10 golf drills you can do to improve your game

A few of these golf drills have been my most popular. Save this article for when you need help with your game.

• Fixing An Inside Takeaway
• Stop Coming Over The Top With Irons & Driver
• Wedge Play Inside 100y

1. How To Hit A Fairway Wood

Do you struggle to hit your fairway woods? If you don’t get much height or you struggle with consistent contact, here’s 3 things that will make hitting a fairway wood a lot easier!

• Ball Position: Make sure the ball is forward of centre. I would have it just a fraction back of where you would normally have your driver (inside lead heel)
• Setup: Tilt the upper body slightly behind the ball. This will make it easier to strike the ball with a more level AOA or even slightly down
• Movement: When approaching impact, you want a small amount of shaft lean. Because the ball is on the ground, the AOA should be slightly down

One thing to consider when using a fairway wood is making sure you have enough loft. 16.5 – 18deg lofted fairway woods are now very popular as most golfers don’t have enough speed to use a 15deg to its full potential Give this a go next time you’re hitting you fairway wood.

2. Adding Rotation In The Backswing

Do you struggle with rotation in your backswing? I bet you’ve blammed your lack of flexibility as the reason why you can’t turn? I don’t believe you!

One of the most common reasons golfers can’t rotate is because of this…

• The lead knee moving out over the lead foot restricts your ability to rotate
• Allow the lead knee to work inward during the backswing
• This will help the trail hip turn, and it will increase the amount your lower body & ribcage can rotate

If you are still struggling to rotate after doing this, see a coach to find out if there is anything else stopping you from increasing rotation.

3. Fix Your Sway

Do you have a “SWAY” pattern in your backswing? A sway pattern is where the lower body moves away from the target and the upper body typically tilts towards the target This causes fat shots, thin shots, basically it can cause any shot known to man! Here’s how to fix it… PS: (Free “Fix Your Sway” PDF available below!)

• Improve your setup. Make sure your head is behind the ball vs in front of the ball. This will help with rotation
• Feel like the chest moves over your trail shoe. This will help feel the correct rotation vs tilting over towards the target

If you’d like more drills to fix this issue, click here to download my FREE “Fix Your Sway” PDF

4. Over The Top Fix

This is one of the most common drills I’ll give a player who comes “over the top” where they might hit pulls & slices

• Place a golf club down behind the golf ball
• Measure half a foot and place and alignment stick in the ground at the same angle as your club sits at address
• Work on swinging under the stick not over it

Over the top, pulls, slices… GONE!

5. Inside Takeaway

Do you struggle with an inside takeaway? In just 20 seconds, I’m going to solve this for you!

• Place an alignment stick up the lead side of your club
• Have it run DOWN the lead side of your body during the takeaway
• Feel like you push DOWN on the grip so you have the club head track upwards
• If you roll club inside, the alignment stick will come off your body

Do this feel without the stick and that inside takeaway will be gone.

6. Increase Club Head Speed With Driver

Would you like to add 10-20y to your drives? This video will show you exactly how to do that

• During your backswing, allow the lead heel to come off the ground which will help you get taller/gain height in the backswing
• This will allow you to slam the lead foot into the ground, more so than a regular backswing, creating more “vertical force”
• Use that pressure you’ve just put into the ground to then push UP out of the ground, which will clear your lead side and have the club act as a “whip”
• This will create more club head speed which will ultimately equal more distance (providing strike remains good)

Disclaimer:

• No it doesn’t guarantee you’ll hit it worse or hit it sideways
• Some golfers (like myself) can actually hit the ball better when they add more speed
• Use this technique when you are on an open hole with not much trouble around if you are worried about accuracy

Give it a go when you need to outdrive your buddies.

7. Steep Downswing

Do you suffer from both a slice & and a pull shot? Believe it or not, both of these ball flights come from the same issue! If your club is really flat in the backswing, you’ll likely continue hitting these shots

Here’s how you can fix it…

• It all starts with the takeaway. Keep the club in line or outside the hands at P2 (Shaft Parallel). Don’t let the club get behind the hands
• If the takeaway is good, you can point the butt end of the club at, or inside the ball line by P3 (Lead Arm Parallel). If the takeaway is too far inside, the club will be too flat at P3
• If you can nail the 2 movements above, you’ll easily be able to shallow the club on the way down, vs steepening the club
• Shallowing the club will help move the path more positive (Draw) vs a flat club will steepen the shaft and cause a more negative path (Pull/Slice)

The club will feel vertical in the backswing and shallow in the downswing when you do this correctly.

8. Distance Control With Wedges Inside 100y

Do you struggle with distance control inside 100y? Watch this video to learn a really simple system that will have you throwing darts at the pin! (Free Wedge Play PDF available below!)

• Use a system like the “clock system” to dial in your wedge yardages
• You should have a MINIMUM of 3 different yardages with each wedge in your bag. This will give you 9-12 different distances (depending on how many wedges you carry)
• Half swing, 3/4 swing, full swing. 8 o’clock swing, 9 o’clock swing & 10 o’clock swing
• Each swing should give you a different yardage. This will mean you have got most yardages inside 100y covered

I go through everything to do with wedge play in my Wedge Play PDF, which you can download FREE.

9. How To Draw The Driver

Do you come OVER THE TOP with your driver? Do you have a downward Angle Of Attack causing a slice? Would you like to come more from the inside, hit up on the ball, & produce a draw? If this sounds like you, here’s the drill I want you to do

• Place an alignment stick through your belt loops & one across your shoulders
• An over the top action will see the upper body stick beat the lower body stick to the ball – We DON’T want this!
• A much better movement will see the upper body stick move behind the lower body stick during the downswing
• This will help sequence the downswing and keep the body behind the ball, leading to an upward AOA & a shallower downswing, resulting in a nice high draw

Give this a go next time you’re at the range.

10. Stop Collapsing The Arms

Do you suffer from your arms collapsing during the backswing? I’ve got a simple drill to rectify this issue!

• Place a club across your shoulders with the grip end facing the target
• Make a full turn, grab the grip & extend the arms away from you as wide as you can
• Recreate the same feel during a normal swing to stop collapsing your arms

If you enjoyed these drills & they helped you improve a certain issue in your game, imagine what could happen If I could work with you further… My new online golf academy has over 250 videos & drills designed to improve your game. I’m available inside the academy answering members questions & doing swing analysis every day. Learn more here, & take a look at the other ways I can help you.