Shallowing
Shallowing in golf is the act of dropping the club onto a flatter, more horizontal plane at the start of the downswing, so the clubhead approaches the ball from slightly inside the target line rather than steeply from above.
What is shallowing in golf?
Golfers and coaches use the word shallowing to describe what the club shaft does in the split second between the top of the backswing and impact. A shallow club sits flatter, closer to horizontal, and travels around the body. A steep club stays more upright and works up and down like an axe.
The term comes up constantly on the range and in broadcasts because most amateurs have the opposite problem. Their club gets too vertical on the way down, which coaches call being steep or coming over the top. Shallowing is the correction: the shaft lays down a touch so the clubhead can trail the hands and meet the ball on a cleaner path.
Understanding the word matters because so much swing advice is built around it. When a teacher tells a player to shallow it, or a commentator praises a tour pro’s shallow transition, they are talking about swing plane, the angle the shaft traces through the swing. Shallowing simply means moving that plane flatter at the right moment.
Why shallowing matters
A shallow delivery changes the angle of attack, which is the up-or-down angle the clubhead travels on as it reaches the ball. Get that angle wrong, and contact suffers. Get it right, and the strike cleans up on its own.
The most common payoff is a cure for the slice, which is the number one miss in amateur golf. A steep, over-the-top downswing cuts across the ball from outside to inside, opening the face relative to the path and sending the ball curving hard to the right for a right-handed player. Flattening the plane lets the club approach from the inside, which straightens the flight and can even turn a slice into a gentle draw.
Distance is the other reason the term comes up so often. With a driver, a shallower path helps the clubhead reach the ball on a slight upswing, producing the high-launch, low-spin flight that carries further. According to Stryper Golf, a shallow angle of attack is what lets a golfer sweep the ball off a tee rather than chopping down on it, which is where much of a driver’s carry comes from.
Shallow vs. steep swing
Most people who look up shallowing are trying to tell two things apart: a shallow swing and a steep one. The difference is the angle of the shaft on the downswing. Shallow is flatter and more horizontal. Steep is more upright and vertical.
| Trait | Shallow swing | Steep swing |
|---|---|---|
| Shaft on downswing | Flatter, closer to horizontal | More upright, closer to vertical |
| Club path | From inside the target line | From outside, over the top |
| Angle of attack | Shallower, sweeping | Steeper, digging |
| Typical miss | Thin shots, blocks, hooks | Fat shots, pulls, slices |
| Divots | Shallow or none | Deep |
Two habits push a swing toward the steep side. The first is coming over the top, where the downswing starts with the shoulders and shoves the club outside the ideal path. The second is casting, where the wrists unhinge too early and throw the clubhead outward, narrowing the swing arc and steepening the descent. Golf Smart Academy’s Tyler Ferrell explains the geometry plainly: anything that narrows the arc steepens the path, and anything that widens it shallows the path.
Neither swing is automatically better. As MyGolfSpy notes, shallow gets most of the praise only because amateurs so often get steep, which makes shallowing the fix that tends to help them. A player who hooks or blocks the ball may already come from the inside, or even be too shallow.
Can a golf swing be too shallow?
Because shallowing fixes so many amateur faults, it is easy to assume flatter is always better. It is not. A swing can drift too far around the body, leaving the club stuck behind the golfer with no room to return to the ball squarely.
The usual results are blocks that fly right and hooks that snap left, because the hands have to flip the face closed at the last instant to rescue the shot. HackMotion points out that an overly flexed lead wrist at the top can drop the club too far under plane, the mirror image of the steep player’s over-extended wrist.
What most teaching models actually chase is a delivery that sits on plane, between the two extremes, and matches the club in hand. A wedge wants a slightly steeper, more descending strike for compression. A driver wants the shallowest, sweeping path. Shallower does not always win.
Related Golf Terms
- Trail arm — The rear arm that supports and adds power to the swing.
- Forward press — A small pre-swing movement of the hands toward the target to start the motion.
- Extension — Reaching full arm length through and past impact.
- Lead arm — The forward arm that guides and controls the swing.
- Pivot — The rotational turning of the body around a stable center.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to shallow the golf club?
It means letting the shaft drop onto a flatter, more horizontal angle at the start of the downswing, so the clubhead approaches from inside the target line instead of steeply from above.
Is shallowing good for every golfer?
No. Shallowing helps the many players who swing too steep, but a golfer who already comes from the inside, or who hooks and blocks shots, may not need it and could make contact worse.
Does shallowing add distance?
It can, especially with a driver. A shallower path lets the clubhead meet the ball on a slight upswing, which raises launch and lowers spin for more carry.
What is the opposite of a shallow swing?
A steep swing, where the shaft stays more vertical, and the club works up and down. Steep swings often come over the top and produce pulls and slices.
Can a swing be too shallow?
Yes. A club that gets too flat can slip behind the body and become stuck, leading to blocks to the right and sudden hooks to the left.
Sources
- GOLF.com. “Is your golf swing steep or shallow? What golfers need to know.” Accessed July 10, 2026.
https://golf.com/instruction/steep-or-shallow-guide/ - GOLF.com. “Do this to easily shallow the golf club for better contact.” Accessed July 10, 2026.
https://golf.com/instruction/how-shallow-golf-club-easy-ball-striking/ - MyGolfSpy. “Shallow Versus Steep in Golf: What It Means and Which One You Need.” Accessed July 10, 2026.
https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/instruction/shallow-versus-steep-in-golf-what-it-means-and-which-one-you-need/ - HackMotion. “Steep vs. Shallow Golf Swing.” Accessed July 10, 2026.
https://hackmotion.com/steep-vs-shallow-golf-swing/ - Stryper Golf. “Steep vs Shallow Golf Swing: Angle of Attack Guide.” Accessed July 10, 2026.
https://www.strypergolf.com.au/blogs/learn/steep-versus-shallow-shots - Golf Smart Academy. “Defining Steep and Shallow: Understand Swing Plane.” Accessed July 10, 2026.
https://www.golfsmartacademy.com/golf-instruction/defining-steep-and-shallow-understand-swing-plane/
