Golf Practice Drills

[Patch]

I seached for "Golf Practice Drills" on TST, and all that came up was the 5 minute practice topic. If a thread already exists on practice drills, dumpster this one.

There are numerous practice drills for the golf swing. Whether all of them have a positive value is up to the individual. Let's see if we can get a thread listing golf drills going. A one stop place to check out for drills.

The drill should have a name, how the drill works, and more importantly what the drill helps to accomplish for the golfer. 

My favorite drill, which is an easy one, is putting (rolling) the ball over an intermediate target about a foot or so in front of the ball. For a target I use a coin, usually a dime or penny. 

What this helps to accomplish is hitting a straight putt, on a line, based on the golfer's read. 

It's an easy drill that can be done indoors or outdoors. Practice greens are a good place, since you can use the hole as an end result to the read or line of the putt. 

[dennyjones]

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[Moxley]

Don't do many drills myself , should probably do more.

One common one that i have done, that is easy and works very well, is to place a half full water bottle just outside (within an inch) of the normal swing path when at the range. The purpose is to stop an out to in swing (or OTT movement) , because if you swing path is out to in, you'll clip the water bottle on the way down. 

Setup is very easy - place the water ball a bit back from the ball (say 4 to 8 inches) , and just on the outside path - it shouldn't obstruct takeaway, but your club should come fairly close to touching it. you are swinging neutral or in to out if you don't touch in on the way back. 

 

[bm85]

One I have used frequently is the "Hips Preset Drill."

Seems so simple today, but I remember the first time watching this I had been practicing golf (grip, takeaway, etc.) without any idea of what an impact position should even be like.

Getting your weight forward, hips forward, and hands forward promotes a low point in front of the ball, and a descending blow with irons. Adding a longer back swing, I actually used this drill the first time I broke 80.

Establishing Key #2 (particularly with iron approaches) gave me a good foundation from which to evolve the rest of my golf swing.

[ncates00]

On 1/17/2018 at 11:43 AM, Patch said:

I seached for "Golf Practice Drills" on TST, and all that came up was the 5 minute practice topic. If a thread already exists on practice drills, dumpster this one.

There are numerous practice drills for the golf swing. Whether all of them have a positive value is up to the individual. Let's see if we can get a thread listing golf drills going. A one stop place to check out for drills.

The drill should have a name, how the drill works, and more importantly what the drill helps to accomplish for the golfer. 

My favorite drill, which is an easy one, is putting (rolling) the ball over an intermediate target about a foot or so in front of the ball. For a target I use a coin, usually a dime or penny. 

What this helps to accomplish is hitting a straight putt, on a line, based on the golfer's read. 

It's an easy drill that can be done indoors or outdoors. Practice greens are a good place, since you can use the hole as an end result to the read or line of the putt. 

When I do putting practice (not very much at all), I have done something sort of similar. I like to put a penny on the green and just putt to that as the hole. I try to roll the ball over the penny to hear the click and run the ball past about 6” or so. 

[Vinsk]

On 1/23/2018 at 7:49 PM, bm85 said:

One I have used frequently is the "Hips Preset Drill."

Seems so simple today, but I remember the first time watching this I had been practicing golf (grip, takeaway, etc.) without any idea of what an impact position should even be like.

Getting your weight forward, hips forward, and hands forward promotes a low point in front of the ball, and a descending blow with irons. Adding a longer back swing, I actually used this drill the first time I broke 80.

Establishing Key #2 (particularly with iron approaches) gave me a good foundation from which to evolve the rest of my golf swing.

This drill absolutely baffles me. Every time I try this I shank it. I’ve even tried taking the club back less than knee height and shank it. I think there’s something physically screwed up with me as to why I do this. Quite maddening really.

[iacas]

16 hours ago, Vinsk said:

This drill absolutely baffles me. Every time I try this I shank it. I’ve even tried taking the club back less than knee height and shank it. I think there’s something physically screwed up with me as to why I do this. Quite maddening really.

That may be a good thing… because it actually forces you to swing from the inside a bit, perhaps.

That, or you're doing something else wrong. Post in your Member Swing topic.

[Vinsk]

Once the rain lets up I’ll do that. I can’t get a good view on the vid of you but are your hips open to the ball on this drill?

[amished]

I need to make my wife do the hips forward drill.  She does well with keeping her head still but she still has a lot of softball in her and she struggles getting to where she should be on an actual swing.

[Patch]

Another thing I do that is part of my practice schedule is I practice specific shots. Usually the troublesome ones. 

I will practice shots from uneven lies. Those being side hill, uphill, or downhill lies.

Other times I might practice shots from the rough. 

Another favorite is a shot over a bunker, to a pin just on the other side of the bunker. 

I have a mini lob/flop drill I sometimes practice, when just off the green to a pin cut with in a few feet away. This is for the times when I can't putt the ball, which of course is the norm for that type of situation. . 

Some might say these are not actual drills. I just feel that any instruction that involves repitition, can be considered a drill in one's practice schedule. 

[ChetlovesMer]

I looked for this thread and can't believe I couldn't find it. If it already exists mine can be either merged or eliminated. I enjoy working on my game. Most of what I do when I'm working on my golf game comes down to either drills, or games which can be played on the practice range, practice green or sometimes even hitting into a net. 

I'm sure many of us have favorite drills or games we play to work on parts of our game. This is a thread to post your favorite practice game or drill. (Not DeWalt or Makita.)

I'll start with a drill I've always liked. I normally do this drill with the driver, but there's no reason you couldn't do it with any club. You first try to hit 5 drives in a row, using about a 50-60% swing hitting each ball on the heel of the driver. Then try to hit 5 balls in a row, still using that 50-60% swing, hitting each drive on the toe of the driver. Then you try to use your 50-60% swing to hit 5 drives right out of the middle of the driver. Then you repeat the whole process with a 70-75% swing, then an 85% swing, then finally with your full swing.

I like this drill a lot because by hitting it on different parts of the club face it helps me find the middle way more often. I try to go back to this drill anytime I've been playing and having trouble hitting shots out of the middle of the clubface. 

What's your favorite golf drill or practice game?  

[Vinsk]

 

 

[ChetlovesMer]

My swing coach gave me this one the other day. And I really like it. Here's how it works. You pick a fairway. Mine looked about 25 yards wide, it might be 40, hard for me to judge, but it seemed "fairway-like". Basically, my fairway was the distance between the yellow and the red poles out on the driving range. Then you pick a minimum distance. I use 225 yards because I feel that’s the acceptable minimum. Now, you need a large bucket of balls. 

You hit your driver. If you hit it more than 225 and between the yellow pole and the red pole you count that as having hit the fairway. After you hit the driver, you hit another club at a target, then another club at a different target. Then you hit your driver again. You try to hit that same fairway as before. Then you hit two different clubs at two different targets.

Although, you try to hit targets with your other clubs, you are only keeping score with the driver. Hitting the two other clubs is just a way of “clearing your muscle memory” so to speak. You goal is to hit 28 out of 28 drives into your "fairway". You can hit draws, fades, straight balls which ever. Just try to get all 28 into the fairway.

Why 28? Because in a normal round of golf you might have to hit as many as 14 drivers. If you can hit 28 fairways in a row, 14 should be easy, right? 

So far, my best is 24 out of 28.

[Patch]

@ChetlovesMer your driver/fairway practice is very similiar to mine. Difference being I try to keep all clubs used in that marked fairway, and don't really keep a score. 

Since I am using range balls with possible suspect flight values, balls that land in the fairway, then roll our of it, or balls that just barely miss the fairway, are counted as good.

My target is anything down range, 200+ yards, that lines up near the center of my make shift fairway.

So many golfers when on the d-range tend to use the whole width of the range for practice. Then wonder why they miss so many, not as wide fairways when on the course playing for a score.

By using two target poles to make a skinnier fairway width, this works much better to take to the course. I will sometimes use a hitting station next to the slice side perimeter fence for added focus. A slice miss over that fence simulates a lost ball, and/or ob penalty stroke

It's a great d-range, full swing practice routine. Thanks for sharing.  

[ChetlovesMer]

@Patch Thanks.

I think the aspect of not trying to just hit driver over and over again is also important. On the course, you have to hit driver, then put it in the bag and hit at least one or two more shots before pulling driver again. I almost always try not to hit the same club more than once in a row at the range. Even when working on a specific thing with a specific club. I like to try it, then bag it, then try it again. 

The possible exception of course is putting. A lot of the putting drills I do are hitting putts over and over. … Which is sometimes how it goes on the course. 😫

[Patch]

Yep, I do the same. I meander through my bag one club/shot at a time. 

I might go driver and all my odd numbered club, and then return to my driver using my even number clubs. As an example my LW is my #13 iron. 

Anything to make d-range practice less boring, and just not raking balls. 

Other times I might work the kinks out of one club looking for the answer to a problem. . I just did that with my 5W. 

[Zippo]

I like to use the impact bag drill. Similar to the video posted in #4 above but rather than just taking a pose I can lightly whack the club into the bag while "feeling" the slightly open impact position in wrists, arms, hips and shoulders.

[ChetlovesMer]

Has anyone ever tried that 3 foot circle putting drill in which you try to make 100 in a row? I remember years ago Phil Mickelson was saying that was one of his favorite putting drills.