Wyndham Clark showed up to the range at Royal Birkdale this week and pulled a wooden coat hanger out of his bag. He holds it against the grip with the hook parallel to the clubface and hits 15 to 20 shots with it before putting it away. His instructor has him doing it to fix a cupped lead wrist.

The lead wrist in a cupped position opens the face and can make it so golfers need to manipulate the club too much on the downswing.

I get what the drill is trying to do.

I’ve just never liked it.

Gripping the club and holding a coat hanger against it at the same time is awkward and, for me, the awkwardness gets in the way of feeling the position I’m trying to build.

Instead of a coat hanger, I use a six-inch (15 cm) ruler.

The six-inch ruler drill

Slide a six-inch ruler under the wristband of your glove so it sits flat against the back of your lead forearm. A six-inch ruler is narrow enough that it doesn’t get in the way of your grip or change how the club sits in your hand, the exact problem I have with the coat hanger.

Make slow backswings without a ball. If the ruler digs into your forearm, your lead wrist is cupping. If it stays close to your arm through the top of the swing, you’re staying flat. Once you can feel the difference on slow reps, start hitting shots at low speed and work your way back up to full swings. Check in at times to make sure the wrist is still flat.

The ruler gives the same feedback the hanger does. The good thing is that your grip pressure and hand position stay normal. For me, that’s a better way to transition the drill to the course.

If you want something wider

A credit card works the same way and gives you a bit more surface area for feedback. I just prefer the ruler because it’s narrower and it pinpoints the wrist area a bit better.

Which do you prefer? The ruler or the hanger?