9 to 3 Drill Program for RSA

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NOTHING is more important to mastering the golf swing than perfecting the movements that you do through the hitting area. This is exactly what this program teaches you. Every single position, feeling and movement into impact and the release. If you had to do just one drill for the rest of your life, this is it. You will learn how to post up like a pro and you'll be shocked how well you start compressing the ball with such a compact swing, and you'll be pleased to find the full swing is little more than adding a little more turn to this drill.


When learning any move in the golf swing, the best place to start is obviously without a golf club.

You know by now it's all about learning how to move your body, how to engage your body, stretch muscles, lengthen muscles, relax muscles, engage muscles.

That's what the golf swing simply is.

It's no more complicated than that.

It's learning how to move your body.

Now with today's program, what we're going to do is focus on the nine to three move.

And you hear me talk about that a lot.

It's a critical way to learn the swing.

It's a critical pathway, because really, what you're learning is from.

When the club's parallel to the ground to parallel to the ground on the other side is everything that really matters in the swing.

If you get that stuff right, the rest of it is truly just little details of setting that stuff up, making it more easy to repeat those moves.

So we're going to start out first with just our body movements.

And a nine to three move is a really small move.

And at first we just say you're taking a seven iron, shouldn't really go more than 50 yards at first.

And you start getting more comfortable.

You can hit it up to maybe a hundred, 130 yards or so.

But because we're making a small swing, we don't want to try and hit it that far.

We're just trying to perfect the moves.

So the first thing we're going to work on with this nine to three move is just this initial shift and turn.

And you're only going to turn about halfway back when I have the club, that'll make more sense.

We're going to go parallel to the ground.

So what you're going to really focus on is turning about 45 degrees.

What I'm really trying to get you to focus on right now is shifting to the right and pulling that right shoulder back.

Without a club, this move should be really simple.

And so at first you may be thinking, ah, this is dumb.

Why am I doing this drill?

And just follow along with me.

Right heel into the ground, right ankle into the ground, right shoulder back.

Keep doing this move because I want you to start feeling the muscles that are activating right now.

Now you should, even right now, already I feel my right glute starting to wake up because I'm kind of sitting into it.

It's starting to say, Hey, I'm doing some work over here.

And I'm also starting to feel my obliques because that's what's twisting my rib cage.

That's what I'm trying to get you to feel while doing this drill.

Now let's put it together with the other side.

So I've got right ankle, right shoulder.

Now I'm going to shift from the left side.

You're going to notice as I do this, my head is going to look like it pitches back a little bit.

So I'm going to have more secondary axis tilt as I shift to the left and pivot my hips just about 30 degrees open.

Right shoulder back, weight to the right, left ankle, left hip.

Right shoulder, right ankle, left ankle, left hip.

Notice I didn't say anything about my shoulders on the way down.

Right shoulder, right ankle, left ankle, left hip.

Now this would technically put me into an impact position.

So how would I add the three o'clock position to this?

You won't without a golf club because that would require you to do something with your hands.

And at this point we shouldn't be doing anything with our hands.

So when you're doing this drill without a golf club, right shoulder, right ankle, left ankle, left hip.

You stop at impact because the only reason you would ever keep going past here is momentum, which is created by the golf club.

Golf club's moving fast.

It's going to pull your body into this follow through position.

You never try and train yourself to get there.

Right ankle, right shoulder, left ankle, left hip.

Now I'm going to try it with my arms out.

Right ankle, right shoulder.

Hands go to three o'clock or excuse me, nine o'clock.

I want you to imagine with your hands that you could shake my hand if I was standing on the other side of you.

And now from here, left ankle, left hip, perfect impact position.

Piece of cake, right shoulder, right ankle, left ankle, left hip, perfect impact position.

You're going to look just like a tour pro.

Keep doing it.

Right shoulder, right ankle, left ankle, left hip, perfect impact position.

You're doing great.

This is how you're going to start learning these critical moves in the swing.

At the end of the day, what matters more than impact?

Nothing.

So if we can get this sequence down from moving halfway back into impact, as we add a golf club to this, which we're going to do in just a second, keep doing the reps.

We're in a perfect impact position.

We're going to learn how to get into a perfect release, right shoulder, right ankle, left ankle, left hip, we do it from down the line.

First I'll do it without my arms out there, right shoulder, right ankle, got a little flex in my knees.

Still kind of sitting slightly into the right side.

Now I'm going to go shift my weight back to my left ankle.

Move my left hip out of the way.

Shoulders are square.

Hips are slightly open.

Right shoulder, right ankle, right hip, left shoulder, excuse me, left ankle, left hip.

Arms out.

Right shoulder, right ankle.

You and I could shake hands right here.

Left ankle, left hip.

Perfect impact position.

Shoulders are square, maybe even slightly closed at this point.

Hips are open.

Left ankle, left hip.

Now, let's grab a golf club.

Do the exact same moves.

So, we're going to go back.

We're going to feel the exact same thing.

This is critical.

We're flailing the thing around with your hands.

Right shoulder, right ankle is what you're thinking to yourself.

The fact that you're holding a golf club doesn't matter.

Hold it upside down.

It'll get rid of some of the momentum.

Make it a little easier for your wrist to stay more relaxed.

Left ankle, left hip.

Perfect impact position.

Golf is going to be a piece of cake if you can get this drill down.

Right shoulder, right ankle.

Left ankle, left hip.

Good.

Same move.

There.

As you start getting more comfortable and you're making sure you're watching yourself in the mirror, you're doing it correctly, then I want you to start to speed it up a little bit.

You can start making the pause at the top a little more dynamic.

So, now you'll notice as the club's still going back.

I'm going to do it slowly.

The club's still going back, but I'm starting to shift back to the left and turn my hips before I finish my backswing.

As I watch myself in the mirror, I can see my hips are moving while my hands are still actually kind of floating up.

That's how we get this dynamic stretch.

Take the club right side up.

Still got to keep my hands nice and relaxed.

Same thing, but now I've got a little momentum, you'll see.

So, now that the club's got a little mass on the end of it, I just want to let it start going where it's telling me it wants to go.

I'm not trying to control it at all.

I'm just trying to get into that same impact position we've been working on.

Right shoulder, right ankle, left ankle, left hip.

But the club is kind of heavy.

It wants to keep going.

So, I just let it by letting my forearms turn over.

I'm barely holding onto it with my right hand.

This is a nine to three drill.

Notice that my right shoulder is staying back.

My chest is still facing the mirror while the club moves another four feet.

I'm shifting, posting up, releasing.

It's all just forearm rotation at this point.

Letting my hands release.

You should be able to feel the natural momentum now because we did all these drills where we stopped at impact.

There's no momentum.

You felt like, oh, yeah, I can stop here.

No problem.

But as soon as you pick the club up right side up, the club didn't want to stop at impact anymore.

Nor do we want it to.

We want it to keep going.

We just have to let it.

And that's why we let our arms rotate over.

It doesn't get any more efficient than this.

You're not trying to flip it over.

That's impossible to time.

You're feeling the momentum and mass of the club rotate over for you.

It releases automatically.

You just got to keep your hands soft.

Keep moving your body exactly the way that we started.

Right shoulder.

Right ankle.

Club's nice toed up here.

Left ankle.

Left hip.

Just let it release.

I can start putting some of my other drills that I have on the site here.

VJ release drill.

Letting my hands stay nice and relaxed.

Letting the club speed up independent of me.

I can start working on the five minutes, the perfect release drill.

Bringing my right shoulder on there underneath.

The big thing is starting to get these reps in.

Right ankle.

Right shoulder.

Left ankle.

Left hip.

Right ankle.

Right shoulder.

Left ankle.

Left hip.

Keep doing this.

Do this for at least 20 or 30 minutes a day.

Especially if you're brand new.

Just starting to get comfortable with RST and figuring what's going on.

Nine to three is a great drill to build everything on upon the rest of your golf swing.

You can hit balls doing this drill.

Must be Premium Member to Comment

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Mando
Hello - how do you recommend I progress after this drill? I feel quite comfortable hitting 30-50 yard shots with my 8 iron using this drill, how can I take it to the next level, I assume some wrist hinging is needed? Any videos you recommend?
December 31, 2023
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Mando. Phase 3 is the next step from 9 to 3. More turn, elevation and slight wrist hinge.
January 2, 2024
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Jeremiah
This drill is priceless. Can’t tell you why, but I’ve found the hips beginning to shift WHILE the hands are still floating to being key. Weight becomes ready, and posting up is following the hips’ initiation. It’s taken me way too long to understand that. You’ve probably said it 1000X, but it’s coming together. Thank you so much for all your hard work, it makes the game so much more enjoyable. On my way to scratch ⛳️
October 28, 2022
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Great Jeremiah. Sequence is the key! Said it just a few times
October 28, 2022
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John
Hey Craig hope all is well. I’ve watched this lesson countless amount of times and I always find something new and something to question lol In the 5 min to the perfect takeaway to get to 9 o’clock is a mixture of elevation and rotation...So the question I have now in this lesson on the downswing when Chuck wants us to focus on left ankle left hip should the club head trace the same path back to our impact position Thanks
November 28, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. It won't be the exact same, but the path will be pretty zeroed out and pretty similar.
November 30, 2020
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John
But if the club head has a slight semicircle and elevation path in the takeaway it will have that slight semicircle and descending path in the downswing? Thanks
November 30, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. Yes. But, hands will be higher due to release. And, players tend to come down on a little more shallow plane/path. It will not vary by much.
November 30, 2020
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John
In this video Chris is demonstrating the feeling of a proper weight transfer... right shoulder right ankle, left ankle left hip .. Am I correct ? https://youtu.be/foOHoj9HiEQ Thanks
October 8, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. Yes. We usually stress the fact of weight shift first because we have seen far too often players are skipping that procedure.
October 8, 2020
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graham
Hi Chuck, this is an excellent video. When you describe the Video, you do it in two different ways: “ right ankle right shoulder, left ankle left hip“, and “right shoulder right ankle, left ankle left hip”. These are subtly different. Does it matter which way to think about while doing the drills?
June 16, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Graham. The preferred way would be shift and rotate. Trail ankle - Trail shoulder - Lead Ankle - Lead Hip.
June 16, 2019
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Christopher
Hello In the video Chuck presents what I be the sequence of moves in two orders. Is it it right shoulder ,right ankle, or is it right ankle, right shoulder? Thanks!
February 10, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Christoper. Right Ankle - Right Shoulder would be preferred. You can see why in My Golf Backswing Secrets Video.
February 11, 2019
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Christopher
For a right handed golfer. What is the end right hand position in the 9 phase. Just outside the right side pocket?
December 12, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Christopher. From Face On, or Down the Line perspective? Take a look at Shake Hands and RST Pencil Tee Drill for proper visuals. They should answer your question.
December 13, 2018
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Dan
My right side loves to hit... I apparently did not know I had a left side. Just starting to get it. Any secrets in relaxing my hands and arms while contracting my core? Dan
December 1, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Dan. Sadly, it just takes practice a being keenly aware of your tension. Proper Muscle Activation Video may help some.
December 2, 2018
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Timothy
What is the ideal weight distribution between right and left at impact? What feels good is pulling from the left oblique and squatting slightly to start the downswing, but that leaves my weight distribution about 45 left - 55 right at impact. I've tried to get more to the left but can only do that with a closed hip slide to the left to start the downswing but then I can't get those hips open enough before impact, and that hurts my lower back if I don't sequence it correctly. The pull to the left and squat doesn't cause me any pain but I don't feel like I'm getting enough weight on the left to compress the ball enough.
November 22, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Timothy. The goal would be 80% on the lead side at impact. Take a look at Which Muscles to Feel During Golf Swing Transition Video to help pull more weight.
November 22, 2018
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Christopher
If a person were going to do these drills everyday would the order be like video 1, video 3, then video 2?
August 20, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Christopher. Yes, if solely using these.
August 20, 2018
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Ted
Still lobbying for a "cheat sheet" that concentrates on how to properly engage and pull from the lead side once at the top of the backswing with right side properly loaded. Something along the lines of Chris' "how to fix weight transfer faults" or similar. The 9 to 3 helps in getting a relaxed sense of weight transfer leading to an initial feel for lag and the core rotation video makes a beginning at helping to transfer from properly loaded right side. But dynamic engagement of that lead adductor from a stable right side is still proving illusive and frustrating. Hoping to see more development of Academy material. Cheers.
May 7, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Ted. Sorry to hear you are struggling with the shifting. Don't over think it too much. Have you tried the drag-foot drill in Preventing Hip Pain?
May 8, 2018
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John
why is it that I cannot access this video?
February 4, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. This video is for RSA Members. The RSA Membership is sold periodically throughout the year.
February 5, 2018
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John
This is confusing me. I thought I had paid a membership fee for 12 months giving access to all content. When Chuck says "when you have mastered this move you are ready for the 9 to 3 drill" I then have to pay again to do so?
February 5, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. The Premium Membership gives you content to all the instructional videos on the site. The RSA Membership is a different tier that includes the Clinic Material Online instead of having to attend the clinic in person. If you have a premium membership you still have all the videos you need for a complete golf swing. These videos relate to the clinic work we do and clinic material on the site.
February 5, 2018
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John
thanks for your prompt reply. I now understand, so can you direct me to another version of the drill for the Premium Members?
February 6, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. https://rotaryswing.com/golf-instruction-videos/full-swing-basics/downswing/9-to-3-drill
February 6, 2018
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John
Hi Craig. I found it! It reminds me of Leadbetter's L to L drill but with clearer emphasis on weight shift in the downswing. Very many thanks. I would be interested in becoming an RSA member if it was not so expensive. Perhaps a mini version can be offered to those like me with access to the videos without swing reviews? Just a thought.
February 7, 2018
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Chuck
John, the expense isn't in the swing reviews, it's in the clinic material. The clinics cost $3k to attend, you're getting all the same content for $797 without having to leave the comfort of your living room, we can't afford to make it any cheaper than that!
February 14, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. The major difference though with Lead is we shy away from early wrist set. Big "no-no" with us. I can always send your suggestions to the higher ups.
February 7, 2018
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John
Thanks Craig. Over and out.
February 8, 2018
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Michael
I have started doing these drills today. Do I need to feel that I am pulling my left hand through or maintaining some lag whilst releasing? I am not sure what I should be feeling in my hands/arms once I have shifted left at this point.
January 3, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. The shifting should help you increase the lag during the transition. As you start reaching impact you will need to release to hit the proper alignments and allow for a good crossover of the arms/hands going through.
January 3, 2018
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Michael
Craig, In terms of this drill, how highly do you rate it in terms of gaining golf swing improvement. Having signed up to the Academy it seems as if Chuck sees this as a key drill that everybody should do. Is this your view. My left arm feels tight when I am doing this drill. Is this common for somebody that loses most of their lag in the full downswing?
January 4, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. You may be a little tight working on the drill at first. But, tension should subside the more reps you put in. You are using/engaging muscles that have previously been turned off in your current swing. Especially, lead side ones since you noted you have a big lag issue. The 9 to 3 portion of the swing is very crucial for any golfer. If you can learn to transition well in the downswing this drill helps you hone in how to work into and through the strike.
January 4, 2018
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John
I am so right hand dominant, especially when I get a bit tired. How should I relax and let my swing go when on the course? And/or how do I train in the gym or in practice to let it go And then take it to the range.
November 13, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. When you are tired sometimes the trail side and old motor patterns will creep in. On the course, I would make practice swings similar to the Vijay Drill to remind the body your goal is to not overly use the trail side. Perfecting Your Golf Impact Series is a good place to start to learn the proper body movements with the trail hand on, but not taking over.
November 13, 2017
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John
In the 9 to 3 and the left hand only video, both which I love, I need to turn my back to the target a bit more than was suggested so as to come from the inside. And on the 9 to 3 I need to think about my left hand wrist being down at impact to better compress the ball. Also I know I have to keep my right shoulder toward the ball at impact but I can't get the feel or mental image.
November 13, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello John. I would focus more on your weight shift and secondary tilt. Sounds like you lack a little weight transfer and your tilt starts to become more upright into the strike. Forcing you to over exaggerate to shallow the path. I would upload a version of your 9 to 3 for review and let one of us check it out.
November 13, 2017
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John
I agree my sequence is not quite right. a sweeper. Feels not quite fight but the ball fight, is OK. I must admit I don't get mentally/ physically the "secondary tilt," so though I try to start with it I may come out of it in my swing. I played baseball so I get he last slightly upward swing but... I i hit a lot of very good if not great shots and "friends" say I have a nice swing. But I'm a 17 handicap. That speaks to my consistency. I'll send a video in.
November 15, 2017
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Ted
In looking at 2) power release and 3) 9 to 3 (seems like in terms of RST priorities these two cheat sheets should be reversed?) I would have liked to have heard a bit more commentary (mentioned in a few other standard RST videos) on "pulling from the left side." Trying to train a right side dominant brain to develop a left side dominant core seems a critical part of the transition process especially once the right side is fully activated at the top of the backswing. For me breaking that tendency to get to the left via a right side shove is proving to be a real battle. But I didn't catch any "pull" terminology in either of these academy videos, and found myself in the 9 to 3 commentary wanting to hear that "pull from left ankle" (or something like it) worked in at the "right ankle, left ankle, left hip" portion. So much of the value of the cheat sheet seems to be in the "mental hand holding" done by our erstwhile personal trainer (drill instructor!) that helps to keep someone trying to retrain brain and body on the straight and narrow. So I guess I'm lobbying either for a cheat sheet that drills the pulling part of the transition or some commentary or perhaps additional thoughts as I work on "right ankle, left ankle, left hip." In fact I found it was the cheat sheet option that proved to be my primary incentive to step up into Academy status. Hence this "for what it's worth" feedback. Thanks.
October 23, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Ted. We appreciate the feedback. We are gathering the information such as yours above to better tailor the videos to the recent signups of the academy. We will make adjustments in the future once we have a good consensus what students are looking for.
October 24, 2017
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Ted
Thanks. Just wanted to add my perspective since that's all I can add!
October 24, 2017

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