Chris Kirk is one of golf's best draw players. Here's how he does it

Most tour players learn how to sling draws from an early age, and most amateur golfers dream of doing the same. It’s a shortcut for more distance, but it’s also very timing dependent. There comes a time when golfers need to learn to get it under control and power-up a different way.

Just ask Chris Kirk.

"I've always moved the ball from right to left," he says. "When I was younger in high school and college, it was moving a lot. You could call it a sling-hook. But as I've gotten older, and my swing has gotten a little better, I don't sling it as much."

Kirk’s coach, Golf Digest 50 Best Teacher Scott Hamilton, says taming the draw, and learning to generate more power with his body, has been the pair’s goal. It’s something the rest of us can learn from, too.

“He was a 113 mph, 114 mph guy before, now he can hit 118 mph,” Hamilton says. “His arms would collapse against him. His gym work has helped him get way wider at the top, which has helped his timing aspect. When he wants to hit one hard he’s got that gear in there that he didn’t have previously.”

Clubhead starts outside, then drops under

Kirk's first checkpoint comes in his takeaway. His tendency is to whip the clubhead inside, and open the clubface, which can turn Kirk's tight draw into a high-right block.

"I spend a lot of time on the first three feet of my backswing. It's a big key for me," he says. "I like to feel like the clubhead tracks back outside my hands, and the clubface a little shut. That lets me feel like I can drop the club under on the downswing, and attack the inside of the ball."

Load the right side

Kirk, like most draw players, tends to drop and throw his arms out to the right. It's a move that can overcook a draw and turn it into a high hook. Coach Hamilton says this happens when Kirk doesn't load enough into his right side, which can cause his pelvis to get too far ahead of the ball and leave his arms too much behind him.

“He had the tendency as the club went back he’d already start pushing his pelvis in front of the ball. Then he had to throw the brakes on and then try and line the face up,” Hamilton explains.

The more he loads into his right hip on the backswing, the better everything can turn through together.

"My tendency is to want to swing the arms too much, and not use my body," Krik says. "I want to feel like I make a big turn, but that I stay centered as I turn around."

Left arm only swings

Draws can turn to hooks when golfers start swinging too much out to the right. It's common with junior golfers, who lack the body strength to pull the club back around to the left. Kirk spent years combating this tendency and working on releasing the club more around his body by hitting shots with only his left arm.

"With the left arm only, it forces you to get the club back out in front of you," Kirk says. "As I've gotten stronger it made my tendency to get too zeroed out. That's a good thing, though. It means I can feel more draw bias in my swing, and know it won't go too far left."