How to Stop Pulling Golf Shots

Are you consistently pulling the golf ball left? It can be frustrating standing middle of the fairway with a wide open green to hit to, but then you find yourself consistently pulling the golf ball left of the green, missing into sand traps or rough.

There are 3 main types of pulled golf shots a golfer can hit.

These include:

1. The Pulled Straight Left – the ball starts left and heads left on a straight path
2. The Pull Slice – the ball starts left but then slices back right curving back toward center
3. The Pull Hook – the ball starts left and then hooks even further left with lots of curve

So what causes the pulled golf shot? And what is the fix?

Let’s explore possible causes below and use the following golf drills to help you eliminate the pulled golf swing from your game.

Cause #1: Over the Top Swing Motion

The first cause of the pulled shot and most common cause is the over the top swinging motion. This is a swing path problem.

This is where a golfer attempts to swing down to the golf ball from the top of the backswing, but in doing so they lunge the chest and shoulders out over top of the golf ball with their arms, causing the arms to come from the outside of the ball’s target line. This causes you to cut across the golf ball on a swing path from outside to inside.

This sends the arms pulling left of the target through the shot and the golf ball follows.

One of the contributors or identifiers is that your trail shoulder is going to be too far forward and too high in the downswing. You’re too steep.

The Fix:

We want to get that trail shoulder to stay back and to lower (need some side bend to dip the shoulder lower). This will allow for a more shallow golf swing that can come from the inside.

We can do this at the setup by making sure the trail shoulder is lowered from some spine tilt away from the target and make sure the shoulder is turned back slightly. So the shoulders are now aiming to the right a little bit instead of aiming parallel to the target line or aiming left, which could be causing the pull.

We can do this during the backswing. If you’re not making enough of a turn, the shoulder could be staying to far forward and to high. A bigger shoulder turn back on the backswing gives the hands more space to drop inside on the downswing.

On the downswing the trail shoulder might be extending forward and staying high. Instead we want to keep the trail shoulder back and feel like it’s coming from underneath rather than overtop.

Cause #2: Closed Clubface

If the clubface is turned closed at impact it will start the ball left of the intended target line.

It’s possible you started off your setup with a closed clubface at address, but more commonly, golfers will close the face during the swing by bowing their left wrist (lead hand gripping the club) or by rotating the face closed due to a very strong grip position with the hands on the grip of the club.

The Fix for a Closed Clubface:

Focus on neutralizing the clubface, not changing your swing path.

Start by checking your grip so you can see 2–2½ knuckles on your lead hand, not 3–4. From there, feel the lead wrist staying flat or slightly cupped through impact rather than bowed.

A helpful feel is keeping the clubface matching your spine angle as you approach impact, instead of letting it roll shut. This will allow the face to stay square longer and start the ball on line.

Cause #3: Spearing the Ball

On the downswing, a golfer may try to pull the butt of the club outwards towards the ball, known as “spearing”.

As they do this, the arms end up pulling the club left during the swing motion, causing the pulled golf shot.

This happens because the arms race ahead of the body rotation, getting everything out of sync. The arms are now coming from the outside so as the body rotates it causes the arms to pull leftward across the ball.

The Fix:

Try to focus on starting the downswing with the hips beginning to rotate toward the target while dropping the hands down towards your back hip to get underneath the shoulder’s swing plane. Then rotating the body (sternum) so the arms can swing inside to outside, creating a nice swing path for a draw.

Cause #4: Arms Get Stuck Behind Body Rotation

The opposite of spearing is when the arms stay high and back too long during the downswing and get left behind while the body is rotating through the downswing. The arms have a hard time swinging to the right (inside to outside) when the body is already rotated too far to the left.

This causes the arms to pull left with the body’s rotation, resulting in a leftward golf shot.

The Fix for Arms Getting Stuck

Slow down the upper-body rotation and allow the arms to catch up earlier in the downswing.

A helpful feel is keeping your chest closed slightly longer while the arms drop to waist height. This gives the arms space to swing outward toward the target line before the body fully unwinds.

Think: arms lowering first, chest rotation second.

Cause #5: Too Shallow of Swing Plane

A swing that becomes excessively shallow can push the hands too far inside on the downswing. When this happens, the clubhead lags behind and the golfer instinctively flips the hands to square the face.

That flip often shuts the clubface, causing the ball to start left.

The Fix for an Overly Shallow Plane

Feel the hands working slightly more vertically in the downswing so they don’t drop too far behind your body.

This doesn’t mean swinging steep — it simply means restoring enough angle so the clubface can return to square without needing a last-second hand flip.

Cause #6: Arms Pull Left After Impact Too Soon

Many instructors talk about “extension” through impact, where the arms stay long as the club moves down the target line before curving left on the follow-through.

Golfers who pull shots often collapse early. The elbows bend too soon, the arms pull inward, and a chicken-wing motion appears, dragging the club left immediately after contact.

The Fix for Early Collapse

Place a second golf ball about three feet in front of your main ball on the target line.

As you swing, feel the clubhead extending toward that second ball after impact before it naturally wraps around your body. This trains proper extension and prevents the arms from pulling left too early.

How to Fix the Pulled Golf Shot?

Start by analyzing your golf swing to determine what’s causing the pull left. Is it swing path? Is it club face? Is it body rotation? Use the different causes discussed to diagnose what you are doing wrong.

Then work to correct that motion you’re making doing slower practice swings where you replace it with the proper motion.

For example, if you’re puling the club out and away from the body on the downswing causing the over the top swing, then work on what it feels like to drop the hands more vertically down towards your back legs hip.

Best Drill to Stop Pulling the Golf Ball?

When I had a tendency to hit pulled golf shots, one golf drill I found super effective is taking a pool noodle and laying it on the ground pointed right to create a visual of what an inside to outside swing path looks like.

Then I would make a few shortened practice swings feeling what it’s like to swing the club from the inside and outward to the right of my ball’s target line.

Next, I setup to the ball and make the real swing, focusing on noodle to help my brain reroute the swing path inside to outside to follow the same angle the noodle is laying on the ground.

Doing this drill 15 minutes each day started changing my path and helped me stop the pulled golf shot.

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Thanks for reading today’s article!

Nick Foy – Golf Instructor