Full Swing Practice With Putting - JJ Wood PGA Golf Coach

DAY 1 PRACTICE or whichever day you can get to the golf courseObjectives

Refine Fundamentals
Improve sequencing of swing (tempo)

Part 1 Complete Putting Test – Download PDF and take to the course with you

Measure each putt to the appropriate distance. It is ok to hit the same putt every time from each distance to save time.
Hit as many putts from each distance as the sheet says
Bubble in the circle when you make the putt, put a dash through it if you miss
Review the sheet when complete and you will notice an area of putting that you are weak in. Make this distance weakness 60% of your practice time when putting. The strong areas split up practicing in the other 40% of the putting practice.

It is ok if you don’t live up to the averages listed on the sheet. These are PGA Tour averages. Although these averages are their stats from tournaments, under pressure, hitting a different breaking putt every time. But it is all relative. By the end of the program, our goal will be to match those averages!

Part 2 Warming up the full swing ( 10 minutes)

Warm up the full swing properly
1. Place alignment sticks down for proper alignment and ball position
2. Drill one: Practice half swings (hip high on back swing, hip high on follow through)
  1. Can add impact ball to use with, my favorite training aid! Impact Ball

Part 3 Full Swing work (15 minutes)

Feet together tempo drill – see below for instructions
1. Slowly progress to full swing by doing this first
2. Focus on consistent tempo, same pace on backswing and same pace on follow through. Swing tempo should feel like 60% of your full speed.
3. Heels of feet touching.
4. Ball position directly in the middle
  1. Benefit of this drill
    1. Establish consistent tempo
    2. Improve contact – because your stance is narrow, it makes you stay centered and in balance, increasing your chances of consistent solid hits.
Set up routine practice – go through the 5 steps described above before each shot. This is your total focus for this aspect of full swing work.
Block practice
1. Spend half of your full swing time working on block practice (no set up routine)
2. Block practice is when you are hitting the same club, without going through your set up routine, focused on one technical swing thought at a time. Most of your swing changes will be made at home with our at home practice plans.
  1. From your swing analysis listen to the 2 swing corrections we suggested
  2. Hit 10 balls working/thinking about only the first swing correction
  3. Hit 10 balls working only on the second swing correction

Part 4 Play 9 holes on range – imagine 9 holes at your home course (30 minutes)

Hit a different club, shot
Go through set up routine on every shot
Imagine where your ball went and change your club and shot accordingly
You skip putting because you are on a driving range!

If you have more time at the course than one hour, repeat this cycle of practice as many times as you can. Its about quality, not quantity. Be focused and aware with every shot you hit!

Congratulations on completing your first efficient practice at the course! If you have more time, start with phase 1 and keep going through this routine with as many times as you can.

2 feet together drill

Main focus for days 2-5 Refining your technique

Whats required of you… 30 minutes at your home or office. Follow todays plan exactly how it is described!

Day 2-5 at your home or office

*Makes for an entertaining work break!

Objectives

→ Improve Fundamentals on putting

→ Improve set up and full swing fundamentals

→ Develop tempo

Phase 1 Putting Technique (10 minutes)

Find a 10 foot putt on thin carpet (or hardwood, which would simulate your next round at the Masters)
1. Option 1: Lay down alignment sticks like you did on day one for alignment
2. Option 2: Lay down alignment stick for feet direction and use a putting arc or mat to train you on the proper putting stroke. (Make sure you line the ball up in the center of the arc.)
Go through your set up routine before each putt.
1. Ball position – middle of stance to a hair forward
2. Stance can be shoulder width or a bit more narrow than full swing
3. If your putting grip works for you, don’t change it. See below for fundamental putting grip and how it differs from full swing grip.
4. Putter face pointed at target. Focus on straight putts, helps improve alignment.
5. Make sure shoulders, hips and feet are all pointing down the target line (square set up)

Phase 2 Pitch shots ( 10-15 minutes)

Learn how the proper technique for hitting pitch shots. If you can learn how to hit a pitch shot, it will improve your ball striking. Its all about the proper impact position. A pitch shot is just a smaller version of the full swing, but better. Pitch shots are a better way to practice because it is slower and smaller, allowing you to ingrain and feel the proper impact position.
1. Practice the 5 set up fundamentals before each pitch shot swing
  1. Make sure you are aiming at something. Best if you can focus on the landing spot. This will help you develop feel for when you go back to the golf course
  2. Add on – get soft practice balls and hit them against the wall or in your back yard. Soft Practice Balls
  3. Add on 2 – Just like above, using the impact ball trains you on how to get in the correct impact position
2. Hit 20 pitch shots into the wall with soft practice balls

Phase 3 Full Swing Technique (15 minutes)

Very slow practice swings. When I say slow, I mean very slow! Stop at each check point position to make sure you are in the right position. Do NOT hit golf shots, just rehearse the proper positions without a golf ball. Reason: Allows you to focus on correct movement because you are not worried about the result of the shot.
1. 3 sets of 10 swings (5 swings super set)
  1. Pause for 3 seconds at each position in swing (see video)
  2. After each set do 5 slow motion swings without pausing
  3. 30% full speed practice swings. Be aware of the correct positions throughout the swing
2. Add on – I require all of my students to purchase the momentus heavy club.
  1. Benefit of heavy club – improves your technique 10 times faster than a lot weight club
  2. Beware – go slow with a heavy club! Going fast will mess up the sequencing of your golf swing when you go back to a normal club
  3. Heavy club is designed to improve your swing changes faster. If you are looking to improve your swing speed, that is a completely different method, which we will discuss in the complete game plan.

Repeat this practice routine at least 4 days this week. If you have more time repeat this practice cycle as many times as you can!

As you can see, it doesn’t take much each day to improve. Follow this plan all week and we will see you in week 2 for your next practice plan!