A Few Simple Golf Swing Drills
Every portion of your golf swing should be smooth. On the backswing and the downswing you should feel like a well-oiled machine.
If you are looking for the information on the following:
All sports aficianados have their favorite ways of
doing things, and the game of golf is no exception. There
are dozens of sometimes clever, sometimes ridiculous tricks for
improving your golf swing. We will look at a few and hope you feel they are to be considered
clever...not ridiculous!
First of all, some basics.
STANCE
AND BALL POSITION
Your feet should be about shoulder-width apart (unless you are Mr.
Universe, of course); slightly less for short irons, a bit wider for
long irons and wedges. Aim the club directly at the target and imagine
a line between your position and it. That's what we think of, as the
"target line". Your body should be parallel to this target line, with
the line of the shoulders perpendicular to the club face. Try to
imagine you are standing on an ladder lying on the ground, with your
feet on one side, the target line on the other. One rung connects you
to the ball.
If you are driving the ball, you know you have the ball teed at the correct height if the top
of the golf ball is just slightly above the club's head.
For a putt, since the common putter has a short, flat face, it should
be in line with the rungs of the imaginary ladder.
YOUR
WRISTS AND GRIP
The grip should be firm, but not tense. However, you want control here,
not muscle. Your wrist position is essential to creating maximum impact
at the proper angle. That usually does a lot more for distance than
brute force. Probably the most common mistake is to allow the lead
wrist to collapse at impact. To firm up the wrists, take a club and
raise it just using the wrist, keeping your arm at your side. Point the
toe parallel to the ground and hold for five seconds. (Tough, isn't
it!?) Repeat until your forearm feels used, but not sore. Switch arms
and repeat. Take some swings with one hand/arm only. It's not a natural
thing and doesn't improve your swing by itself; it's too different from
a two-handed swing. But it helps develop control.
Read more here
about how to get a good grip.
BODY
Take your normal address. (Address: the stance and position with
respect to the ball before the swing.) Hold a club across your
shoulders, then turn as if you were making a backswing. Get someone to
watch you and verify that the club points four feet or more beyond the
ball.
SWING
DRILLS
Remember that a swing is at bottom a kind of rotational
movement. Key to that movement is to stay in the same plane on the downswing
as you were in the backswing.
Think of that plane as a round table top, tipped on edge and
placed on the ball. The bottom half of the rim of that table is the arc
your club should go through on the entire swing.
Practice a backswing to downswing movement, but stop at the point of
impact to verify that the clubface
is along the rung of that ladder. If the clubface is open, you've rotated your right forearm too much. (For right-handed golfers.)
Place a half dozen tees in the ground a few inches apart along the rung
of the ladder. Swing at one, then move forward to the next. With
practice, you should be able to consistently clip the middle of a tee
while staying in the swing plane.
RHYTHM AND BALANCE
That leads us to the last important elements: rhythm and balance.
You can see it in person or on television - the great golfers all have
beautiful rhythm. Tha is one key to a consistently good swing. But you
cannot have good rhythm without good balance and vice-versa.
The proper position and stance are static, balance is dynamic.
Start with the static — you can't do otherwise. But you will
need to retain good balance and rhythm through the entire swing.
Never rush your swing. With the spine tilted away from the target at
address, your weight should be evenly distributed between your right
and left feet. Then take a smooth pull back and an easy swing down.
As you practice a few swings have a friend gently push your shoulder
blades, lower back, one shoulder in one direction then alternate. In
every case, you should be solid and not about to fall over at any time.
(We assume you've saved the drinking for AFTER the game!)
Every portion of the swing should be smooth and on the backswing and
the downswing you should feel like a well-oiled machine.
Golf Clubs and Accessories
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You
will find what you are looking for about golf swing drills here
The Complete Golfer by Harry Vardon - Golf a hundred years ago.
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