Golf Swing Practice Drills to improve your Game
David Howelltake-away drill
We sometimes need to work on specific golf swing drills to isolate and commit new feelings and positions to our muscle memory and improve your golf swing.
Scroll down the page to see golf drills you can use when practising either at home, the range or at the golf course.
David Howell at the Belfry in 2006 practising for the British Dunlop Masters. David is working on his takeaway and backswing. Notice the vertical golf shaft and the alignment tape on the ground. Also see the ball placed behind the club head.
This is a dynamic and quite complex golf drill executed by a talented golfer.
Drill to stop "over the top" swing
Golf ball gate-drill stop that "over the top" downswing move
This drill will teach you the correct downswing path.
1. You are going to make a gate for your clubhead to swing through and learn the correct swing path. Look at the photographs below and set up seven balls. Take four away as in the pictures. The middle ball is the one you are going to try and hit without disturbing the other two.
2. Now practice hitting the middle ball (replacing it with another ball after each shot). Start with a short iron such as a pitching wedge or nine iron and build up to an eight or seven iron.
3. If you swing across the ball you will hit one of the other two balls as well as the target ball. You need to start slowly at first and be careful that these mishit balls do not hit anyone else!
Note: This is quite difficult so build up to it - you have to start the downswing slowly allowing the hands to drop down and not to be thrown out and across. No need to try and hit a longer club using this drill - get good with a short iron before moving up.
Contact Drill
How to improve contact with the golf ball.
Have you ever been to a professional tournament, if so did you notice the sound the golf ball makes when a good golfer plays a shot?
This is because good players hit the ball and then the turf and not the other way around. This simple golf tip will improve your ball striking.
1. Take two tee pegs and place them in the ground either side of a ball so that a line drawn between the pegs would cross the centre of the ball. Place the tee pegs far enough apart that your golf club passes between them without touching or knocking them out of position.
2. Swing your golf club and hit the ball. Then check where the divot started. If should start just after the tee pegs and definitely not before.
3. Repeat this exercise and try to precisely hit ball, then turf and you will improve your ball striking. Leading to straighter shots with a better trajectory and more consistent length.
Note: Even when playing on the course (where competition rules don't allow you to use practice aids) you can still pay attention to where your divots start. For example comparing marks or leaves etc on the ground at address and then your divot after impact. Check to see where the divot starts. This tip will improve your awareness and then it will lead to better contact.
Drill to get rid of the shanked shot
Anti Shank Drill...
There is more than one cause of a shanked shot (a shot hit off the hosel of the club). Sometimes it's caused by someone hitting too much in to out. Sometimes caused by the club working away from you in the downswing. This golf drill is for the second scenario.
1. Take two balls and a short to mid iron e.g. Pitching Wedge to 7 iron. Position the balls approximately 3 inches apart.
2. Address the ball furthest away from you - with your normal stance and address. Do not stretch to reach it - just a normal stance.
3. Then swing back as normal.
4. On the downswing hit the ball that's nearer to you and not the one you addressed. Don't think about it - just go ahead and do it. This will train you to keep your hands closer to your body through impact.
Note: This is a similar drill to the one above relating to coming over the top. The shank can be caused by an over-the-top movement resulting from an urge to hit the ball hard and to throw the hands out across the ball. Start slowly and don't worry about distance - just quality of strike.
Stay in your correct posture - Tush line drill
Standing up through impact? Losing your "tush" line?
If you find that at impact your backside has moved closer to the ball (sometimes referred to as losing the "tush" line). A simple drill you can practice is as follows:
1. Take a regular plastic garden chair and place it so that when you have taken your normal address position you can feel the top of the back rest of the chair touching your backside (tush, bottom etc).
2. Proceed to swing the club and retain the contact between your backside and the chair through the backswing and into impact - as you finish the swing expect the hips to move away from the chair - but a good check is to see if at impact you still have part of your backside touching the chair back rest.
3. This will prevent you from moving your hips forward toward the ball at the start of the downswing and causing you to straighten or stand up through impact. This will give you more space in which to swing your hands into in front of your body through impact.
Note: You can hit shots like this to help form a new habit; you can also use a stand bag instead of a chair if you position the legs and the clubs correctly.
Drill to improve your connection
Towel drill - for connection
This is an excellent drill for developing "connection" and one I've seen Padraig Harrington use.
1. Take a towel and place it under your arms so that it is held in place as you address the ball with the inside of your upper arms holding the towel against your chest.
2. Recommend using a short iron or wedge for this drill.
3. Swing back and keep the towel in place 3/4 swing.
4. Turn through and hit the ball whilst maintaining the towel in place. Shorter than normal follow through e.g. 3/4.
This is a good drill to develop a feeling of connection and arms swinging in sequence with the body. You will find that if you separate your arms and lose connection the towel will fall.
Similar versions of this drill can be performed with a head cover or golf glove instead of the towel. Jimmy Ballard mentions a similar drill using a golf glove under the left arm in his famous book
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