It's weird—but it fixed this Masters champ's over-the-top mistake

Here's a video of Fuzzy Zoeller hitting a drive at the 1984 U.S. Open, which he went on to win.

Look closely.

Did you see it?

It happens before Fuzzy makes his backswing. He sets the clubhead behind the golf ball, then slides the clubhead severely away from him, so much that the heel is behind the golf ball, and the rest of the clubhead is outside the ball.

At first I thought it was a kind of nervous, unintentional quirk. But it wasn't. Writing in a 1984 edition of Golf Digest, which you can read in our archive right here, Fuzzy said it was an intentional "mental reminder" which became a "habit."

"I have the habit of sliding the club out so that the ball is lined up facing the heel or the hosel instead of the screws or sweet spot. This tells me to try to pull the heel of the clubhead down first in my downswing...with that little sliding motion out to the heel I get away from that swinging over the top motion."

The quirky move, explained

• The problem: Zoeller says he and many amateurs struggle with looping the club inside on the backswing, and then over the top.

• The solution: Zoeller intentionally tried to do the opposite. Sliding the clubhead outside, then feeling it loop back inside.

• Why it worked: It reminded Zoeller to feel a figure-eight motion—outside then inside—which the legendary Lee Trevino says was his best slice tip.

So yes, it looked strange, and was a little quirky. But it worked.

Check out the full article here in our archive here.