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This was one of the more impressive swing transformations I’ve ever seen.

It’s a friend of mine, who struggled with a severe over-the-top move and hit wicked slices because of it.

Let’s call my friend Jake. Here’s what Jake’s golf swing looked like before.

And after one, one-hour lesson, here’s what it looked like after.

I was impressed and intrigued, so I called up Matt Wilson, a Golf Digest Best In State teacher who is the Director of Instruction at Baltusrol Golf Club. He’s the coach who helped my friend make this change.

What was this sorcery? And how can golfers learn from it?

Here’s what he said…

Visual cues: A golf swing improvement cheat code

When it comes to working on your swing, there are two main methods that most people use: You can use a training aid (Example: Tommy Fleetwood swinging through sticks), or you can use a swing thought or feel (Example: ‘Keep your left arm straight!’)

But there’s a third way, and it’s so effective many coaches consider it a kind of golf swing improvement cheat code.

It’s called a visual cue. Think of it like a visual swing thought. Instead of focusing on a body part, you’re thinking about something outside your body.

As Wilson explains:

“A visual cue allows golfers to recruit more freedom in their body to swing the way they want to. With a narrow internal focus, golfers’ movement can get very restricted; visual cueing allows golfers to be way more reactive and positive, without restricting their movements.”

Matt, like a lot of top coaches, says he uses visual cues a lot with his students, and it’s how he helped my friend.

When you look at Jake’s new swing from a different camera angle, you’ll notice that Matt put an alignment rod on the ground, about a foot outside his trail foot. His instruction to Jake was clear: See that stick? Try to point the butt end of your grip, outside the stick.

From a technical perspective, this pulled Jake’s trail shoulder so it was more externally rotated, and gave him more side bend, which shallowed him out and fixed his over-the-top move. But of course, Jake didn’t know any of them. He was just trying to point the butt end of his grip outside the stick.

“It keeps their attention more on a task, instead of trying to desperately control a movement,” Wilson says.

4 tips on using visual cues

As for some general takeaways, according to Matt…

• Matt says visual cues work best when you place an object that sits comfortably in your peripheral vision, but doesn’t affect your ability to swing itself.

• Your goal ultimately, is to use that object as a reference point while you swing.

• In general, Matt says to keep your swing thoughts as visual as possible. Don’t focus on a body part, focus on something around you.

• To help you transfer your new move from the range to the golf course, practice hitting two shots with the visual cue, then remove it, and hit one shot without it.

3 visual cues you can use

There are tons of visual cues you can use. Here’s a couple Matt says he uses:

• Struggling to turn? Put a club on the ground, between lead toe and trail heel, and try to have your hips match the direction of the angled club.

• General directional issues? Secure a popsicle stick to your club parallel to your target line, and try to keep it square as you swing.

• Too steep? Place a stick 45 degrees to your target line, and try to match your lead arm to that stuck. You won’t be able to, like you can see Matt’s student below, but trying to may land you right in the slot.

Or, of course, the over-the-top fix which worked so well for Jake. But whatever it is, keep your swing thoughts visual, and you’ll start seeing your golf swing land in some magical places/

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com