Why did Rory McIlroy spend 3 weeks hitting golf balls at a blank screen?

Rory McIlroy is at Yas Links in the United Arab Emirates to play in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the penultimate event of the DP World Tour season. During his pre-event press conference, it was revealed that the 4-time major champion has been working on his swing with a special training method.

McIlroy explained that he had been unhappy with his swing for some time, particularly the backswing. As a result, he spent three weeks in a swing studio hitting balls at a blank screen to focus solely on his movements and not the flight of the ball.

That was part of what Rory McIlroy said (via ASAP Sports):

"I probably haven't liked the shape of my golf swing for a while, especially the backswing. The only way I was going to make a change or at least move in the right direction with my swing was to lock myself in a studio and not see the ball flight"

He added:

"Locked myself indoors in like a swing studio for three weeks and just hit balls into a blank screen or net and just focused on my swing and focused on the movement of my swing and focused on movement of my body patterns."

Rory McIlroy assured that this type of training has been effective for him and that he will continue to do so in the future:

"Not see the ball flight for a while I think has been really important to try to implement some of those little changes, and it's definitely something that I'll continue to do after these two weeks into December and going into the new year as well."

Rory McIlroy came to Abu Dhabi as the leader of the DP World Tour's internal ranking (called Race to Dubai). If he maintains his lead over the final two events, it will be his sixth win on the Race to Dubai.

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Rory McIlroy looks for first win in Abu Dhabi

Rory McIlroy has played in 12 editions of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with nine top-5 finishes, including four runner-up finishes. However, he has never been able to win the tournament.

Until 2023, the event was played in January, when the Northern Irishman was just starting his season. Now it has been moved to the penultimate spot on the calendar when McIlroy is already nearing the end of his competitive year.

McIlroy has finished second in two of his last three tournaments (the Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship). Those are two of his four runner-up finishes this season (Dubai Invitational, US Open).

In addition to those results, McIlroy adds one victory on the DP World Tour (Hero Dubai Desert Classic) and two on the PGA Tour (Zurich Classic of New Orleans and Wells Fargo Championship). Another significant result was a tie for 5th place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.