Objective
→ Develop good impact
→ Turn to load properly
→ Transition drill 1
→ Sequence for power
At Home Practice
→ Technique
→ Tempo/ Transition
→ Speed
Phase 1: Solid Impact
Drill 1 – Indoor pitch shots
– Warm up with pitch shots (add impact ball for better results).
– 20 pitch shots, 20 -40 yards distance (buy the soft balls for at home practice)
Amateurs often do not spend enough time hitting basic pitch shots when practicing. If you can establish the core fundamentals a pitch shot requires to hit it solid, you will improve your distance and accuracy in the full swing.
Why do pitch shots improve impact over full swing practice?
It is slower and smaller, which allows you better feel to ensure you are doing the proper technique. When you speed up the swing and make a longer back swing, players tend to do different things that put them in bad positions. They then have to manipulate the down swing and their impact position suffers as a result.
– Creates proper impact position
– You will compress the golf ball
Proper Pitch Shot Technique
1. Set up square to slightly open stance with your feet
2. Get the ball position center of your stance
3. Limit the amount of movement in your lower body – a steady foundation (lower body) improves your consistency of contacting the ball solid.
4. Turn properly without swaying your legs or any up and down movement with your upper body
5. Relax and swing your arms as your body turns
6. Be confident and accelerate through the shot
Every golfer should warm up with at least 25 shots with pitch shots from 20-30 yards. You can start at the short game area at your course and improve your feel around the greens while improving your impact position.
Phase 3: Turn in posture
Turning in posture is one of the hardest thing for golfers to learn, but it doesn’t have to be! With just one simple drill at home, you can practice this every day to improve turning in posture and hit it more solid.
What is a correct back swing turn?
Keeping your lower body stable, while turning the shoulders 90 degrees. Studies of the best players in the world show that the average PGA Tour player, turns their shoulders 90 degrees, while their hips turn less than 40 degrees. This allows you to coil properly, creating a rubber band effect to explode through.
Backswing – turn with the shoulders, eliminate lower body sway
Downswing – explode with the hips and lower body, eliminate yanking with the hands and arms
Step 1: Turn in posture drill 1, club in elbows
3 sets of 10 (back and through is 1 rep)
– Get any golf club
– Set up like you would for a 7 iron
– Put a golf ball in the middle of your stance
– In the bent over position, turn back with a stable lower body.
– Turn 90 degrees with the shoulders until the end of the club in your elbows is pointing at the golf ball
– Turn down and through with your hips until the other end of the club is pointing at the golf ball
Step 2: Posture drill 2, club in elbows – explode through
3 sets of 10
– Everything same as above
– When you complete your backswing in posture, explode through as hard as you can while maintaining your balance.
Phase 4: Tempo/ Transition
Transition Drill 1, Gabe Trainer – Long Release
– 25 full swings with long release
The Gabe Trainer Details (Used by 35 PGA Tour pro’s daily)
Gabe Swing Trainer
Phase 5: Sequencing
The sequencing of your arms and body is crucial to optimizing your power and hitting solid shots. The Gabe swing trainer and impact ball are a great way to establish the correct positions for sequencing. The drill below is a way to really advance your sequencing to create more power. Jason Day said he does this every morning in order to build speed through proper sequencing.
Step 1: Sequencing with Alignment Sticks
5 sets of 5 swings, swinging forward
5 sets of 5 swings, swinging backwards
3 full swing Drivers
– Grip the alignment stick like you would a golf club
– Set up like you would to a golf shot, keeping the alignment stick approximately 1 foot above the ground at address
– Turn in posture properly on the backswing
– Swing as hard as you can on the follow through while staying in balance
– Repeat this for 5 swings
– Turn to the opposite hand (If right handed, swing left handed)
– Follow the same process as the previous 5 swings
– Hit 3 full swing drivers with that feel from the alignment stick swings
– Repeat this for 5 sets
When you take this on to the golf course the main swing thought is tempo. Tempo and having a smooth transition gives you the best opportunity to hit it solid and sequence your swing properly.