I’ve Been Drilling Pilot Holes Wrong My Entire Life. Here’s How I Learned to Correct My Technique.

My problem was a lack of understanding about how a screw joint actually works. It's not the threads biting into both pieces that secured everything in place. Rather, the strength of a screw joint comes from the threads pulling the screw through the bottom piece and securing the top from the pressure against the screw's head. The threads are irrelevant in the top piece; only the head matters.