For today, I’d like to give you a couple of ideas on how to get a bit more out of your practice session and have a bit more fun while practicing your golf game.

First of all, the most common problem I see with golfers on the practice tee or driving range is that they just hit a shot – reload – hit another shot – and on and on with no purpose (at least that I can determine) to what they are doing. Actually this is an outstanding way to develop some really bad habits in your golf swing.

To make your practice session more productive and interesting play a round of golf as you practice.

By that I mean (after proper warm up) approach your first shot as though you’re standing on the first tee.

Pick out a target down the fairway and hit your drive (did you hit the fairway or not – make notes of fairways hit).

Then pick out a target of shorter yardage for your approach, and select your golf club for the distance (did you hit the green or not – make notes of greens in regulation).

To Get the most from these golf swing drills, you must be completely honest.

If you really want to make it interesting take along your score card from your course and play each actual hole in this manner. Then evaluate your stats.

The idea here is from a couple different angles.

First, this will heighten your focus. It will also put a small element of pressure on your golf swing and shot making.

It will force you to vary your distances.

Doing this will also help you emulate a real round of golf where you’ve only one chance to hit the shot that you want to hit. Down the road this will help you in an area that so many golfers struggle with… getting their range golf game to follow them and show up at the first tee.

And probably most importantly, from what I see the vast majority of golfers on the driving range doing; it will slow you down and keep you from rapid firing golf shots down the range.

Remember, it’s very important to be honest and no mulligans!

Make sure before each shot you go through your pre-shot routinebefore executing each shot.

Give these golf swing drills a try and have some fun.

Now that we have ourselves properly aligned we need now to put the golf club in our hands and discuss the golf grip and what role it plays when it comes to getting rid of your golf slice that you have.

The traditional type of golf grip will have the thumb of your left had down the shaft of the club.

The area between your left index finger and your left thumb that forms a ‘V’ shape should have the point of the ‘V’ pointed back up toward your right shoulder.

Your right hand should wrap over your left with your left thumb coming to rest in the palm of your right hand. The ‘V’ created with your right thumb and index finger should also be pointing toward your right shoulder.

Essentially, with this grip, if someone is standing directly across from you they would be able to see the first two knuckles of your left hand (your index finger and your middle finger knuckle).

In the picture to the right, the student’s right hand is rolled under slightly out of the way to demonstrate the two knuckles of the left hand golf grip.

As far as golf grip pressure goes, probably the best description of proper golf grip pressure that I have ever heard (from one of the best – Sam Snead) was to hold the golf club as though you were holding a small bird. Firm enough that bird cannot fly away, yet not so firm as to harm the bird. A good analogy.

I don’t know if that is helpful for you, but I have always remembered it and thought it was a good way to describe your golf grip pressure.

When it comes to the grip and curing your golf slice the common mistake with the grip is to have what is termed as a weak grip.

By that, I am not referring to the pressure of your grip, rather the positioning of your hands.

A weaker grip will have your left hand rotated in a manner that has the ‘V’ we discussed pointing more toward your left shoulder instead of your right.

The illustration to the left is a bit of an over exaggeration just to show you the direction of the rotation of the hands and hence where the ‘V’s’ are pointing more toward the right shoulder.

When your grip is set up this way a couple of things occur during the execution of your golf swing.

First the club face will have a tendency to open at contact and secondly as you contact the ball you will not be able to get as much rotation of your hands which will have the affect of not getting the club face to begin to close as you pass through the golf shot. This causes not only to impart a slice spin upon the ball but if your swing path hasn’t compensated for this you’ll get the direction going right with the arc flight of the ball taking it even further to the right.

Let’s talk about putting your golf stance, and your golf grip, together with some basic swing mechanics and get that golf slice under control with your golf swing mechanics next.

We all seem to be blessed with this natural ability when we first begin learning about the golf swing.

For some it may be a runaway hook, but for most (and for the purpose of this article) we’ll discuss correcting a golf slice.

Slicing the golf shot for many is a ritual in frustration for many golfers simply because they don’t know what in their golf swing and mechanics causes it.

They only know that it continues to happen.

If you are frustrated by the constant golf slice, then you also know that if you are ever going to develop any consistency in lowering your golf score, you know the slice must be cured.

So, let’s take a look at few tips and techniques to get you started on the road to recovery.

First and foremost is you alignment to your target. Your golf stance. The width of your stance should be about that of your shoulders.

The alignment of your shoulders and hips should be one of pointing straight down your target line.

Your feet should be in line with your shoulders and hips with your toes just slightly pointed outward (duck footed) allowing for an easier full hip and upper body rotation.

This slight outwardly point of your feet will allow for an easier rotation of your torso. In other words, once you are setup in your golf stance, your nose should be pointing a perpendicular line to that of your target.

From a position of proper alignment is where all of your practicing should begin. Don’t give in to any old habits over what you know is a proper alignment.

Getting comfortable with you golf stance will take some time and some pretty ugly looking golf shots. But, this is what the range is for. I can’t over emphasis this enough… stick with proper alignment.

Getting used to properly aligning yourself to the target not only will take some time getting used to physically, but mentally as well.

Even as your body gets used to this new golf stance and set up, your visual perception of your target will change, and so will you mental perception as you execute your golf swing. Both of these perceptions will seem uncomfortable and out of sync for a while, but again give it time.

Your golf stance and setup are the foundation from which you give your swing to work from, let’s make a solid one.

Up next on correcting the golf slice, let’s discuss your golf grip and what causes what.

Along with some adjustments in your set up, your stance, and your golf grip, the final element in curing your golf slice is understanding and probably recreating your golf swing itself a bit.

Once you’ve completed your setup over the golf ball the golf swing begins with the take away.

Now that you have yourself properly aligned your take away should follow the line you have established with your stance, hips and shoulders.

In other words your takeaway should track right down your target line.

Your takeaway should start smoothly with your hands, arms, and shoulders working together to get the golf club properly started back on the correct line all in one smooth motion.

Note the full extension on the takeaway to the right (no lifting with the hands or premature wrist cock) with the golf club still on a line straight back and down the target line.

With the proper swing mechanics your golf swing will arrive at the top of your swing arc in a smooth natural fashion with very little hand activity.

Oddly enough, from the top of your golf swing, the downward march toward the golf ball should begin with your foot action and weight shift.

With proper foot action and weight shift your hips and torso will begin to naturally rotate and as a result the last action taking place is your hands and club moving toward the impact zone.

Now note the picture of the that golfer to your left.

The picture of Tiger to the left is an excellent example of what I explain in the next paragraph.

Look at the full extension of the his arms and club down the target line while his head remains down and behind the spot of where the ball was.

This type of excellent extension is set up by a full extension on the takeaway.

With hand action staying out of the shot until they are actually called upon naturally by good golf swing mechanics, your head will stay behind shot (which is a good thing) and allow your arms, hands, and golf club to not only stay online and on path; but also allow for them to fully extend through the impact zone and track further down the target line without coming across the golf ball from the top of your swing and producing an ugly, frustrating, golf slice shot.

As you know by now the golf swing certainly is not about applying brute force.

With that in mind let’s look a simple yet very effective golf practice drills that will help you promote rhythm and balance in your golf swing. This is one of the most popular drills because it is so easy and effective. And it’s one you can use to warm up or even stay loose.

Golf Practice Drills – Feet Together Drill

Keeping your feet together (or very close to it) practice hitting a ball that is teed up. Swing very slowly at first thinking of a pendulum on a clock.

Focused on rhythm and timing and solid contact (distance is of no concern here). Just focus on a smooth back and forth – to and fro motion and making good contact. Once you are able to consistently make good contact with a consistent rhythm and motion, move the ball off the tee and onto the grass and continue to work the drill.

As you progress with golf practice drills and become more comfortable with your rhythm, balance, and timing you may be surprised at just how far the ball will travel with such an apparent lack of effort… good!

This is what I want. You’ll begin to see that it’s all about rhythm, timing and balance.

The net benefit of this golf practice drill is to improve your timing along with your balance and rhythm. This drill will also reduce the amount of swaying within your golf swing (a very common fault among beginners and high handicappers). This is accomplished via this drill by creating a narrow balance point with your feet so close together.

This is a great drill to always remember and to keep in your tool kit. During those times when your swing has seemed to have left you (it happens to everyone) you can break this drill out and actually can regain your apparent lost rhythm and timing. Even during your round of golf.

And believe me, once you begin to get your rhythm and timing back, a little thing call confidence won’t be far behind.

The feet together golf practice drills – a great drill to either learn or get back rhythm, timing, and balance. A drill you can break out as an on the fly fix at any time. A drill that can actually correct and even prevent many swing faults.

So, keep this drill handy and use it often.

I debated with myself as to where to include this in our lessons.

Certainly much could be discussed later on in this course.

However, I wanted to at least pause for a moment at this point and discuss golf swing fixes in the context to what we have learned thus far.

If you haven’t taken a look at the 9 rules of ball flight, you’ll want to do that before reading ahead here.

For the purpose of our discussion here on golf swing help, I want to go over with you how to get your golf swing back on track in the early stages of your learning curve.

First and foremost if you begin to struggle with your swing and the results thereof, take a step back and review your grip, stance and alignment, and what your swing path is doing. Especially early on, reviewing these golf swing elements along with revisiting your practice drills will get you back on track.

Probably the biggest hurdle for golfers at this level to get over is the ‘patience with one’s self’ hurdle. When you’re fist learning it is incredibly important to give yourself time and stick to the concepts and drills outlined.

Along with the patience factor, there is the confidence factor. Anytime you are learning a new physical skill, the mechanics of it are going to feel awkward and funny (as in strange). This will hold doubly true if you are trying also to correct some bad habits in your swing that have, over time, become a part of your golf swing. The difficult aspect about the golf swing for all of us is that one gets to experience the results of their efforts immediately; and if they’re a bit on the ugly side it gets to your confidence.

A great many problems that have people working on golf swing fixes stem from a loss of confidence in their swing. Getting back to some basics and repetitively working on drills will do much to get your confidence back. Whether it’s solving problems or first learning the golf swing, solving problems can be a lot like losing weight; in that it sure seems a lot easier putting the extra .lbs on than it does taking them off. The point being, don’t expect immediate results. Once you determine the problem and learn the fix, you’ll need time, patience, and practice to right the ship.

If you feel as though you aren’t making headway, don’t just haphazardly look for a fix for your golf swing trying this and that. This is not a solution and will only make your frustration level rise, your confidence drop, and your interest in the game evaporate.

Don’t allow this to happen.

Simply get some golf swing help from your local golf professional. Everyone working to improve their game (at all levels) takes occasional lessons.

In summary, do some self diagnostics on your swing, get back to basics, apply them through repetitive drills and practice drills, but if you get stuck trying to fix your golf swing then seek additional help.

We all do the same, and so should you.

Also, I mentioned that if you get stuck and can’t seem to break away from your swing problem that you should seek out your local pro and schedule a set of golf lessons.

Because the last thing you want to be doing is going to driving range and trying everything under sun, hitting ball after ball only to frustrate yourself and accomplish little to nothing when comes to fixing your golf swing.

Essentially, what I am getting at here is that you need to know when to take golf lessons for an ailing golf swing.

Today, I want to go over a few thoughts to help you get the most out of your golf lesson with your pro.

First of all (especially if this is your first lesson) narrow down the scope of your lesson.

In other words, only have a couple of aspects of your golf swing that you want to address and learn about. If you’ve decided to take a lesson, it’s probably to correct a chronic problem, get to the next level on something you’ve been working on, or to begin learning something new. Of these, it’s important that you communicate your purpose to your instructor. And probably the most important aspect is to follow up your lesson by practicing (note that I did not say playing).

If you don’t already have a teaching pro that you are comfortable with, this is the first step. You’ll want to find a pro that listens to your goals and what you want to accomplish.

People learn and people teach in different ways and it is important to find a good match for yourself in that you have to trust in the teachings. In other words, it’s best to find a golf pro whose teaching style matches your learning style.

Don’t have unrealistic expectations and believe that you are going to get immediate results. The golf swing is a very complex physical movement that is even more difficult to replicate on a consistent basis. No matter what sort changes you’ve discussed with your teaching professional, know that it will take some time and probably a good bit of practice to get them ingrained into your swing.

I can tell you from experience that it is the practicing part that gets slighted or left out completely. You’re reading this probably because you want your golf game to improve, so I can be honest with you in saying; that if you don’t put forth the effort by practicing, and you expect the golf lessons from your pro to go with you straight to the first tee, you’re doing yourself and the money you paid for the lesson a disservice.

Don’t be put off by the thought of practicing your burgeoning golf game.

Remember it is practice that makes permanent; and trying to just play your way to a better golf game rarely works.

At best it’s incredibly inefficient.

And besides, everyone at every level of the game of golf if they are serious about their game practices.

Coming up I’m going give you something tips on how to get the most out of your practice and driving range time and some fun doing so.

Let’s take a look at a simple golf practice drill that can help your game make the transition from the driving range to the golf course.

First of all, change your targets frequently.

Think about it.

When you are on the course you rarely hit back to back shots from the same distance (if you do, then your swing needs more general work).

Start with your driver and hit it.

Then, for example, imagine that you are 180 yards from the tee. Pick out a target, select your club, and execute the next shot. If you miss hit your approach, then imagine you are just off the green in need of executing a pitch shot… and so forth.

This type of practice drill will better emulate what happens while your are play a round of golf and it adds that little bit of extra pressure on your swing when you only have one chance to make a particular shot. This is more of what occurs during an actual round of golf.

When you are on the practice tee and going through this simulated round golf practice drill, don’t forget to include your pre-shot routine.

If you don’t think you have one, then begin to develop one and use it before each shot.

This is an area that is grossly overlooked by golfers when they are practicing their various golf shots.

If you don’t include your pre-shot routine in your practice drills then you will have a different rhythm on the course than you do on the practice tee and you will most likely produce different results. Remember we want consistency.

Getting your golf swing and golf game from the driving range to the course is a natural trouble area for most all of us. But, if you remember that you play like you practice, then making the transition will be much less of a chore.

O.K. so pick out a target of your scenario distance and get that golf club.

Do your pre shot routine and go after the target.

Then go back to the driver and pick out a different target line that gives you a different visual perspective.

Do this each time as part of your golf practice drill routine aiming for targets that are to the left of you natural line and to the right and so on.

The point here is to change targets and golf clubs frequently; get yourself comfortable and confident with going from a long shafted golf club to a shorter one and vise versa. As I just mentioned, changing your visual perspective of the target is important as well.

Tee boxes on golf courses aren’t so magnanimous that they align you perfectly with the fairway so you must get used to these visual changes that courses throw at you. You always here the expression of how a golf hole fits or doesn’t seem to fit a players eye. Golf course architects are like that.

I’ve mentioned your pre shot routine as a part of this golf practice drill a couple of times.

If you’re not sure you have one work on finding one that feels comfortable to you and use it before every shot.

This doesn’t (and shouldn’t) be some long and drawn out routine that adds another hour to your (and everybody else’s) round of golf. Keep it simple and easy to replicate and get into the habit of doing it.

Hopefully you’ve gotten the gist of this part of your golf practice drill routine.

You’ll note that I said ‘part’ of your practice routine. Certainly if you are just starting to learn the golf swing you will spend more time with just one club in your hand.

But as you advance in your swing and your game there may come a time when you begin to lament that you can’t seem to get your golf game from the range to the golf course. If this is the case then this golf practice drill will certainly help you get over that hump.

If this somewhat describes you, don’t panic. It is a very common ailment among golfers.

Aside from keeping in mind that just on a daily basis alone your golf swing is going to produce different results and scenarios for you to overcome. Welcome to the wonderful game of golf!

But in all seriousness here in the next couple of articles, I’ll discuss a few golf practice tips and techniques that will help you get your golf game from the practice range to the golf course.

First of all, I make the assumption that you are practicing your golf game on a regular basis and not expecting your game to just miraculously ‘show up’ for you on the first tee.

With this in mind I think that most people should consider that how their golf practice affects their ‘on course’ behavior. Frequently, the resolution to the mysterious vanishing golf swing is in how you practice to get better.

Certainly to gain proficiency at golf one must hit a lot of golf balls. And there are certainly times when your practice routine is one of just focusing on getting your rhythm and timing going. But to get your game from the range to the course you have to focus on certain aspects.

As a part of your golf practice routine you should practice or emulate real golf. First of all (assuming you’ve properly warmed up) starting with driver, pick out your target and give yourself some fairway parameters. By that I mean that say… the flag to left from that flag to the right is the width of my fairway… outside of that I’m in the rough or even O.B.

Stand behind the ball and reaffirm your target line or what ever you pre shot routine may be. Knowing that you now have a target that you must hit and you have but one swing to hit it will add more focus and a certain amount of pressure to your golf swing.

This is what we want here.

If you only put your swing under this type of situation when you are on the golf course itself… well good luck. Good rounds can certainly happen by chance, but you’ll be forever developing any kind of consistency.

Up next let’s finish getting your golf practice swings and range game to the golf course.