Tommy Fleetwood's Odd Range Drill Gives Instant Ball-Striking Feedback

Tommy Fleetwood is one of the best ball-strikers on the PGA TOUR, with the 35-year-old continuing to prove he should be mentioned alongside some of the other elite pro golfers.

But even with Fleetwood's ball-striking prowess, he continues to grind on the driving range to build better habits to maintain, or even elevate, his golf swing.

A couple of years ago, a top-ranked golf teacher I know was roaming the range at the US Open. While observing different players go through their routines, this coach glanced at Tommy Fleetwood and noticed an odd driving range drill: An alignment stick pressed against the side of his head throughout the golf swing.

At first glance, the drill looks a little... strange. But there's a reason why one of the world's best ball-strikers relies on it during golf practice.

Why Tommy Fleetwood Uses This Alignment Stick Drill

https://youtube.com/shorts/BrPrIhKhmh8?si=AAe2di8H7MHQ4Q4X

In the video above, you can see Tommy Fleetwood's strange driving range drill - which I described above.

After talking to the golf teacher who filmed the video, I began to better understand the purpose of the drill.

The alignment stick acts as an instant feedback tool, helping Fleetwood monitor excessive head movement, and helping him maintain a more stable center throughout the swing. For amateur golfers searching for better contact and more consistency, it's one of the simplest golf tips you can borrow from a world-class player.

Ironically enough, the goal of the drill isn't to keep your head perfectly still.

Instead, the alignment stick's there to create instant awareness whenever Fleetwood's head moves too much during the swing. If it loses contact or he shifts off of it, he's likely using an unnecessary movement that could lead to a negative shot result.

Since many amateurs tend to slide instead of turn in their golf swing, Fleetwood's drill is a good way to feel how much you might be doing that.

Better Feedback Leads to Better Golf Practice

One reason Fleetwood's drill is so effective is because it removes the guesswork from any golf practice.

Look, most golfers head to the driving range to hit ball after ball without much intent or understanding about why shots turn out either good or bad. But this odd drill allows instant feedback that can lead to real-time adjustments - and better ball-striking results.

When the head remains relatively stable, it's easier to maintain better golf posture and rotate around a consistent center. That's a major reason why elite players like Fleetwood are able to strike the golf ball so consistently.

How Tommy Fleetwood's Driving Range Drill Improves Contact

Since the alignment stick acts as a baseline for where the head should be in the golf swing, it allows the rest of your swing sequence to be aligned. This naturally helps with your posture and balance, which, over time, can lead to finding the low-point of the golf club to compress shots more consistently.

What exactly is the low point of the golf club? It's simply when the club bottoms out during the swing and engages the turf - which, when engaged properly, will lead to compressing the golf ball before creating a divot.

So by using Fleetwood's drill to stay more centered throughout the swing, golfers can improve their ability to return the club to the ball more predictably, leading to cleaner strikes and better overall ball-striking.

Avoid a Common Mistake When Using this Drill

If you're someone who's trying this drill on the driving range, the No. 1 mistake amateur players do is freezing their head in place.

Remember, the golf swing is a dynamic motion and there are moving pieces. While you don't want your head flopping around too much - and instead act as the center-base of which to rotate back and through - your head will naturally move as your body turns.

So the objective isn't complete stillness, it's to eliminate any unnecessary movement that can make consistent contact more difficult.

Instead, focus on maintaining light contact with the alignment stick, and then allow your chest and torso to rotate around your spine. That's exactly the type of feedback Tommy Fleetwood is looking for during his golf practice.

Every player hopes to achieve elite ball-striking status. While it's difficult to imagine ever striping it like Fleetwood does, average and beginner golfers can at least steal his trusted golf drill - which could be the key to more consistent contact.

Craving more golf swing tips and golf instruction? Be sure to follow Nick Dimengo on Instagram, and subscribe to Rainmakers Golf on YouTube for more relatable swing advice to help your game improve.

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This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 10:40 AM.