The best drill of all time

The Tiger Woods Gate Drill

Below is a video of Tiger Woods explaining how to do the gate drill. Two tees, one either side of the putter at the toe and the heel, and the head swings through the gate without touching either tee peg. Tiger set his barely wider than the putter.

How we think he did it

With a perfect zero zero stroke the putter swings in between the tees. With a three degree angle of attack on a plane tilted twenty degrees, a swing direction of +1.09° is required to offset the +3° AoA and 20° swing plane. Path zero, face zero — ZERO ZERO — and the head passes a 0.7 mm gate no problem.

Zero swing direction = minus one path

Here is an example of how important understanding D-plane is to zeroing the path and face at impact. In this example the swing direction is 0°, the attack angle is the same +3° as before and the swing plane is unchanged. This makes the path 1.09° left at impact, clipping the tee on the heel side.

So did Tiger know?

Maybe. Do not underestimate the best player of all time. Even if he did not have the physics all figured out, this drill helped him feel the optimal combination of AoA, SD and plane to create a near perfect zero zero putting stroke and a centred strike. Tiger has often been quoted saying his putting stroke feels like a small draw, which gives a clue to the positive swing direction. Tiger’s favourite practice drill is probably the best drill of all time.