Rory McIlroy's interesting new driving-range training aid

It's technically offseason time, but Rory McIlroy hasn't stopped working. He's playing in the DP World Tour's Hero India Championship this week, and working hard on a new(ish) drill.

Let's break it down real quick.

What's Rory using?

It's a training aid called The Connector by Sure Golf. It's kind of a ball with different grooves and sticks coming out of various sides that's designed to be placed in your arms as you swing.

Why is Rory using it?

Rory's longtime tendency is to extend his arms out on the backswing and keep his right arm high as he does it. This may work for some golfers, but as he discussed with Golf Digest last year, when this happens it can cause his arms to get flat and his club to get across at the top of his backswing, which can create left and right misses.

How does it help?

Rory is doing his same takeaway check drill, but adding in The Connector helps do a few things:

• It keeps his right arm closer to his body
• It keeps his forearms level (and avoids his right arm getting too high)

Once he dials-in his arm structure just the way he wants on the takeaway, he can then turn everything up to the top—and usually plays well because of it.