The vast majority of instruction — and most of the pathpal drill series — addresses the most common amateur fault: a steep, over-the-top downswing that produces slices, pulls, and outside-in paths. But there's a significant population of better players who have the opposite problem. They've shallowed the club, sometimes too well. The body outpaces the arms, the club drops too far behind, and they get stuck — trapped in a position where the only way out is a flip or a snap hook.
David Potts uses Tommy Fleetwood's own maintenance drill to fix it.
See the full drill here: Tommy Fleetwood's Club in Front Drill — pathpal drill page
The drill
David Potts — Golf Digest Best Teachers in Every State (2024–2025), Golf Digest Best Teachers in Georgia (2007, 2008), Georgia PGA Assistant Professional of the Year (2011), Assistant's Division Player of the Year (2008, 2009, 2012), Director of Player Development at Country Club of the South, Assistant Golf Coach at Oglethorpe University, Class A Teaching Professional since 2009, and SAM Putt Lab Instructor Level I & II Certified — sets the pathpal at 65 degrees to match the natural shaft plane of an 8-iron and positions it just inside the delivery path.
The setup
- Set the pathpal to 65 degrees — matching the 8-iron shaft angle
- Position the rod just inside the downswing path, on the same side as the club approaches from
- A correct, on-plane delivery clears the rod
- A stuck, behind-the-body delivery catches the rod immediately
- Can be used with shots or practice swings — both provide valid feedback
Tommy Fleetwood has used this drill throughout his career as a calibration check for his downswing delivery — ensuring the club stays in front of his body in transition rather than falling behind and below the correct plane.
Watch David Potts demonstrate the drill
Watch the full drill on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqNK9MF_O1o
Why it works
The stuck fault is self-concealing. Unlike an over-the-top swing — where the steep path and slice ball flight immediately tell the golfer something is wrong — a stuck swing sometimes produces a powerful, inside-out path and a right-to-left ball flight that feels great until the timing of the hand flip fails and a snap hook appears without warning. Better players who get stuck often don't know they're stuck because their compensations have been refined over years of practice.
The stuck fault is self-concealing. A snap hook can appear without warning — and ball flight alone won't diagnose it. The pathpal at 65° exposes it on every rep without requiring a miss to learn from.
The pathpal at 65 degrees exposes the fault without requiring ball flight to diagnose it. The rod is placed at the correct plane angle — the club should pass on the target side of the rod, not drop below it. If the rod catches the downswing, the delivery was behind the plane. If it clears, the club stayed in front. David's observation that this matches the 8-iron shaft angle almost exactly is the reason the drill works: the rod isn't an arbitrary barrier — it's a physical representation of the plane the club should be on.
Who this is for
- ✓Low-handicap golfers whose dominant miss is a block or occasional snap hook with no clear trigger
- ✓Better players who have worked on shallowing and may have overcorrected to a stuck delivery
- ✓Instructors working with students who have been told to shallow the club but have gone too far in that direction
- ✓Any golfer who wants to train the same calibration drill Tommy Fleetwood uses as a regular maintenance check
Try it
- Set the pathpal at 65 degrees for an 8-iron, rod positioned just inside the downswing path.
- Make 10 slow-motion downswing rehearsals — focusing on clearing the rod by keeping the club in front of the body.
- Hit 15 shots at three-quarter speed, tracking whether the rod is cleared on each delivery.
- If the rod is consistently cleared, progress to a fuller swing and notice whether the block or hook tendency reduces.
Even without hitting balls, 15 slow-motion practice swings clearing the rod will deliver meaningful calibration feedback for any better player whose club has been drifting behind them.
Related drills
The stuck swing is one of two opposite faults a better player can develop. These three drills address the same fault family — from the same instructor and from the pathway that produces the stuck position in the first place.
The Hip Slide Stopper Drill
David's own bad habit, addressed with the pathpal at 45 degrees. The hip slide is the lower body version of getting stuck — lateral movement that should have converted to rotation. A natural companion drill from the same instructor.
"Inside Path" Corrector Drill
The shallowing overcorrection that creates a stuck delivery is the same fault Eric's drill addresses — but from the arm/hand path perspective. If the club is dropping too far behind, this drill catches the hands rising to compensate through impact.
"In-to-Out" Path Corridor Drill
Uses both pathpal halves plus a ground rod to define the full in-to-out corridor — including the backswing, downswing, and exit. For better players working on delivery from a more complete system standpoint.
Browse the full drill library: pathpalgolf.com/pages/all-drills
About David Potts
Frequently asked questions
How does David Potts set up the pathpal for Tommy Fleetwood's Club in Front Drill?
Set the pathpal to 65 degrees — a setting that matches the natural shaft angle of an 8-iron at address. Position the rod just to the inside of the club's downswing path so that a correct, on-plane delivery clears it, but a club that drops behind and gets stuck catches it immediately. The 65-degree rod mirrors the correct shaft plane, so it only penalizes a delivery that falls below that plane rather than blocking any legitimate path.
What does "getting stuck" mean and why does it happen in better players?
Getting stuck occurs when the club drops too far behind and below the correct downswing plane — typically caused by the body rotating too aggressively ahead of the arms, or by the club being over-shallowed in transition. From a stuck position, the clubface is wide open and the only way to square it through impact is to flip the hands or roll the forearms, producing a block or snap hook depending on timing. It's primarily a better player fault — lower-handicap golfers who have worked hard on shallowing sometimes overcorrect and shallow too much, leaving the club trapped behind the body.
Why is this drill associated with Tommy Fleetwood?
Tommy Fleetwood has consistently performed this drill throughout his career as a calibration check for his downswing delivery — ensuring the club stays in front of his body in transition rather than falling behind. Fleetwood's swing is built around the "club in front" principle: the trail elbow stays in front of the body, the club stays on the correct plane, and the body and arms sequence together rather than the body outrunning the club. Multiple instructors at the Tommy Fleetwood Academy have confirmed this as a regular maintenance drill for his game.
Can practice swings without a ball produce the same benefit as hitting shots?
Yes — David explicitly endorses slow-motion practice swings as a complete and effective practice session for this drill. The pathpal provides feedback without a ball: the rod either gets caught in the downswing or it doesn't. For better players working on a subtle delivery refinement rather than a gross fault correction, practice swings are often superior because the absence of ball-contact pressure allows more precise attention to where the club is in the downswing.
How does this drill differ from the other pathpal downswing plane drills?
Every other downswing plane drill in the pathpal series targets the opposite fault — a club that's too steep or too over-the-top and needs to be brought more inside. David's drill targets an over-shallowed, behind-the-body delivery that needs to be brought more in front. The pathpal rod is positioned to catch a delivery that falls below the correct plane, making this the mirror image of the shallowing corridor drills — same tool, same angle concept, opposite fault direction.
The same calibration drill Tommy Fleetwood uses. Now on your range.
pathpal is an integrated training system trusted by top-ranked PGA instructors across the country. One angle. One setup. Immediate feedback on whether the club is in front or behind.
Shop pathpal
