COLUMN: Learning to draw a golf ball will help on course

Let me ask you a question and answer it as honestly as you can. Do you have the ability to draw your golf ball?

Before you answer, a draw (for right-handed players) is when the ball begins to the right of your target and turns toward the target. A pull or pull-hook begins left of the target and continues in that fashion.

More than 90 percent of the golfing public cannot draw their golf ball -- but they can pull it. The result is lost distance and the inability to shape a shot to match the course demands.

To draw the ball, your hands, wrists and arms must be relaxed enough to arrive at the ball from an inside swing path by allowing the clubface to rotate through impact.

Relaxed hands, wrists and arms are essential for allowing the arms to swing and rotate.

First, try this drill to promote clubhead feel. Hold the golf club directly in front of you with your arms outstretched. You'll feel how heavy the golf club is, as well as how much tension you have in your grip and forearms.

Now, tilt the club upward directly toward the sky. Your grip and arms will relax significantly. But you will also lose your feel for the clubhead.

Finally, tilt the club directly away from you to a 45-degree angle. Your arms will remain relaxed, but you will also have feeling for the clubhead. This is the most advantageous way to hold your club to promote a draw. You may find that it is lighter than you would normally hold it. Now you are relaxed enough to allow the clubhead to swing and rotate.

Next, try this drill to create an inside swing path.

Place your ball on a tee. Place another tee six inches directly behind the tee holding your golf ball. Be sure to push that tee all the way to the ground. Now place one final tee three inches left of the previous tee, creating a triangle. Practice taking your clubhead over the tee directly behind your golf ball, this will promote an online path.

As you swing downward, have your clubhead swing over the tee that was placed three inches from the tee directly behind the ball. Because you are relaxed, the clubhead should now be able to swing from an inside path and rotate, creating a draw.

Try these drills to see if you can take yourself out of the 90 percent who cannot draw their golf ball and place yourself in the other 10 percent.

Jeff Seman is the director of golf at Anthem Country Club. He can be reached at 914-7888.