I Asked a Top Coach Why Wyndham Clark Was Practicing With a Coat Hanger At The Open 2026... Then I Tried It

I thought I'd seen everything at the Open Championship, but Wyndham Clark's coat hanger was not on my bingo card.

Many of you will likely have seen this and be wondering what Wyndham Clark was doing with a coat hanger at The Open, but this unique training aid has been used by top coaches for decades and is a great ball striking drill for amateurs to try if they struggle with clubface control.

Essentially, the coat hanger helps to maintain a better wrist angle throughout the swing - helping you to control the clubface through impact with instant feedback provided.

In the interest of finding out more details on how it helps to improve your game and provide a step-by-step guide for you to try the coat hanger drill for yourself, I reached out to Top 50 Coach Ged Walters who provided his expert guidance on the matter...

Wyndham Clark's Coat Hanger At The Open 2026 Explained

For those of you who prefer to see instruction tips on a video, with visual examples from a top PGA pro, I've got just the thing for you.

In the video below, Ged Walters explains the reason why Wyndham Clark is using a coat hanger at The Open and how it could help your ball striking- plus if you stay to the end you can see me use Ged's tips to give it a go myself.

Why Is Wyndham Clark Using A Coat Hanger?

The coat hanger drill has been around for decades, but it's still just as effective today as when it was first used.

The purpose of the drill is to provide instant feedback and a deeper understanding of how to control the clubface.

Lots of people say it's just to fix a slice, but that's not true as it can help to solve many common amateur faults that stem from not being able to control the clubface.

In his press conference ahead of the Open Championship this week, Wyndham Clark said:

"Mondays are my technical days. You won't see me doing a bunch of that stuff the rest of the week.

"My swing's gotten a little off. I kind of hit it kind of crappy, especially on Sunday - or just yesterday. The coat hanger is for wrist angle, trying to get a little more inflection in my left wrist so I can square the face more. That's just what it is".

How To Try The Coat Hanger Drill

Expert Q+A Guest

Expert Q+A Guest

Ged Walters

Using different styles, teaching aids, technology and games to measure improvements, Ged is keen to make the learning process educational and fun. He's worked with a number of top local, national and international instructors, including Adrian Fryer and Jeff Ritter, one of the most prominent golf instructors in America. He's also working hard on his own game with the aim of playing on the Senior Tour in the future.

In the video above, I am using a plastic hanger as it's easier to grip with the club.

Place the hanger on top of the grip and take your normal grip. Your hand should be in the middle of the hanger and the butt end of the hanger should rest against the lead forearm.

The idea is to maintain connection between the hanger and the forearm throughout the golf swing, as this keeps the wrist in a more neutral position and promotes better clubface control through impact.

If you start to swing out-to-in, or increase the loft by slicing across the ball, the hanger is likely to have disconnected away from the forearm at some point during the golf swing.

This is one of the best golf drills because it gives instant visual feedback, but it's also so easy to set up and carry out when you practice on the driving range.

You can also work on this at home, without hitting any golf balls, focusing on keeping that hanger in contact with the lead forearm throughout the entire swing.

If you have a mirror or you record your swing, you will see the wrist and the clubface are in a much more neutral position at the top which will ultimately help you to find a centred strike with your irons more often.

How Did Baz Get On?

After listening to Ged tell me all about the drill, and after seeing Wyndham Clark putting coat hangers on the map at The Open, I decided to head straight to the range to try it for myself.

After warming up, I hit five balls without the hanger. The pattern, as you can see in the video, detailed my usual left-to-right wipey slice.

However, after adding the coat hanger I striped one with a little baby fade on my first attempt. The drill takes some getting used to, so I won't lie and say they were all perfect, but that feeling of connection definitely helped me to feel the clubface and strike the ball with a nicer shape.

I'm going to commit to further practice with this interesting training aid, so stay tuned for updates (if you care about my awful golf game).

Why not try it yourself? Let me know how you get on in the comments below - I am more interested in your game than you are in mine!