Golf swing tips and drills

These great golf swing tips and drills are fun ways to build a solid swing.
In order to really build a solid swing with good rhythm and pure ball striking, I would recommend working through the below drills on the practice range at least once a month (the more often, the better!).
You may also want to make the small investment in this excellent Full Swing Drills DVD.
Many golfers struggle to produce the correct swing shape.
An easy way to feel how the club swings naturally along the swing path is to grip the club with only the middle, index finger and thumb of your right hand.
By gripping the club lightly between these three fingers only, it keeps you from over-controlling the swing. Practice these right-handed swings until you feel the correct, natural swinging motion of the club.
Great rhythm & tempo will help you to swing with more consistency. As the golf swing starts from a standstill, the club take away can often be tense and jerky.
Let the club hover in the air a couple of feet in front of the ball and start the swing from this position. You will feel that the backswing immediately becomes smoother and more free flowing, which will result in a more consistent and powerful swing.
Place another ball around 10 inches behind the ball you are about to hit and take your normal stance.
As you start your backswing, 'sweep' the second ball away. This helps encourage a smooth takeaway and will prevent you from picking the club up too early.
Nothing feels better than making crisp contact with the ball right out of the middle of the club. Pure contact with the ball is also crucial for hitting it with accuracy, as well as achieving the maximum distance.
An excellent drill which helps me strike it pure, is to take a number of swings with my feet together.
Swinging with my feet together helps me improve my balance and posture. If I swing too fast, I will fall over, which makes it clear that I need to swing easier.
Poor weight transfer causes a severe decrease in distance. If you lean back through impact with the ball, you will hit a weak shot.
A nifty little practice drill to encourage good weight transfer, is to place a ball under my right foot during my normal stance.
Now I swing normally, but the ball under my right foot really pushes the weight from my right to left side. This will encourage a powerful drive through the ball and help achieve maximum distance on my shots.
I good drill for developing a feel for weight transfer, is to hit a few shots bear foot. By swinging without shoes and socks you can get a better feel for the way your weight shifts naturally between your right and left legs.

Free online golf tips

This 'free online golf tips' page is all about great 'little nuggets', which can make a big difference in improving your game. Some of them may be more useful to you than others - have a read through, you might just find a little 'golden nugget' which may transform your game! Make a habit of remembering the great putts you have holed, it will keep you in a positive frame of mind every time you face a putt. Train yourself to see a clear mental picture of how you want to hit each shot before executing the shot. Good tempo is critical in achieving a good golfswing. Focus on a smooth transition from the top of your backswing, into your downswing and all the way through to the follow-through position. Improve your accuracy by aiming your clubface first, then position your feet, hips and shoulders square to your target line. Don't pick the club up on the backswing, swing it back slowly and low to the ground. Great balance is very important for swinging well consistently - to improve your balance, hold your follow-through position until your ball has landed. The tempo of your drives should be the same as tempo of your pitch shots - swinging faster will not result in more distance. For better chipping, decide exactly where you want the ball to land - focus on that spot, visualize your ball landing there and running all the way to the hole. For a solid escape from a bad lie in a bunker, position the ball further back in your stance - this will ensure that the clubhead makes solid contact with the ball. Always putt from off the green if possible. Putts are generally more consistent than chip shots. Return from 'free online golf tips' to 'more great tips home'

 

Free golf lessons online

The first lesson in this 'free golf lessons online' section, is to learn the correct grip. The correct grip is essential for making a controlled swing and for getting the clubface square at the impact point with the ball.
1. Position the clubface square to the target with the thumb and forefinger of your right hand.
2. Now position the grip of the club so it sits between your palm and the base of your fingers - this is very important for building a swing which will deliver powerful, accurate shots.

3. Wrap your left hand around the grip (club face still square to target), with the 'V' formed between your thumb and forefinger pointing to your right shoulder. If you can see two-and-a-half knuckles when looking down at your left hand, you know you are gripping properly.
4. Then simply take your right hand and shake hands with the grip so your left hand thumb fits into the 'lifeline' of your right hand. At this point your left hand thumb is being covered up with the thumb pad of your right hand, with the back of your right hand square to the target.
5. Make sure that you grip the club firmly, but not too tight. If you feel tension building up in your hands, forearms and shoulders when you are holding the club, your are gripping too tight.
Many different grips have been tried over the years, but the three most common grips used today are: The overlapping grip, the interlocking grip and the baseball grip (or 10-finger grip).

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Golf swing instruction

Try these two great golf swing instruction tips, for building good alignment and a sound takeaway.

Proper alignment is a must, if you want to hit the ball on target. Many beginners and club golfers struggle with good alignment, because they are making it more complicated than it really is.

The key to aiming, is to ensure that your shoulders are parallel to the target (you really don't have to worry too much about the alignment of your feet).

1. Lay a club on the grass, in-line with your target.

2. Take your address position by holding another club across your chest, also in-line with the target.

3. Focus on setting your shoulders square to the target-line club, by ensuring that the club across your chest is parallel with the club on the ground.

4. This drill will really help you practice the proper shoulder alignment, which will increase your accuracy.

The takeaway is probably the most important movement in the swing, as it sets the foundation for the rest of the swing - a good takeaway makes it much easier to achieve a proper golfswing.

Try this drill to promote a better takeaway:

1. Hold a club under your arms and across your chest - see picture above.

2. Grip another club normally, and practice your takeaway by keeping the club under your arms in place.

3. If you are taking the club away correctly, you will feel your shoulders tilting, and the club you are swinging back will remain outside your hands - see picture above.

 

Golf tip online - a great chipping tip

On this 'golf tip online' page, I want to share one of the best chipping tips ever.

When I chip well, I eliminate the 'breaking' of my wrists during my follow-through. When the wrists 'break', it basically means that the hands stop leading the stroke, allowing the clubhead to lead. Allowing the clubhead to be in front of the hands, is a critical error, which can lead to all kinds of problems.

To have any hope of chipping well consistently, the hands must always lead the stroke, with the clubhead following into impact.

I use a really simple, but very useful chipping drill to stop my wrists from breaking, with the aim of forcing my hands to lead the stroke.

While gripping my wedge, I grip another club with its shaft extending past my left hip. I then practice chipping with my normal stroke, while the shaft extending past my hip, stops my wrists from breaking on the follow-through.

Try this drill out on the range, until you really get the feeling of your hands leading in your chipping stroke - this technique will dramatically improve your chipping.

 

Golf swing plane tip

On this page, I will share an excellent golf swing plane tip I came across a while ago. Learning to swing the club ?on plane? is key for building a better golf swing. So, what exactly is a swing plane? The plane of the golf swing basically describes the angle at which the club swings around the body.

Different golfers have different swing planes, depending on how tall they are, the way they address the ball and so on. The important thing, is to swing back and forth on the same plane, as this will build a much more consistent swing.

1. Place a tee into the top of the grip of your club.

2. Now place two clubs on the ground at right angles to each other. Place one club in line with the target and the other club square to the target so the end of its grip touches the middle of the target-line club (see picture above).

3. Grip your club and take your normal stance as pictured above. The meeting point between the two clubs on the ground forms the impact point (you can also simply tee up a golf ball as impact point in place of having two clubs on the ground).

4. Swing your hands back, turning your left forearm until the tee in the grip points directly at the impact point formed by the two clubs on the ground ? this is a great plane position on the backswing.

5. Now swing through so that the tee in the grip points directly at the impact point from the follow-through position ? again, this is a great plane position on the follow-through.

6. Practice this drill by swinging your arms back and forth ? this will really help you develop a great feel for swinging the club on plane.

 

Free golf putting practice tips

Golf putting practice does not have to take hours and it can be lots of fun!

The only way for me to putt well consistently is to spend time on the practice green and practice my putting with a purpose.

See below five great drills I use to keep my putting sharp and to also build confidence for taking on those pressure putts during my round.

Here is a very nifty practice aid I came across a while ago - it is a stunning device to really improve accuracy on the greens.

I like to start my golf putting practice session by closing my eyes and simply swinging my putter back and forth a few times.

This drill helps me get into a good frame of mind to make solid, free flowing strokes with no jerky movements.

From the golf putting practice tips listed on this page, this one is crucial. If I don't hit the ball out of the middle of my putter head it is almost impossible to achieve consistency in my putting.

I use a very effective putting practice drill to promote pure ball striking:

1. I place a coin on the putting green directly behind my ball.

2. I then narrow my focus on the coin as I stroke over the middle of the coin with the 'sweetspot' of my putter. As I stroke over the middle of the coin, I hit the back of the golf ball with the middle of my putter head.

This exercise really helps me to 'zone in' and hit the ball out of the sweetspot of my putter head.

Putting really is all about 'feel'. Though it is important to put some good putting fundamentals in place, it is crucial to develop good 'feel' on the greens.

When I talk about 'feel', I really mean developing a good feeling of the speed of the greens and how they are running on the actual day I am playing the course.

The greens at different courses will run faster or slower depending on the type of grass the greens are made of, weather conditions and so on.

The important thing is to get a good 'feel' for the greens I am going to play on before stepping out onto the course as this will help me to be well prepared and score well on the greens.

We all face at least three or four short pressure putts during a round, so it makes sense to devote time improving this part of the game.

I like to practice by placing balls all around the hole, about 4-5 feet away. The idea is to work my way around the hole and sink as many putts as possible.

This little drill will develop great confidence before stepping out onto the course.

Some courses have huge greens and we may sometimes be left with long-range putts of 50 feet or even longer!

Before I play a golf course with really big greens (St Andrews Old Course comes to mind), I devote some extra time on the practice green to work on my long-range putting.

I use the following drill to help me practice these long-range putts:

1. I start by placing 3 golf tees in a straight line around 2 feet from each other so that the line formed by them is about 3 feet from the hole.

2. I move about 15-20 feet away from the hole and place another golf tee at this point (the line with 3 tees is now behind the hole I am facing).

3. From this position I start by hitting balls toward the hole. The aim is to hit the balls into the hole, but if I miss, the balls should not go further than the line formed by the tees behind the hole.

4. When I am happy with my progress, I move further back from the hole and repeat the drill until I am feeling confident with my long-range putting.

This drill is also an excellent way to practice getting down in two putts.