Category: Golf Swing

How to Improve Your Golf Swing Speed – 5 Tips for Beginners

July 2, 2023 Dan No Comments

I know what you might be thinking. Here we go again, another article about increasing the swing speed. Fair enough, a lot of industry experts talk about this quite a bit. Now, there is a reason for that. If you want to hit the ball further and consequentially lower your handicap, you must know how to improve your golf swing speed.

It is just how things work in the wonderful world of golfing. To increase your distances, you have to hit the ball further. That can only happen if you increase your clubhead and ball speed.

I am not saying you have to get to extreme levels of golfers who participate in the World Long Drive Championship. That would be hard to achieve to start with unless you had a lot of time on your hands.

However, if you want to bring your game to the next level, you have to start working on that speed. For example, to carry your ball 250 yards, your clubhead speed should be around 100 mph, and your ball speed around 145 mph.

Those numbers will look scary to a lot of average golfers. That is fine, perhaps you are happy with less distance and do not care to hit that ball so far. Nonetheless, if you do want to increase your numbers, there are ways to do it. There are drills you can do to get there, but below we will focus on a few tips that can help you along the process.

1. Know Your Backswing Limit

This might sound weird, but you can easily overdo your backswing. As you can imagine when that happens it does not produce the best swing results. Let me explain why. What usually happens when you overdo the backswing has everything to do with your lead arm. To put it in simple words, if you finish your backswing too late, your lead arm bends in the elbow.

That situation leads to a couple of things. First, once it does bend, it is very hard to extend it to the proper position for the downswing and impact. It just requires too much right timing to do that. Subsequently, because of that, you lose a lot of power in your swing. Less power means less clubhead and ball speed, thus less distance.

The general rule goes that you should finish your backswing at the very moment before your lead arm starts bending in the elbow. That way you will make it easier for the downswing and impact. On top of that, you will be able to produce more swing speed because of more power in your swing.

2. Transfer Your Weight

For me personally, this is one of the most challenging parts of the golf swing. I have seen recreational golfers shift their weight in different ways. Whatever works for an individual is fine. Nevertheless, here I am referring to the textbook weight shift. If you have a picture of professional golfers doing it, you know how challenging that is.

The weight transfer, when properly done, creates a slingshot effect in your swing. With that, you gain more power which brings more clubhead and ball speed. For that reason, it is essential that you do it right in order to hit that ball further down the fairway. Work on it to bring it to a decent level and you will enjoy hitting that ball more than ever.

3. Swing With Your Upper Body

One of the most common things recreational gofers do is to swing the club only with their arms. Because of that, there are several areas of the swing that suffer. For one, you guessed it, there is a lack of power. Next, it is harder to control the clubface when the arms are too involved. Then it often leads to poor contact at impact.

The arms should be synchronized with the upper body through the swing. It comes down to engaging the core and having the arms almost locked to the body. When you swing with your upper body you unleash more power for a greater swing speed.

There is a popular drill you can do for that. Put something like a piece of clothing or a tee peg under your armpits and keep it there while swinging. The goal is to keep it under your armpits until you finish your swing without it falling out.

4. Be Relaxed While Swinging

As trivial as this sounds, you should not be overly tense while swinging your club. I am sure you have heard that before, but it is true. If you are too tense, your motions won’t be able to work as intended. That will lead to many things that can go wrong when you are hitting the ball, like thin or thick shots, slices or hooks, etc.

Besides that, not being relaxed will rob you of swing speed as well. If you do not let the club release, you will lose potential power and swing speed. A lot of times you will be able to hit the ball further if you hit it when relaxed at a moderate speed. Try it at the driving range, and see for yourself that it can actually work that way.

5. Know When to Release the Club

This is so important when it comes to swing speed. Here I am referring to the moment when your club accelerates the most before the impact. If it reaches peak acceleration too early or too late you will leave a lot of speed on the table. Clearly, if you watch professional golfers, you can notice they do it with perfection.

What we are looking for here is the swoosh sound the club makes during the swing to happen at the right time. That is the moment when the clubhead is traveling at the highest speed. Ideally, that happens from the time just before impact until a few feet past impact. Again, it is easier said than done, but it can be achieved with some practice and persistence.

Whatever Works the Best

I am sure no matter how long you have been golfing, you know there is no magic formula that works for everyone. The game is so complex when it comes to the swing motion. Because of that, each and every golf swing is different. For that reason, one thing will work for one, and another thing for the other swings.

In reality, it all comes down to what works best for you as an individual. You can find that out with the help of a golf instructor or you can take your time to discover it on your own. This applies to all the things related to the swing including the swing speed. Find what is best for you, work on it, and hit the ball further than ever before.

You may also like:

How to Create Lag in a Golf Swing – Simple Tips

How to Get a Consistent Golf Swing – 5 Tips for Beginners

Categories: Golf Swing Golf Swing Speed Golf Tips

How to Improve a Golf Swing Tempo – 5 Tips for Beginners

June 25, 2023 Dan No Comments

When it comes to the wonderful world of golf, this is a topic that is not mentioned as often as it should be. The reason it should be mentioned more often is, it can make a huge difference in your game. Here I am talking primarily about consistency. Knowing how to improve a golf swing tempo can be something that is going to bring your game to the next level.

Now, like everything related to golf, there is no magic wand that is going to transform you into a low handicapper overnight. A bit of work is still required, but the results can be rewarding.

If you have a look at professional players on both PGA Tour and LPGA Tour, there is one thing you will notice. Their swing tempo is always the same, with no exception.

Granted, it is different from player to player but consistent on an individual basis. That is one of the reasons they can play at such a high level.

The swing tempo helps you with a lot of things. It does not just help with consistency, but also with ball striking.

A good tempo will lead to a better swing execution which then affects how you strike the ball. Additionally, it helps you to stay relaxed during the swing and at the same time helps you to keep too many swing thoughts away.

1. Focus on Breathing

I am sure you found yourself in a situation where you just rushed to the tee box and hit the ball before calming down. If that was the case, I can assume that did not turn out well. In fact, if you are still agitated from something that happened moments ago, you will probably execute your swing poorly.

Breathing is very important in the moments before you swing your club. Allowing yourself to take deep breaths and calm down will help you hit the ball in a better way. First of all, it is a very good method against rushing your swing. Personally, I do not remember I hit one good shot ever when rushing my swing.

Furthermore, at the same time breathing will help your golf swing tempo. It will help you to get into a tempo that will allow for a better swing flow. Next time when you go to the driving range, try focusing only on breathing a few shots. You might be surprised how much it can actually do for your game.

2. Do a Swing Count

As I have already mentioned above, sometimes it is difficult to synchronize all your swing motions. When your swing tempo is off, the outcome is almost always going to be bad. That is mostly due to something that all of us have more or less often. I am talking about swing thoughts, and they can come in numbers.

We have all been in a situation to try to correct multiple things on the next tee box. That is a recipe for disaster. Therefore, fixing things in your swing should be left for the driving range session. Forget about the swing correcting process while playing. Something that can help your swing motions and tempo is doing a count in your head instead.

There are different types of counting you can do, but all have the same purpose. Their purpose is to get your thoughts off excessive thinking about what to do before you hit the ball. With that, you will also be able to have a better swing tempo. It will calm you down as well, and ultimately help you with a more consistent swing.

3. Have a Pre-Shot Routine

This is another thing that a lot of professional golfers have in common. It is something they do each and every time before they wack the ball down the fairway. For them, the pre-shot routine is as important as anything else they do during a round. In the same way, it should be something that is present in your game as well.

You might be asking yourself what the connection between this and the swing tempo is. Fair enough. Let’s put it this way. If you develop a pre-shot routine, it will become something that prepares you for every shot you take. In a way it relaxes you, keeps you calm, and helps you focus at the same time.

With a routine you will not rush your shots, to start with. Equally important, you can integrate breathing and counting into your routine. All that will result in your swing tempo becoming better which will lead to more consistency. After all, we are all looking for some consistency on the golf course, right?

4. Warm Up Before the Round

Honestly, I do not see a ton of golfers warming up before they start their rounds. By this, I mean actual warm-up like stretching, and not hitting balls into the net or putting on the putting green. The consequences could be bad, like back injuries or any kind of discomfort while playing.

Besides that, when your muscles are not warmed up, there is a good chance you will feel tense when hitting the ball. That tension will not do anything good to your swing tempo. It is hard to have a good tempo when your body is not relaxed. Therefore, if you fall into the no warm-up category, rethink it before you start your next round.

5. Keep It Simple

To tell a golfer to keep it simple is definitely easier said than done. I know from my experience that simplicity and golf often collide in a golfer’s brain. That comes as no surprise due to the complexity of the game. However, keeping it simple can help you more than you think.

Again, we come to the relationship between simplicity and swing tempo. If you overcomplicate every shot you take, all the commotion in your head will lead to rushing swings or taking shots you are not entirely sure about. When in doubt, take the shot you are most comfortable with.

The shots that you are familiar with will relax you and help you stay focused. All that will help you with your swing tempo. Why complicate something when you can keep it simple to your benefit?

Find Your Golf Swing Tempo

The thing with golf is, there is no right or wrong when it comes to the golf swing. Each and every individual will do things in a way that works best for them. The only important thing is that it leads to a wanted outcome. In golf wanted outcome means something you can work with for your next shot.

There are many resources out there that will tell you how to find that perfect golf swing tempo. Again, at the end of the day, there will always be slight differences among players and their tempos. What that translates into is finding a tempo that suits your style of swing. After all, we golfers just want to enjoy a good round of golf.

You may also like:

Golf Swing Tempo Drills – How to Improve Your Consistency

How to Improve Your Golf Swing for Beginners – 5 Tips

Categories: Golf Swing Golf Swing Tempo

Golf Swing Follow-Through Tips – How to Finish Like a Pro

June 18, 2023 Dan No Comments

From time to time I hear one thing related to the golf swing follow-through. When you are swinging your club think about where you want to be. In other words, execute your swing well so you can finish in the right position. There are things you can do to get there starting from checking a few golf swing follow-through tips in this article.

You should think of your follow-through as the reflection of what you do in your golf swing. There is a good chance a good swing will lead to a good follow-through.

It also goes the other way around. A poorly executed swing leads to a poor follow-through. That means your follow-through is more important than you might think.

You can look at your follow-through as a shortcut to see what might be wrong with your swing. If something does not look right, it means one or more other swing components are a bit off. For it to work properly all the previous parts of your swing have to work fine. It might be the last part of your swing, but it is far from the least important one.

Straighten Your Arms After Impact

If your golf swing is solid, your lead arm stays straight from the takeaway until the very last phase of the follow-through. At the same time, your trail arm is bent until your clubhead is a few feet after impact. Now, once your trail arm does straighten a few feet after impact, it should stay straight until the last moments of the follow-through.

That means your both arms are straight in your swing just after impact until just before you finish your swing. It is important you do it that way because that means you did all the previous elements correctly. Some coaches recommend thinking about the follow-through being executed correctly which can help all the other parts of your swing.

One of the major things straightening your arms after impact will help you with is club release. Knowing that your both arms should be straight a few feet after impact can basically tell you when to release your club. Doing that correctly will mean that you hear that swoosh sound just around impact as you should and not too early or too late.

Finish the Rotation

This is very important especially when it comes to more power in the swing and solid impact. If you do not finish the rotation in your swing means you most likely finished your swing too early. That will bring a lot of inconsistency to your swing and will rob you of both solid contact and distance.

Finishing the rotation looks the way you are facing the target at the end of the follow-through. Facing the target at the end of your swing is a good checkpoint for completed rotation. That means your upper body and your hips both facing the target. If that is not the case, it is time to make some adjustments.

Weight on Lead Leg

This is absolutely essential if you want to become a solid ball striker. There are other swing components that lead to this outcome. It is a good checkpoint to know if you are executing your swing properly. In case your weight is more to the trail side during the follow-through and at the end of the swing, that needs to be addressed.

Having the weight more to the trail side will lead to different types of poor hits. That includes fat shots and thin shots. You can run a quick test to see where you are at. Next time you go to the range hit a ball and see where you feel your weight after you finish your swing. If you feel your lead leg supporting your body, all is good.

Finishing Position Based on the Shot

In this case, the finishing position will tell you if you did what you intended to do. Let’s put it this way, for a shorter shot your swing should finish sooner than for a longer shot. That is going to be reflected mostly in your arms’ finishing position. The same goes for the type of shot you were trying to hit.

For example, if you wanted to hit a higher ball your arms and club should finish higher up. If you were looking for a lower flight, your arms, and club should finish a bit lower. This is also a good thing to envision when you are trying to execute a certain shot. You think about the finishing position and then get there by doing that shot.

Reverse It to Check Your Swing

Here is one suggestion I have heard in the past. You can set yourself up in the swing finish position and reverse engineer it to figure things out. That way you can work your swing starting from the follow-through first. It gives you the opportunity to see what things lead to a certain position from the end to the beginning of the swing.

With that deeper understanding of your swing, you can find out what to fix from a different perspective. It might not work for everyone, but it is an idea of an unusual approach that could help you. Finally, I like to repeat how basics are crucial in a golf swing. Work on your follow-through basics as much as you can. It will bring more happiness to your golf game.

You may also like:

Golf Downswing Tips – How to Approach the Impact

Golf Impact Position – 5 Tips to Hit It Pure

Categories: Follow Through Golf Swing Golf Tips

Golf Impact Position Tips – How to Hit It Pure

May 15, 2023 Dan No Comments

Your golf swing can look amazing and generate a lot of clubhead speed, but there is still one key thing for all to work. You guessed it, it has to do with the impact. With a solid impact, everything falls into place for a consistent golf swing. If you want to hit balls purely, you might want to check the golf impact position tips in this article.

All golfers pursue that clean contact when the club hits the ball first and then the ground. That is precisely what professional golfers can do on a regular basis.

Almost every person who watched professional golfers play says the same thing. When they hit the ball, it just sounds different. Very different from what we are used to hearing.

Now, nobody is expecting you to hit ball after ball like a tour pro. That is unless you are aspiring to be a tour pro. However, you can get to a level where you hit the ball better.

Better contact will give you more control, and more distance, and ultimately help your game to get to the next level. Who wouldn’t want that? Have a look at the tips below and start improving your contact.

1. Weight on the Lead Side

Needless to say, when the weight at impact is more on your trail side, a lot of bad things happen. You lose power and distance, and you hit a lot of different poor shots. At that very moment when you make contact with the ball, you actually add loft to your club which makes the ball go a shorter distance. There is also a good chance you hit the ground behind the ball which also robs you of distance.

To avoid all of the above from happening, the weight has to be more on your lead side at impact. That is essential to put all the elements in the right place for the swing to work out. It will help you with better contact as well as with more power in your swing. The better contact means you can hit the ball first and make that nice divot past the golf ball.

2. Forward Shaft Lean

This is among the most important things you should do at impact if you are looking for more distance. What having your shaft forward at impact does is de-lofting your golf club. At that moment your club turns into one or two clubs up. Now, instead of hitting an 8 iron, you are hitting a 7 or 6 iron depending on how much you de-loft it.

That is possibly the biggest secret of how professional golfers can hit their clubs so far. Golf clubs are designed for the forward shaft lean at impact. I am talking here mostly of full swings. You can always manipulate the loft depending on your desired shot. It will help you hit the ball to distances you thought you can’t reach.

3. Square Clubface

Without any question, you have to have your clubface square at impact if you want to hit solid shots. There are different ways to achieve that. One is timing it and turning the face square only at impact. It is possible to do it this way, but it will make your work harder and your shots open for mis-hits.

The easier way to do it is to pre-set the clubface to be square before it gets to impact. This will limit the possible mistakes and help you hit more consistent shots. It involves less active wrists and it starts already from the takeaway. Next time you go to the range, pay attention to how you square your clubface. Maybe you will need to make some adjustments to make your life easier.

4. Turn Through Impact

Turning through impact can make a big difference in a few areas of your golf swing. It will help you control the clubface, add more power to your swing, and make it as effortless as possible. One of the things that tend to happen when you do not turn through impact is that your arms get too involved in the swing.

Involving your arms more in the swing can be good if you need to do things like adding some spin. However, when your arms are more passive through the impact it is easier for you to make good contact. It helps you to keep the same relationship with the golf ball and adds more distance to your shots.

5. Shoulder Tilt

If you have a look at any professional player at their impact position, you will notice one thing. All of them tilt their shoulders toward the trail side. That helps them to hit those solid shots time after time. It is paramount for having all the other swing parts in the right place when you strike the ball.

With no tilt, your striking will be less consistent. It would be hard to have the forward shaft lean without it or turn through the swing. Without it, you will be facing all kinds of potential mis-hits. In other words, shoulder tilt means that you are keeping your upper body in the right position for the impact.

Solid Impact Is the Road to Consistent Shots

Golfers know how hard it is to reach a point where you hit the ball consistently well. That being said, even the best golfers in the world hit bad shots. The key to better golfing is in limiting your bad shots. By that, I mean having fewer of them as well as making sure those bad ones are not too bad.

A solid impact will help your game to get to the next level. It will make your good shots great and it will make your bad shots manageable. That is something we all aspire to. Look up some impact drills, check what you need to work on, and get ready to enjoy golfing more than ever.

Golf Backswing Tips – How to Store Power in Your Swing

Golf Downswing Tips – How to Approach the Impact

Categories: Golf Swing Golf Tips

Golf Swing Takeaway Tips – How to Start Your Swing

April 16, 2023 Dan No Comments

There is one thing that you will hear over and over again from a number of golf instructors and coaches. Ensure you start your swing correctly because that will affect its sequence and outcome. In other words, a solid start leads to reliable results. Check the golf swing takeaway tips below to start your swing better.

The takeaway is the very beginning of your swing which lasts until your club is almost parallel to the ground. You want to start it correctly in order for all the other pieces to fall into place. A bad takeaway often leads to a bad swing.

Every golfer is looking for a consistent golf swing and the takeaway can help. It will pre-set your body parts and golf club so your backswing, downswing, impact, and follow-through work in a better flow.

In a simple, yet complex motion, which the golf swing is, you want to make the first step right. If you don’t make that first step right there is a probability something else will go wrong after. That leads to inconsistent swings translating to inconsistent shots and frustrating outcomes. Luckily, there are ways to improve your takeaway and go toward consistency.

Move Your Upper Body and Arms in Sync

There are a lot of recreational golfers who at the takeaway move the club with their arms only. That automatically means your swing motions are already out of sequence. It leads to an exaggerated arms motion throughout the swing. The results are usually a lack of power in the swing, lost distance, and mis-hits.

What you should be feeling when you start the takeaway is that your upper body and arms are moving at the same time. It will give you more stability and prepare you for a better transition into the backswing. At the same time, it will make your swing feel effortless and help you hit it with more power.

Have the Clubface Slightly Pointing to the Ground

This is a move that a lot of professional golfers make in order to pre-set the clubface for impact. As weird as it sounds due to it happening at the very beginning of the swing, it makes sense. Think about it this way. If you have your clubface ready for impact earlier, you do not have to think about it or set it up later in the swing.

This way you eliminate all the possibilities of the clubface being too open or too closed at impact. The more moving pieces you add to your golf swing, the more chances are something is going to go wrong. Make your swing as simple as you possibly can and having the clubface point slightly down at the takeaway will help you with that.

Move Your Clubhead on a Straight Line

When I say a straight line, I do not actually mean a straight line. In fact, that would literally mean you moving the clubhead straight behind the golf ball which would have your arms completely out of position. What I mean is it should look from your point of view like you are moving the clubhead in a straight line behind the golf ball.

That will help keep your club slightly in front of your arms preventing it from going behind you too early. For instance, if your club goes behind you too early it can lead to the outside to in club path which can result in severe slices. By starting the club slightly in front of your arms you are pre-setting it for a more neutral or inside-to-out club path. That will help with the impact and get you more consistency.

Do Not Hinge Your Wrists Early

This happens often to a lot of recreational golfers. The wrists start hinging way too early in the takeaway which leads to a couple of things. To begin with, it can cause your club to go behind you which does not help the club’s path later on. That can end with mis-hits that often materialize in the form of slices or shanks.

Second, what early hinging leads to is the lack of stored energy in the swing. It will create less lag and that way you can potentially lose some distance. The wrist hinging should ideally start somewhere around your club being parallel to the ground. It is the last phase of the takeaway before the smooth transition into the full backswing.

Do Not Rush It

Now, this is one of the most important things when it comes to the swing in general. For some professional golfers, it goes so far that you have the feeling they are starting their swing in slow motion. Rushing the takeaway can lead to all sorts of trouble in the swing. It is harder to have control of the motion and can lead to different kinds of mis-hits, to name a couple.

Starting your swing at a moderate speed is going to allow you to follow the swing structure. Additionally, it will help you with the swing tempo which is one of the crucial swing components. Having a good swing tempo in general leads to better contact and consistent ball striking. Remember, that all starts with not rushing the takeaway.

A Solid Start Leads to a Solid Finish

You will notice that professional golfers do different things with their golf swings. However, there is one thing they all have in common. They all have a consistently solid takeaway. In spite of a lot of them having different swing tempos, their takeaways are structured. Therefore, their ball striking is exceptional.

To summarize, by mastering your takeaway you will open the door to a consistent golf swing. It is worth it to spend time practicing and perfecting it. A solid takeaway can help you to hit better any club in your golf bag, from driver to lob wedge. Now find some drills and get to work, it will be rewarding.

You may also like:

How to Get a Consistent Golf Swing – 5 Tips for Beginners

How to Manage a Golf Course – Tips for Beginners

Categories: Golf Swing Golf Tips

Golf Swing Tempo Drills – How to Improve Your Consistency

April 9, 2023 Dan No Comments

There is one thing I have noticed while I’m golfing that is related to my golf swing tempo. Every time I swing faster the results are not good. By faster I mean I try to “kill” the ball in order to get it further. That is when my worst shots happen. If you are experiencing bad shots, it could be related to the tempo. The golf swing tempo drills you can find in this article can help you with that.

If you watch professional golfers play, you can notice they always hit the same shots with the same intensity. The reason is their swing tempo is excellent.

There is a flow to the golf swing and a better tempo will bring a better flow. When the flow is good it results in a better strike and ultimately a better outcome.

A good tempo will help you execute all the swing elements properly. It will give your body time to connect everything from the takeaway to the follow-through in one seamless motion. That will produce a solid contact and help prevent slices, hooks, or shanks. The swing tempo is often overlooked at the recreational level, but it is very important if you want to bring your game to the next level.

One and Two Drill

This is the drill I like to use because it is simple and effective. It is a drill I encountered on the Chris Ryan Golf Youtube channel. The drill does not require you to have anything else besides your golf club and golf ball. All you have to focus on while doing the drill is counting out loud or in your head, whichever you prefer.

Get a mid iron of your preference and set up as you usually do without the golf ball
You will start counting on your backswing and finish around the impact
When you start the swing, on takeaway you say “One”
At the top of your swing, you say “And”
The moment you hit the ball you say “Two”
Do not rush it, just count at moderate speed: one, and, two
When you are comfortable, introduce the ball and repeat the drill

This drill is easy to do and it will give you a better feel for your swing tempo. If you are interested, you can check Chris Ryan’s Golf Youtube channel to find more great content.

1, 2, 3, 1 Drill

We are moving forward with another numbers drill. This one is very popular and you can find it everywhere. It is as simple as the one before with the same purpose of giving a nice tempo to your swing without rushing it. The whole concept of the drill is based on the fact that the optimum swing tempo ratio is 3:1. That means that your backswing should last three times longer than your downswing.

Pick one of your mid irons and set up without the golf ball
When you start the backswing count from one to three until the top of your swing
From the top of your swing, you should only count one until the impact
Once you are comfortable, introduce the golf ball and repeat the drill

Both of these drills are also good to keep you from swing thoughts. You can do them actually when playing which will help make your swing smoother and prevent your mind from thinking about multiple things while swinging.

Swoosh Drill

This is an unorthodox drill in the way that a variation of it requires you to hold your club upside down. The main goal of the drill is to have you produce a swoosh sound while swinging the club. Another important part is when the swoosh is made and that should be just around the impact area, not before or after that.

Take one of your irons from your bag
Turn it upside down and grip it just below the clubhead
Make swings with the butt end of the club swinging above the ground
The swoosh sound should happen around the impact area where the golf club would be

This drill will help you add balance to your swing and help you hear at what point you should release your club. Alternatively, it can be done with a driver by you just holding it usually and swinging it above the ground.

Golf Swing Tempo App

As you can imagine there is a number of drills you can do to work on your swing tempo. Besides the conventional drills, there are also apps for phones you can use to work on your tempo. This includes apps made for the swing tempo only and apps that include a swing tempo segment or are complete golf swing analyzers.

Depending on how deep in analytics you want to go, there is an app for you out there. It is a good way for you to get audio or visual assistance while practicing your tempo. You can use apps as the only way of working on your tempo or as an additional way. Whichever option you use will help you improve.

Relax and Get Better Results

Too much tension in your swing can lead to bad outcomes. You should relax to a point where you can still execute the swing properly without losing speed or power. However, do not relax too much the way your club flies out of your hands or you lose your structure. A good tempo will help you to relax more and improve your swing.

Something that can help you relax while swinging is having fewer swing thoughts. I found that to be efficient in my case. If anything I just think about having a good tempo just before I swing the club. That could work for you as well, give it a try. At the end of the day always try to have fun on the golf course no matter what.

You may also like:

How to Get a Consistent Golf Swing – 5 Tips for Beginners

Most Common Golf Swing Mistakes – How to Avoid Them

Categories: Golf Swing Swing Drills

How to Improve Your Golf Swing for Beginners – 5 Tips

March 19, 2023 Dan No Comments

We were all new to golf at some point. Nobody was born a great golfer, except maybe Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus. Jokes aside, it takes some time and dedication to become good at golf. Your golf swing is essential to learn when you get into the game. Here you can find 5 tips on how to improve your golf swing for beginners.

None of these tips will give you a magic formula that is going to solve all things you have been working on to improve.

What the tips will give you are some points on what areas of your swing you should pay attention to in order to improve it. That is going to be a starting point for you toward success.

In its essence, the golf swing is a complex set of motions that come together in one seamless move. The sole purpose of that move is to strike the ball exactly how you want it and direct it where you want it to go. Now, we often tend to overcomplicate our swing. The sooner you know what to focus on, the sooner you can master your swing to enjoy golfing even more.

1. Know Your Swing Path

Your swing path is vital for a few reasons. First, it might be the cause that your shots are going all over the place. Second, it could be causing that unpleasant slice you have been fighting. The third, and most important thing, if you can manipulate your swing path you are in a position to hit different types of shots.

You should in any case check what your swing path tendency is. The most common one which causes slicing for a lot of golfers is the outside-to-in path. Maybe you fall in the rare category of the inside-to-out path which could be causing pulls. The third option is the neutral path which is, I would dare to say, the least common one.

If you do want to be aware of how you are swinging the club, you could make a video of you swinging from behind. That will show you your tendency. Besides that, you will figure out why you are hitting certain shots more frequently. After you do that you can start working on controlling the path and improving your swing.

2. Shift Your Weight Forward

This is one of the key components for better contact with the ball at impact and hitting the ball further. Not shifting the weight forward can lead to all sorts of trouble with your swing. It can cause mis-hits in the form of fat or thin shots and even shanks. On top of that, your ball will end up much shorter than it actually could.

When you are just starting to golf, this is one of the harder things to do. It might take you some time to learn it, but it will be rewarding once you do. There are several drills you can find out there that can help you with it. The sooner you get a hold of it, the sooner your ball striking will become better.

3. Clear Your Hips

There is often a misconception about hip movement during the swing. A lot of recreational golfers slide too much or not enough toward the target without proper hip rotation. Lately, I have seen some good content from experienced golf coaches about hips in the swing. Instead of saying hip rotation they use the term hip clearance.

The main reason it is called clearing hips is that by doing that you make enough room for the downswing in order to shallow the club. Besides the better contact you get out of that, you generate more power in your swing as well. It will be well worth it if you look into it and start working on doing it properly.

4. Forward Club Shaft Lean at Impact

If you have a look at any professional golfer at impact you will notice the forward shaft lean. I bet you’ve heard this before. There is a simple reason you will keep hearing it from golf coaches and industry experts. That is the proper way to compress the golf ball at impact and get the maximum distance out of your club.

What forward shaft lean at impact does is de-loft your golf club. It basically turns your 9 iron into an 8 or even a 7. It is one of the reasons professional golfers can hit the ball so much further with all their irons and wedges. The key thing here is going to be your wrists’ position through the downswing which will help with the shaft lean.

5. Keep the Shoulder Tilt

This is the vital component for keeping the relation to your golf ball. By doing it properly you are helping all the other parts of your swing to fall into place. All that will lead to better contact with the ball for a solid golf shot. Not doing the shoulder tilt often leads to bad shots in the form of thick and thin ones.

What you have to pay attention to is for your lead side shoulder to stay below your trail side shoulder during the backswing. After you transition into the downswing the shoulders will reverse their roles. Your trail side shoulder will be below your lead side shoulder. It might feel a bit strange in the beginning if you are not used to it.

One Change at a Time

I always like to repeat this whenever I have a chance. When you start working on swing changes do one single thing at a time. The swing is complex enough even without us trying to change multiple things at a time. Working on one element will help your body to adjust to the changes better and in a shorter period of time.

Nevertheless, that does not mean you will be able to change something quickly. It will still require time and effort to do it. Always start small and slow before making it to full swing and speed. Another thing that is recommended is to do some reps without the golf ball before trying to hit it.

Even when you introduce the golf ball do not worry right away if you mis-hit it. It is part of the process. Your body has to adapt to the new move first, then you can start hitting the ball properly. All in all, diagnose what part of your swing you have to work on first, then take one step at a time. Swing it better for more fun on the golf course.

You may also like:

Golf Swing Basics for Beginners – How to Learn It Right

How to Get a Consistent Golf Swing – 5 Tips for Beginners

Categories: Beginners Golf Swing Golf Tips

Golf Swing Plane Drills – How to Swing Better

March 12, 2023 Dan No Comments

There is one name you are most likely familiar with: Ben Hogan. The reason I am mentioning him is the swing plane. He held the importance of swinging on or under the plane very high. That way your ball hitting improves and makes the swing better. The golf swing plane drills below will help you to get there.

You might be wondering what the plane is. Hogan imagined it as a glass surface that goes parallel with your golf club shaft at the initial swing setup.

If you pay attention to professional golfers, all of them swing on the plane or under the plane. When you swing above the plane, the results are usually not the best.

The main benefit of swinging on or under the plane is better contact with the golf ball. It also means that you have shallowed your club on the downswing.

If you are swinging that way already, you are doing the right thing. In case you are not, some of these drills could help you to get there.

Swing Under the Alignment Stick Drill

When you are looking for swing plane drills there is no other one that shows up as often as this drill. It is a simple and efficient drill that will help you both shallow your club on the downswing and swing from the inside out. All you need is an alignment stick with or without a pool noodle on it. Another option can be placing one of your club headcovers on the stick.

Nonetheless, there is a downside to this drill. To do it properly you need to place the alignment stick in the ground. That means you have to be at a driving range where you hit the balls off the grass. No artificial turf will work in this case. Assuming that you do have access to such a practice facility, here is how you do the drill.

Put the stick into the ground at a 45 degrees angle, facing you
It should be placed parallel to the outside of your trail foot
The end of the stick (pool noodle or headcover) should be about your wrist high
When you make a swing your club should go under the stick
You will get instant feedback while doing the drill
If you hit the stick on the downswing, it means you have to adjust your swing

Two Golf Balls Drill

This drill can be done with another golf ball or any object that you can place outside of the golf ball you are hitting. Just make sure the object is light enough so it does not break your club or hurt you if you hit it. The main objective of this drill is for you to check if you are swinging from outside in so you can fix it.

If you are swinging on or under the plane you either have a neutral swing path or you are swinging from inside out. This way you can find that out and make the necessary adjustments. The drill can be done anywhere where you can swing a club. In case you are doing it at home make sure you are hitting foam or whiffle balls and have room to swing a club.

Place another golf ball about two inches outside of the ball you are hitting
Make sure you have enough room for the club to hit your ball without hitting the other one
Swing and hit the golf ball without touching the other one
In case you hit the other golf ball in the process, some adjustment is needed

Swing the Club Loosely Drill

Unlike the other drills, for this one, you do not need anything except your club. It is a very simple drill designed to give you a feeling for your club’s natural swing motion. That way you can see what the natural swing path looks like so you can transfer it into your full swing. You can do it anywhere you want.

Grip your club more loosely that you usually do
You can set up in your regular swing position
Start slowly swinging the club in one single motion
Do shorter swings with the club continuously swinging from your trail to your lead side
Repeat that more times to get the feel of the club path

Do the Same Groups of Drills at a Time

When it comes to golf practice the most efficient way is to do related drills at a single time. That way you are focusing only on one area you want to work on. It will help you to improve faster since you are not mixing different types of drills. Make a practice plan and stick to it in order to maximize the results.

Practicing with a purpose will always generate better results compared to just going to the range and hitting balls. Whenever you do go to the range choose one part of your swing you want to work on. No matter which types of drills you are doing, it will take some time to see proper results. Have some patience, be persistent, and your hard work will pay off.

You may also like:

Driving Range Drills for Beginners – Road to Success

How to Practice Golf Effectively – Make the Most of It

Categories: Drills Golf Swing Swing Drills

How to Improve My Golf Game – 5 Tips for Beginners

March 5, 2023 Dan No Comments

Having a consistent golf swing is the golfer’s holy grail. It is something golfers at all levels try to achieve. However, even at the highest level, getting it is not easy. What consistency at the recreational level means is making as few mistakes as possible. There are some tips that can give you an answer on how to get a consistent golf swing.

That will help you make your swing as reliable as possible so your game suffers less and you enjoy playing more.

Clearly, there will always be bad shots, but the goal is to reduce their amount. It will probably require some changes and that is normal.

Whenever you make some changes to your golf swing it takes time for them to work. It is all a process that requires time and effort. The good thing is, the sooner you start implementing changes, the sooner you will get there. Without further introduction, check below the tips that could help you reach your goal.

1. Nail Down the Basics

I can’t emphasize this enough. If you want to have a consistent swing you absolutely have to work on the basics. By that I mean you have to be really good with basics. When you start golfing and building your swing it is very easy to go off the path. There are so many things that you can start doing wrong.

Once you start doing certain things wrong, it gets harder to fix them. That is why basics are so important. If you start doing things properly from the beginning, it is easier later. When you have solid foundations it is easier to build on. It will depend on how much time you have for how fast you can improve.

The bottom line is, it does not matter how much time it takes as long it is done right. It is the end goal that is important and that is building a consistent swing. That is exactly what you are going to get with solid basics. There are a lot of resources available out there that can help you, embrace them and get going.

2. Have the Right Clubs

There are many golfers that do not pay much attention to the golf clubs they play with. That is fine as long as they do not care about consistency and better result. In case you fall into the category of golfers who care, you should give this a thought. Even if your swing is consistent, the wrong clubs might not show the best results on the course.

In other words, wrong clubs could make your swing look more inconsistent than it actually is. Numbers are possibly the most reliable way that can show you what your clubs are doing for your swing. If you have access to a launch monitor then you can have a look yourself. In case you don’t, you could consider custom fitting.

Golf club fitters can see what is happening when you swing and suggest you different club options. They go through the process with you and at the end make a suggestion for which clubs work the best. The right clubs will definitely contribute to consistency and help you to get your game where you want it to be.

3. Focus on Technique

I know this seems obvious, but there is a reason why this is important. Let’s say you are just focusing to hit the ball as far as you can. While doing that, you completely neglect how you are hitting the ball. There is a good chance that your ball is not going to go a long distance no matter how hard you try to hit it.

The simple reason is you are most likely hitting it wrong. That has all to do with your swing technique. When you focus more on how you swing instead of how you hit the ball the results are better. Once your technique is better you will discover you don’t even have to hit it so hard in order for it to fly further.

Having a solid swing technique will help you become a better golfer faster. Even if you are hitting it shorter than you want in the beginning, as long as the technique is good the distance will come. On top of that, you will be able to hit all kinds of different shots when needed. Work on your swing technique and golfing will be more fun than ever.

4. Play to Your Strengths

There is a good chance you have a tendency when you are swinging your club, just like the majority of golfers who are natural drawers or faders of the ball. Granted, there are probably way more natural faders out there compared to drawers. No matter which category you fall in, you should use it as your strength.

You can notice that easily by paying attention when hitting the ball. If you are slicing it more, then you are a natural fader. In case you are hooking it more, you are a drawer. When you embrace that and adjust your swing to your preference, it will be easier for you to get a more consistent golf swing.

5. Practice With Purpose

This is extremely important if you want to obtain the best results possible. There are way too many recreational golfers that hit the ball without any purpose when practicing. Just have a look next time you go to the driving range. They just hit ball after ball executing the same shot time after time.

That is one of the reasons you might feel you are hitting it way better on the range than on the course. The reality is every shot in your round of golf is going to be a different one. Therefore, you should hit different shots with different clubs each time you practice. Mix it up, hit different length shots with each club, and try different ball flights or different shot shapes.

Make a plan for when you are going to practice. Have different targets on the range to hit. When it comes to drills, do drills for the same area you are working on at once. Don’t mix different drills in the same practice session. Doing the same types of drills will help you improve what you are working on faster. When you finish one area, move on to the next one.

Enjoy Golfing More Than Ever

The process of getting better at golf is awesome. That is especially the case in the very beginning when you can see big improvements on a regular basis. The better you get, the longer it takes to get to the next level. Nonetheless, it is not impossible. Everyone wants to get better, even professional golfers at the highest level.

One of the key things when it comes to improvement is a consistent golf swing. But it is not all in just grinding to become a better golfer. A lot of it is in enjoying each and every moment on the golf course. The fact is, the better you get, the more you will enjoy playing. Get working on your golf swing to have more fun while playing.

You may also like:

How to Practice Golf Effectively – Make the Most of It

Most Common Golf Swing Mistakes – How to Avoid Them

Categories: Beginners Golf Swing Golf Tips

Golf Swing Impact Drills – How to Hit It Pure

February 19, 2023 Dan No Comments

Here is a fact. No matter how you swing your club at the end of the day the most important part is contact. Don’t get me wrong, you should still pay attention to how you deliver the hit. Otherwise, even with good contact your ball can end up anywhere. Here we will focus on golf swing impact drills you can do to improve your ball striking.

How you hit your ball and where on the clubface you hit it can make a difference between a great shot and a bad one.

Another thing that will improve with solid impact is distance. More distance usually means better chances for lower scores.

I am sure you know exactly when you hit a good shot. There is no feeling like the one when you know you have hit that ball purely.

That gets even better when that ball does exactly what you wanted it to and goes the distance you have envisioned.

Granted, even professionals do not do it every single time. However, the drills below can help you do it more often.

Impact Bag Drill

This is one of the most popular impact drills you can do. To perform it as intended you will need an impact bag. If you do not have an impact bag you can use something that will serve the purpose. That could be a regular duffel bag or even a backpack you can fill up with something like towels to make it firmer.

Place the bag just ahead of where you would place the golf ball
Start with shorter swings at first then work your way to longer ones
Every time you hit the bag make sure you move it forward
Keep your position at impact for a few moments so you get the feel for it
It is important that you keep the wrists quiet through impact without flicking the club

The drill will help you to get the sensation of your body motion at impact. More importantly, the way the impact bag is designed will show you the golf club position once you strike the ball. It might be different from what you are used to so it might be weird at first. There is a reason this drill is so popular among golf instructors.

Tee Peg Behind Golf Ball Drill

All you need for this simple drill is a tee peg. It will help you make better contact with the ball by forcing you to shift your weight forward. Besides that, it will help you strike the ball while you lean the club shaft forward. You can do it at the driving range, at home, or anywhere else where there is enough room to swing a club.

Place the tee peg about one clubhead length behind the golf ball at the setup
Start with shorter swings and gradually work toward a full swing
The goal is to miss the tee peg in order to hit the ball first then the ground
It will give you instant feedback depending if you miss or hit the tee peg

Tee Peg Behind Golf Ball by golfballsworld.com

Press Clubface Against Object Drill

The main purpose of this drill is to get you used to the impact position. It will help you get the feel of the moment when you strike the golf ball. You can do it anywhere as long as there is a firm object you can use to press your clubface against. It is a drill you can easily do at home or anywhere else.

Find a firm object like a wall, a desk, a bookshelf, or even a sofa
Place your golf clubface against the object and assume the impact position
Now press your clubface against the object to get the feel of your body in that position
Make sure you are in the right position in order to get the right sensation

This might feel different from what you are used to. It might feel a bit odd, but the objective is for you to feel the right impact position. You will see which muscles activate during the impact and how your body has to be positioned.

Short Swing Drill

This is a drill that is straightforward and self-explanatory. The goal is to feel the proper impact position while actually hitting the ball. It is a good way to get used to the feeling of delivering the club in a solid manner. Because it is a shorter swing it will help you slowly build up your impact sequence in your swing.

Set up for your regular swing
Bring your club until parallel to the ground in your backswing
Pause briefly before swinging
Swing until your club is parallel to the ground in the downswing
Make some dry swings until introducing the golf ball

Clubface Against Object by golfballsworld.com

Don’t Forget to Play

Drills are a great way to improve or sharpen your golf skills. I would always recommend them even as occasional reminders when it comes to technique. They can help you with straightening your game and take you to the next level. This is especially the case with basics which should always be learned thoroughly.

On the other side, sometimes you could get caught up in too many drills and too much time spent practicing. You have to remember that golfing on a course is something entirely different from practicing. Go out and golf as much as you can because that is the only true way of experiencing different situations.

While you might enjoy going to the driving range, nothing compares to playing. It will put you in all sorts of scenarios that are hard to replicate in a controlled environment. You will only truly improve by golfing more. Do drills and practice, but try to golf more in order to see real improvement.

You may also like:

How to Get a Consistent Golf Swing – 5 Tips for Beginners

Most Common Golf Swing Mistakes – How to Avoid Them

Categories: Drills Golf Swing Swing Drills