If your iron strike feels inconsistent — heavy one swing, thin the next, and a lateral slide between the two — the L-to-L drill is one of the fastest fixes in golf. It’s a half-swing rehearsal that locks in club path, body rotation, and tempo by trimming the swing down to its two most diagnostic positions. In this guide you’ll learn what the L-to-L drill is, why it works, how to set it up, and the most common mistakes that turn it from a fix into a band-aid.
What the L-to-L Drill Is
The L-to-L drill is a half-swing rehearsal where the lead arm forms an “L” with the club shaft at two checkpoints: the backswing position when the lead arm is parallel to the ground, and the mirrored follow-through position when the trail arm is parallel to the ground. At both checkpoints the wrist hinge creates a 90-degree angle between the forearm and the shaft, so each side of the swing looks like the letter L. The body still turns, the weight still shifts, and you still strike a real ball — you simply cap the swing length at those L positions and resist the urge to wind any further.
For a complementary drill that trains the same shaft-lean and lead-wrist geometry at full speed, see our guide to the impact bag drill — it pairs naturally with the L-to-L pattern.
The drill predates the modern teaching era. It appears in instruction books from the 1950s onward and has been a fixture in tour player warm-ups for decades. Justin Rose, Tom Watson, and Justin Thomas have all been filmed running L-to-L reps before tournament rounds. It survives because it isolates the three variables that account for the majority of ball-striking errors: face control, path, and low-point.
Why the L-to-L Drill Works
Most amateurs over-swing. The arms run past parallel at the top, the trail elbow flies, the lead wrist cups, and the downswing becomes a recovery sequence rather than a delivery sequence. By capping the backswing at the lead-arm-parallel L position, you eliminate the time and space that compensations need to develop. The same logic applies on the follow-through side: a controlled finish at the trail-arm-parallel L position forces full rotation through impact rather than a hands-only flip.
Three specific mechanics improve when the drill is done correctly. First, sequencing: with less length to work with, the lower body has to lead or the strike will collapse. This is the same kinematic sequence that every good ball-striker shares — pelvis, torso, lead arm, club, in that order. Second, path: a shorter backswing makes an over-the-top move physically harder to execute, which is why instructors prescribe the drill for chronic slicers. Third, low-point: the abbreviated finish keeps your sternum ahead of the ball through impact, the position that produces ball-first contact.
How to Set Up the Drill
Club Selection
Use a 7-, 8-, or 9-iron. The shaft length is short enough to keep the L position compact and the loft is high enough that face control is unforgiving — exactly what you want when diagnosing strike. Wedges work but are too easy; long irons and woods are too long and obscure feedback. Stick with a mid-iron.
Ball Position
Place the ball roughly off the logo on your lead-side chest — slightly forward of center but not as forward as a driver. With the swing length shortened, your low point will be more centered than in a full swing. Trying to play the ball off the lead heel with a half swing produces thin contact.
Stance and Tempo Cue
Narrow your stance by about an inch from your normal mid-iron width. Narrow stances reward rotation and punish lateral sliding, which is exactly the feedback the drill needs to deliver. Pick a tempo count — many players use “one-two” with the backswing taking one beat and the through-swing taking one beat. Tour pros average roughly a 3-to-1 backswing-to-downswing tempo ratio, but in this drill a 1-to-1 feel is fine because the swing is so much shorter.
Step-by-Step Execution
Run through the drill in five phases. Treat each phase as a checkpoint, not a position to race through.
- Address. Mid-iron, narrow stance, ball center-forward, hands ahead of the ball, weight 55 percent on the lead side.
- To the first L. Turn the chest until your lead arm is parallel to the ground. The club shaft should point straight up, perpendicular to the lead arm, with the toe of the club pointing roughly skyward. The lead wrist is flat. The trail elbow is folded but not flared. Pause and check the position in a mirror or on video.
- Transition. Initiate the downswing with the lead hip and rib cage, not the hands. Many players find it useful to feel the trail heel begin to lift before the hands move.
- Impact. Drive the chest toward the target, with the shaft leaning forward and the hands ahead of the clubhead. Compression should feel like the ball is pinned against the turf for a split second.
- To the second L. Continue rotating until the trail arm is parallel to the ground on the through side, mirroring the backswing checkpoint. The toe of the club again points roughly skyward. Hold the finish for two full seconds before relaxing.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Swinging Too Long
The single most common error is letting the backswing drift past the L checkpoint. If your lead arm is climbing toward the ear, you have lost the drill. Tour player Cameron Smith uses a mid-thigh tee placement to anchor the backswing length — when the clubhead reaches that tee, the backswing is over. Try the same trick at home.
Hands-Only Motion
Because the swing is shortened, players often forget to rotate the body and try to manufacture power with the hands. This produces a quick flip through impact and either a hook or a high ballooning miss. The fix is to keep your sternum rotating all the way to the second L position. If you find yourself in reverse pivot territory — weight stuck on the trail side at finish — you’ve stopped rotating.
Over-the-Top Downswing
A shortened swing reduces but doesn’t eliminate the chance of casting the club from the top. If the second L collapses with the clubhead higher than your hands and a chicken-wing lead arm, you’re throwing the club outside the plane. Pair this drill with the dedicated path work in our over-the-top fix sequence for a complete remedy.
Decelerating Into Impact
Half-swings tempt players to ease off through the ball. Don’t. The L-to-L drill is a full-effort rehearsal — short, but committed. Your goal is the same smash factor you would aim for with a full swing: 1.30 to 1.38 on a 7-iron. Quitting on the shot trains the worst possible delivery pattern.
Progressions and Variations
Step Up to a Three-Quarter Swing
Once you can produce ten clean, repeatable L-to-L shots with a 7-iron, lengthen the backswing to a three-quarter position (lead arm at roughly 10 o’clock) while keeping the through-swing capped at the second L. This combination is one of the best ways to retain the body-led downswing while regaining yardage.
Pair With the 9-to-3
The 9-to-3 drill is the L-to-L drill’s close cousin — same checkpoints, slightly different cue (clock face vs. letter shape). Alternating sets of five L-to-L reps with five 9-to-3 reps reinforces the same motion from two different mental angles, which often locks the feel in faster than either drill alone.
Add a Pause
Insert a one-second pause at the first L checkpoint before starting the downswing. The pause kills momentum, which means your transition must come from the body — the arms simply cannot fall on their own. This is brutal feedback for over-the-top players and one of the fastest path correctives in the game.
When to Use the L-to-L Drill
The L-to-L drill earns its keep in three situations. First, as a warm-up: ten reps with a wedge and ten with a 7-iron before a range session sets a tempo and path template for the swings that follow. Second, as a fault corrective: if you’re spraying the ball and don’t have time for a lesson, two buckets of L-to-L reps will quiet most strike issues by the next bucket. Third, as a feel-check between holes: a half-speed L-to-L practice swing between shots resets your tempo when the round starts running away from you.
If you’ve been working on a broader swing rebuild — committing to stack and tilt, fixing a slice with path drills, or studying the late-hands position made famous by Ben Hogan’s secret — the L-to-L drill is the rehearsal that ties those concepts to a strikeable ball. It’s the cheapest reps in golf and one of the highest-yielding.
The Bottom Line
The L-to-L drill works because it shortens the swing to the two checkpoints where most amateur compensations originate, then forces the body to deliver the club with rotation instead of hands. Used as a daily warm-up, it builds tempo and path. Used as a fault corrective, it eliminates the time amateurs need to throw the club off-line. Run a dozen reps with a 7-iron next time you’re on the range, hold each finish for two full seconds, and let the contact tell you the rest.
