As your accuracy improves, tighten the gate.
What are the two checkpoints in the 9-to-3 framework?
The two checkpoints are both waist-high positions — the 9 o'clock backswing and the 3 o'clock finish. At each stop, Jacob checks for a neutral clubface (roughly parallel to the forearm) and neutral wrist position. These pauses turn the drill into a slow-motion self-diagnostic: if both checkpoints are clean and the gate is cleared, the path and face through impact are correct.
Why does Jacob start this drill at half swing rather than full speed?
The half swing eliminates timing, tempo, and power variables so you can isolate path and face at the most critical moment. Jacob's approach across all his drills is consistent: if you can't perform the movement slowly, you can't perform it at full speed. Once the neutral path and face are grooved at half speed with clean gate passes, you progress to tighter settings and fuller swings.
What is the Tommy Fleetwood 9-to-3 drill and how does this relate?
Tommy Fleetwood has been widely documented using a half-swing gate drill to train neutral path, neutral plane, neutral face, and pure strike at impact. Jacob explicitly references Fleetwood in the video — the core concepts are the same. The TrueStrike Precision Gate Drill is Jacob's implementation of those principles, with the added benefit of bilateral feedback that catches both path faults simultaneously.
Does this drill work for beginners and advanced golfers?
Yes — the drill is intentionally scalable. A beginner starts with a wider gate to build the basic neutral-path pattern. An advanced golfer tightens the gate until even small deviations in either direction are caught. Jacob puts it simply: the closer you set the pads, the harder the drill and the better your center strike gets. The same setup works at every level because the difficulty is controlled by the golfer.
