How to Start Your Golf Swing with the Front Loader Drill
Getting the golf swing started can be one of the hardest parts of the motion.
A lot of golfers get set over the ball, try to hold everything perfectly still, and then struggle to create a smooth takeaway. The body feels locked. The hands want to take over. The swing starts late, tight, or out of sequence.
The Front Loader Drill gives you a different feel.
Instead of starting frozen at address, you begin with the club out in front of you. That small change helps you feel motion, pressure, and rhythm before the club ever gets to the top of the backswing.
Why Static Can Create Problems
For years, many golfers were taught to remove movement from the setup. No forward press. No trigger. No extra motion.
The idea was simple: get set, stay still, and do not move out of position.
But for a lot of players, that creates the opposite problem. They become too static. Instead of being ready to move, they feel locked over the ball.
Mike’s point is that this is not how most athletic movement works. In other sports, the body often makes a small move in one direction before moving the other way. If you want to move right, you may first shift left. If you want to move forward, you may first load back.
Golf can work the same way.
The swing does not have to start from a frozen position. It can start from motion.
The Feel
The Front Loader Drill starts with the club out in front of your body.
From there, when you move the club back, your body naturally begins to load into your trail side. You are not trying to drag the club away with only your hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, and hips one piece at a time.
You are using motion to organize the swing.
As the club starts back, feel pressure move into your trail foot. Your body begins to get out of the way. The club is still early in the backswing, but you are already in a better position to start changing direction.
That is the value of the drill.
It helps you feel the swing starting earlier, more athletically, and with better sequence.
How to Practice This
Start without worrying about hitting a perfect shot.
Place the club out in front of your body. Let it hover in front of you instead of setting it behind the ball like a normal address position.
Then rehearse this rhythm:
Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Swing.
The movement does not need to be big. You are not trying to sway all over the place. You are simply giving your body a trigger so the swing does not start from a dead stop.
As the club moves back, feel pressure move into your trail foot. Let the club and body work together. Then move back toward the lead side and swing through.
The goal is to feel the whole motion, not to manufacture a takeaway with only your hands.
How to Use the Same Feel at Address
The drill is easy to feel when the club starts out in front.
But on the course, the ball is on the ground and the club starts behind the ball. So how do you bring the same idea into your regular setup?
Use a small trigger.
That may feel like a slight forward press, a small forward kick, or a subtle pressure shift before the club starts back.
The rhythm is the same:
Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Swing.
That little motion gives your swing a starting point. It helps your body avoid getting frozen over the ball and gives the backswing a natural trigger.
The Mistake to Avoid
The mistake is turning the drill into a hand-and-arm takeaway.
If the club starts back and your hands go first while the body stays stuck, you miss the point. The drill is not about dragging the club away. It is about using motion to help the body, pressure, and club organize together.
Watch for these common issues:
- Starting the backswing with only the hands
- Staying frozen over the ball
- Missing the pressure shift into the trail foot
- Making the trigger move too big
- Rushing from the trigger into the hit
Keep the motion small, athletic, and repeatable.
What to Practice
Use the Front Loader Drill to build awareness of how your swing starts.
Start with the club out in front. Move into your trail side. Feel the pressure shift. Then move back toward the lead side and swing.
Once that feels natural, bring the same rhythm into your normal setup with a small forward press or trigger move.
You are not trying to add unnecessary movement. You are trying to remove the stiffness that keeps the swing from starting naturally.
The Next Step
A good golf swing does not have to begin from a frozen position.
The Front Loader Drill helps you feel how motion can trigger the backswing, load the trail side, and prepare the body to change direction. When you can feel that rhythm, the start of the swing becomes less forced and more athletic.
Try it slowly first.
Then bring the same left-right-left rhythm into your normal setup and see how much easier it is to start the club without getting locked up over the ball.