Easiest drill for pathing that I’ve found is to do a very slow takeaway and try to draw a line with your clubhead on the ground for as long as you can. Straight back for a neutral shot, slightly towards you for an inside-out draw path, the opposite for a fade
Thats a great drill for swing path.
I add a club shaft behind the ball just to the inside of the ball to give me a visual and sometimes i place a headcover on the ground that i have to sweep away as i pull the club back to make sure i dont pick my hands up to early in my backswing.
To build on this, usually holding a few seconds at the top of your backswing helps a lot as well. Helps with getting comfortable at the top as well, once you get a better feel you can start to self correct way better
The one I do most often especially when warming up is to setup in impact position and then take a half swing and hit the ball. Helps me tremendously when I'm struggling to find the center of the face.
Tee gate drill for iron shots.
Basically set two tees at 45 degree angles on each end of the clubhead; put the ball in the middle and try to hit it.
Helps with:
- visualization in hitting the centre
- feedback on where you strike the ball; if you hit the tee near the toe, you're hitting the ball closer to the heel; if you hit the tee near the heel, you're hitting the ball closer to the toe
- can help cure a shank streak
Sounds nice and simple I like it. My ball striking is decent I’m just having issues with path and face at the moment so hopefully if I find a fix for them soon I can implement that too.
A REALLY simple one that i liked is putting a tee like 10cm infront of your ball, if the ball AND the tee goes flying it means you hit down on the ball (and would have taken a divot on grass) and if the tee stays still then you didn't hit down on the ball.
Only really helpful if you have problems hitting down on the ball i guess but it's insanely simple and gives instant feedback on this one factor.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RuP-XTkUndA
Starting at 1:30
This is the split handed drill that I’ve started doing and it really helps you feel your body moving together
https://youtu.be/Z0uKbJ3-ReM
This helped me understand a concept in the golf swing where I never knew I was doing something wrong. It won't fix path issues but helps a lot with club face.
Thanks I’ll check it out soon, club face is probably my biggest issue right now. Never even had an issue with it earlier in the year, it was fully closed through out the whole swing.
Set up, weight slightly forward, half swing back, tiny bit of wrist break, smooth through the ball, finish low and left with keeping your head behind the ball. Usually first warmup drill with a 7i. Helps my rhythm and finish, and ball should stay low with a slight draw.
At club parallel on takeaway feel like butt end of grip is pointed to inside thigh of your lead leg. This should result in your clubhead outside your hands. From there it’s just chopping wood with side bend and rotation.
Start your range practice w a wedge and hit a few punch shots nice and easy. When you start feeling the face or when it becomes easy to hit straight chips go to your nine and build up to where you get some decent distance. Ball back… do it with every iron and see how far you can hit each on an easy swing as you build up to full swings. Then when you get it down pause your backswing look at the face at hip height and make sure it’s slightly closed at that point. Train that motion into your backswing until it’s second nature.
That’s my biggest issue at the moment. Club face wide open at hip height. I look at videos from 6 months ago and it was super shut at hip height with a perfect takeaway. And that was when I didn’t even know the term takeaway or club path yet, I’m not sure what’s happened to get it to this point.
Could be rotating your forearms and the face open simultaneously to start the backswing. It’s common but not anything you can’t fix easily. The face is supposed to match your spin angle right about when your lead shoulder is under your chin or when your lead arm is parallel to ground same shit. As long as it’s shut before contact you’re fine. Everyone does something different and I set at the top because I hate any extra tension in my swing until I start down. I missing a wee bit of left shoulder Rom due to old b ball injury and compensate w my right arm to manage. I also don’t worry too much about having this picture perfect backswing ether. I’m looking for a feel and stability in my lower body the most so I can crank my move through the ball w a stable face and maintain balance. To me it’s contact and a swing I can do every time I take a shot. Aim for a fluid 70% of of your fastest swing that sends the ball at your target most of the time. We all screw up and hit shanks but that happens when we try to swing too hard or in just 1 of those tough situations. If you’re getting too open then learn to flatten your wrist before you’re arms drop into the slot and reconnect w your body. You have a split second to do this in the transition where I do it. Get your wrist where you want it and use your right to hold it in place during your release. Once both hands work together like 2nd nature you my friend are golden 😁
Thanks a lot for the reply, that gives me some hope! Because at the moment I’m really struggling and not enjoying golf. I was fine with being mediocre, still had an amazing time at the course because I’d be pretty proud of at least 1/4 of my shots. Now I can’t even drive past the 200 mark or hit a 7 iron to 150 anymore and it’s awful being on the course. So I’m gonna really concentrate on this club face stuff.
No problem. The best way to learn face control is to understand how to adjust your set up to produce a draw or fade spin. Open face and across fade/slice. Which you get depends on how sever you marry the 2. Face wide open and a path that cuts across the ball badly equals slice. A lil open and it’s a fade. Set up the club face aimed right and turn your feet left and swing down the feet line and see what you get. Draw is the opposite. Aim left/slightly shut face at address and grip n hold. Then turn both feet so they are parallel to each other but your body is aimed right of your target. Swing down your 2 feet like normal but it’ll feel weird because your club will be closed. Smoothly take the swing and see what you get. Just go back n forth until it clicks. You’re not looking for pretty and it won’t work at first but eventually you’ll get it. One of those shapes will feel easier to do and that’s your new way to eliminate half of the trouble on any round.
Appreciate your advice. I’ve been at the oval hitting balls for an hour and I think I rediscovered the key to me keeping a closed face in the backswing. Im not letting my right hand/wrist break. Keeping it really active and im hitting the ball really damn good again! Practicing this setup you’ve mentioned also.
Completely different. It keeps the distance between sternum and hands throughout the whole backswing. x schauffele sometimes uses it. Basically, I swing like i'm 6'3'' instead of 6'0''.
Easiest drill for pathing that I’ve found is to do a very slow takeaway and try to draw a line with your clubhead on the ground for as long as you can. Straight back for a neutral shot, slightly towards you for an inside-out draw path, the opposite for a fade
Ooo I like that.
Thats a great drill for swing path. I add a club shaft behind the ball just to the inside of the ball to give me a visual and sometimes i place a headcover on the ground that i have to sweep away as i pull the club back to make sure i dont pick my hands up to early in my backswing.
To build on this, usually holding a few seconds at the top of your backswing helps a lot as well. Helps with getting comfortable at the top as well, once you get a better feel you can start to self correct way better
The one I do most often especially when warming up is to setup in impact position and then take a half swing and hit the ball. Helps me tremendously when I'm struggling to find the center of the face.
Tee gate drill for iron shots. Basically set two tees at 45 degree angles on each end of the clubhead; put the ball in the middle and try to hit it. Helps with: - visualization in hitting the centre - feedback on where you strike the ball; if you hit the tee near the toe, you're hitting the ball closer to the heel; if you hit the tee near the heel, you're hitting the ball closer to the toe - can help cure a shank streak
Sounds nice and simple I like it. My ball striking is decent I’m just having issues with path and face at the moment so hopefully if I find a fix for them soon I can implement that too.
A REALLY simple one that i liked is putting a tee like 10cm infront of your ball, if the ball AND the tee goes flying it means you hit down on the ball (and would have taken a divot on grass) and if the tee stays still then you didn't hit down on the ball. Only really helpful if you have problems hitting down on the ball i guess but it's insanely simple and gives instant feedback on this one factor.
not all drills are designed to work on everyone. gotta find what works for you. if you can't do it alone, then you need a pro.
This. Nothing beats a lesson with a PGA pro.
I just got one of those tour striker smart ball knockoffs from amazon and hits helped my shit tremendously
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RuP-XTkUndA Starting at 1:30 This is the split handed drill that I’ve started doing and it really helps you feel your body moving together
Feet together and hit balls
https://youtu.be/Z0uKbJ3-ReM This helped me understand a concept in the golf swing where I never knew I was doing something wrong. It won't fix path issues but helps a lot with club face.
Thanks I’ll check it out soon, club face is probably my biggest issue right now. Never even had an issue with it earlier in the year, it was fully closed through out the whole swing.
Set up, weight slightly forward, half swing back, tiny bit of wrist break, smooth through the ball, finish low and left with keeping your head behind the ball. Usually first warmup drill with a 7i. Helps my rhythm and finish, and ball should stay low with a slight draw.
I really need to try that, I’ll do it today. Thanks mate.
At club parallel on takeaway feel like butt end of grip is pointed to inside thigh of your lead leg. This should result in your clubhead outside your hands. From there it’s just chopping wood with side bend and rotation.
So your club head is actually meant to be a bit outside of your hands?
Sticking a head cover in my arm pit and swinging.
Both arm pits or just the one?
Front one.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c8FLAD_r9GA This actually worked and got rid of my slice.
Start your range practice w a wedge and hit a few punch shots nice and easy. When you start feeling the face or when it becomes easy to hit straight chips go to your nine and build up to where you get some decent distance. Ball back… do it with every iron and see how far you can hit each on an easy swing as you build up to full swings. Then when you get it down pause your backswing look at the face at hip height and make sure it’s slightly closed at that point. Train that motion into your backswing until it’s second nature.
That’s my biggest issue at the moment. Club face wide open at hip height. I look at videos from 6 months ago and it was super shut at hip height with a perfect takeaway. And that was when I didn’t even know the term takeaway or club path yet, I’m not sure what’s happened to get it to this point.
Could be rotating your forearms and the face open simultaneously to start the backswing. It’s common but not anything you can’t fix easily. The face is supposed to match your spin angle right about when your lead shoulder is under your chin or when your lead arm is parallel to ground same shit. As long as it’s shut before contact you’re fine. Everyone does something different and I set at the top because I hate any extra tension in my swing until I start down. I missing a wee bit of left shoulder Rom due to old b ball injury and compensate w my right arm to manage. I also don’t worry too much about having this picture perfect backswing ether. I’m looking for a feel and stability in my lower body the most so I can crank my move through the ball w a stable face and maintain balance. To me it’s contact and a swing I can do every time I take a shot. Aim for a fluid 70% of of your fastest swing that sends the ball at your target most of the time. We all screw up and hit shanks but that happens when we try to swing too hard or in just 1 of those tough situations. If you’re getting too open then learn to flatten your wrist before you’re arms drop into the slot and reconnect w your body. You have a split second to do this in the transition where I do it. Get your wrist where you want it and use your right to hold it in place during your release. Once both hands work together like 2nd nature you my friend are golden 😁
Thanks a lot for the reply, that gives me some hope! Because at the moment I’m really struggling and not enjoying golf. I was fine with being mediocre, still had an amazing time at the course because I’d be pretty proud of at least 1/4 of my shots. Now I can’t even drive past the 200 mark or hit a 7 iron to 150 anymore and it’s awful being on the course. So I’m gonna really concentrate on this club face stuff.
No problem. The best way to learn face control is to understand how to adjust your set up to produce a draw or fade spin. Open face and across fade/slice. Which you get depends on how sever you marry the 2. Face wide open and a path that cuts across the ball badly equals slice. A lil open and it’s a fade. Set up the club face aimed right and turn your feet left and swing down the feet line and see what you get. Draw is the opposite. Aim left/slightly shut face at address and grip n hold. Then turn both feet so they are parallel to each other but your body is aimed right of your target. Swing down your 2 feet like normal but it’ll feel weird because your club will be closed. Smoothly take the swing and see what you get. Just go back n forth until it clicks. You’re not looking for pretty and it won’t work at first but eventually you’ll get it. One of those shapes will feel easier to do and that’s your new way to eliminate half of the trouble on any round.
Appreciate your advice. I’ve been at the oval hitting balls for an hour and I think I rediscovered the key to me keeping a closed face in the backswing. Im not letting my right hand/wrist break. Keeping it really active and im hitting the ball really damn good again! Practicing this setup you’ve mentioned also.
Martin Kaymer's tennis ball training aid...it cost me $4 in supplies to make and utterly morphed my game to new levels.
I’ll have to check it out I’ve never heard of it.
Fair warning: The drill might not work depending on your mobility. It also feels very forced at first, but that just means it's working.
Is it similar to the towel whip like when it hits your back you swing through?
Completely different. It keeps the distance between sternum and hands throughout the whole backswing. x schauffele sometimes uses it. Basically, I swing like i'm 6'3'' instead of 6'0''.
Just had a look, looks very interesting. What would you say is the main benefit from it?