Rory McIlroy defends his controversial ’shorter club’ training drill

Rory McIlroy has been doing a unique training drill for months. It involves him using a much shorter club than he normally would. It's not like normal practice swings because he'd never use this club in a tournament scenario or in a legitimate round.

It's a drill that got the attention of the golf world, and they thought McIlroy's drill was a little on the silly side. At the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, a fan asked what the point was. McIlroy happily answered with what he does and why he does it.

The Irishman said:

"The purpose of the swing with the shorter club, it's heavier. I can feel the head a little bit better and I can feel where I want the club to be during the swing. It's also got like a preset grip on it, which helps sometimes because my left-hand grip gets a little strong at times. That's really it. I've used it since October when I was trying to make a little bit of a change to my backswing."

McIlroy added that it's an easy one to do since he can carry the club with him anywhere he goes. He admitted that he brings it to hotel rooms and swings it in his house to get a little bit of practice in whenever he can.

Every golf swing is a little different and requires different training. McIlroy in particular wanted to adjust his backswing, so he had to find a drill that helped him do that while also improving his game. This short club swing seems to be the one he's settled on.

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Rory McIlroy asked to appear in new Indian tournament

Rory McIlroy is a PGA Tour golfer, but he's often seen on the DP World Tour. Throughout the season, including this weekend, he eschews PGA events in favor of the top tournaments internationally.

Rory McIlroy has been requested (Image via Getty)

Later this year, that could include a new $5 million tournament in India. India just got an Asian Tour International Series in which Bryson DeChambeau competed, and now the DP World Tour could be coming to town.

Via Mirror, Delhi Golf Club captain Vikram Seth said that Rory McIlroy has a special request to join the tournament field:

"It'll be a completely new event on the European calendar. It's a major coup for the DGC which has been made possible by the efforts of our president Raj Khosla. It's a shot in the arm for the club that has not hosted a major international event for two years. Hero Indian Open, the other DP World Tour event in the country, has a prize purse of $2.25 million. So, with $5 million in prize money, we are expecting the who's who of international golf to come to India."

He added that they're confident that McIlroy will agree to the request and play the tournament in October.