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.

It’s beyond the truth.

I see it all the time with golfers. Whether they are trying to pick up the game or they have been playing for some time, the golf club everyone wants hit is their driver.

Oh it feels so good to put that ball in flight way out there doesn’t it.

When I first began playing I would go out to the local course and always find a game in the afternoon and more often than not, I would get paired up with a couple older gentlemen usually retired (in the middle of the afternoon during the week it was primarily retired folks playing).

For the longest time I couldn’t figure out how these old duffers could keep up with a young buck such as I. My drives, the distance on my irons was impressive (notice I said distance). But the older gentlemen would usually end up beating me or stay with me right to the end. How could it be I used to ponder?

Finally, it occurred to me.

One word. Accuracy.

The easiest shot in golf is the shortest shot.

The longer you intend for your shot to travel the more accurate you have to be with the ball off of the club face.

When you are practicing your golf game work on your accuracy first. Start with the shorter shafted shorter distance clubs and work to hit your target.

Master this activity. Hit your target.

Each club’s shaft gets longer as you make your way to your driver. The pure physics of this make your longer clubs more difficult to control and therefore the last to achieve consistent accuracy.

Don’t get frustrated by a wayward driver. If you’re honest with yourself and have a look at your shorter clubs, they probably aren’t that accurate either. They just aren’t as glaring at the shorter distances.

This may come as a surprise to you but if you are having trouble hitting the greens 100 yards out, what makes you think you’re going to be able to stripe your drive down the middle of the fairway some 280 yards out?

If NASA couldn’t hit the moon with a rocket do think they would then assume they would have better luck at Pluto?

Therefore, properly written it should be Golf: Accuracy-Distance.

And it then follows that this should be your mindset when it comes to your golf practice sessions. Start short, start small. Refine your swing with each club as you gradually work your way to the Holy Grail of golf swing distance… your driver. Be accurate first and distance will come.

If the accuracy of your golf shots is consistent, your golf scores will drop, and your wins will increase. Your golf swing distance will come in time.

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.

Master the three scoring clubs—the driver, the wedge, and the putter—and you’ll improve your game dramatically.

With 14 clubs to hit, golfers often have trouble deciding which part of their game to work on.

If you’re serious about working on your game, focus on the three scoring clubs. They have the greatest impact on your score.

Unfortunately, not all of us live in a climate where we can always practice outdoors. Even if we do, we don’t always have the time to go to a driving range and hit balls.

That doesn’t mean we can’t work on the fundamentals needed to master the three clubs. We just need to do it indoors.

Below are several indoor golf drills that will help you master these three clubs. They can are done in almost any location, even your office.

Putter

There are three “musts” in becoming a good putter:

1. your stroke must follow target line;
2. your putter must remain square to the target line;
3. and your forward stroke must equal (or slightly exceed) your backstroke. The following drill emphasizes these putting musts. The next drill focuses on distance control, also a key aspect of putting.

Drop two phone books on the floor. Position them far enough apart so that your putter head barely squeezes through them. Place a golf ball between the books, assume your putting posture, and make your stroke.

Use the books as a visual guide to match the lengths of your backstroke and forward stroke. Matching the lengths ensures a smooth stroke with perfect tempo. You’ll find it difficult to guide your putter between the phone books unless your stroke follows the intended putting line. If your putter strikes the side of either book, your stroke strayed off-line.

Also, mark your ball with a straight line. Set that line parallel to your target line. Marking the ball makes it easier to align the putter perpendicular to the target line at address. See if the line falls to the right or left of center as your ball rolls after impact. If it does, then your stroke may have deviated off-line or made contact with a slightly open or closed putter face.

This drill improves distance control. Set or balance a ball (or a tee turned upside down) on a penny and putt a second ball to this ball so that it touches the first, but DOESN’T knock it off the penny! This one is SUPER TOUGH! Try various distances. You should soon forget about the line and “making” the putt—distance control is everything. Rolling the ball to the target with an acceptable “sink” speed becomes second nature as you try to just touch the target ball.

Pitching Wedge

These drills can be done just about anywhere. It improves one of the most important parts of your game—wedge play.

Find about 10 feet of open floor space. Put a small towel on the floor and stand about 10 feet away. Use a short, smooth stroke, keeping your hands ahead of the clubface. Try chipping 50 balls onto the towel. Practice so the balls land on the towel, not come to rest on the towel. Start with an 8 iron, then move to a 9 iron, and then to a wedge. The more you practice the better control you’ll have over those short chips.

Next time you’re on the practice range, try the same drill. Watch how far each club makes the ball roll on the putting surface. Now you’ll have more control over your chips under different conditions. After awhile, you should be able to nestle every shot close to the pin, or sink it!

Driver

Many golfers turn their hips and shoulders simultaneously when they swing a club. Too much lower body rotation eliminates torque between the upper and lower body. Adding more backswing torque to your swing generates distance.

Sit down in a chair. Spread your feet out wide and keep them flat on the ground. Hold a 7 or 8 iron out in front of you. Hold the clubhead with one hand and the end of the grip in the other hand. Raise the club over your head and rest the shaft across your neck and shoulders. Turn your shoulders to the right. Hold this position for a few seconds. You should feel a lot of torque along your left side. The turn your shoulders back and face forward. Relax and repeat.

Many golfers use their hands and arms only when swinging the driver. They don’t rotate their shoulders, sapping power from their swing. This drill helps keep your hands, arms, and shoulders in sync as you swing back and through.

Lower yourself down to the floor onto your knees. Hold a ball between your hands and out in front of your. Start by making some small moves swinging the ball back and forth. The idea is to keep the ball in front of your chest as your arms swing and your shoulders rotate. Increase the length of your swing going back and through. As you reach the end of your backswing and forward swing, allow your arms to fold. Swing back and fold your arms. Swing down and unfold them. Swing through and fold them again.

These drills improve control of the three most important clubs in your bag—the driver, the putter, and the wedge. You can do them in your house or your garage. Each focuses on fundamentals you must master to take your game to the next level.

My good friend Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80…And Shoot Like The Pros!” and is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that was able to figure out the secrets of shooting in the 70’s on a consistent basis without quitting your day job. Jack has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately.

I know he can you too.

The biggest problem that I see time and time again with people who struggle with executing any type of pitch shot is that they decelerate their clubhead just before impact.

One concept that will help you begin to execute crisp pitch shots is to think of a shorter backswing with a longer follow through.

Now, I don’t mean to take an abbreviated short backswing and then a rapid jab at the ball with a semi manufactured follow through, but we do want the concept of a consistent lengthy follow through.

Many times the cause of deceleration just before impact is because the golfer has taken much too big of a backswing… and at the last moment the brain tries to adjust to the perceived too much distance by decelerating the club……. and yuk… or is that yak.

As you practice your pitch shots work to keep your backswing as short as necessary to get the job done with a smooth tempo. With a longer golf pitch shot make sure that your left hand leads the club through the shot and you don’t ‘flip’ the club at the golf ball.

As we mentioned in a previous lesson work your pitches to a static target using different clubs so you’ll begin to develop that all important ‘feel’ for your clubs and what they are (or aren’t) capable of. As you do this you’ll begin to develop a nice rhythm to your pitch swing and your confidence in this shot won’t be far behind.

The key to developing a deadly golf pitch shot lies in how much practice you allot for this part of your game. Remember, work to shorten you backswing and extend that follow through. Deceleration is the kiss of death for a pitch shot.

Your success is directly related to your time spent working on this 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.

Developing and taking the time to go through a daily golf practice drill or practice routine will go a long way to expediting the improvement of your golf score and Austad’s golf warehouse is second to none when in comes to offering a full line of golf practice equipment and training aids.

Simply playing your way to better golf may ultimately over time result in some improvement in your game, but some good golf practice drills will get you there much more efficiently.

As you are well aware, on the market today there is no shortage of golf practice equipment and golf swing aids. Many of which can be quite effective in improving your game. The key is that you have to practice

your golf swing on a consistent basis. Remember it’s not how much you practice at one time; its how often you practice that will best improve your golf game. Effective practice routines will improve your golf scores. Practice equipment, when used properly and consistently, will certainly aid in the process.

We all learn differently and when learning the golf swing, I don’t think any two people key on the same thought process. For me, purchasing a golf net to practice my swing was a huge help. With a golf net you can turn your back yard (or your basement as I did) into your own driving range. Hitting into a net allows you to take full real time swings. This allows you to actually feel the contact you make on the golf ball and work on your shot routine and tempo. Also, with a net you can work on every club in the bag.

If don’t want to (or don’t have room for a net) there are other types of golf practice equipment and training aids you can purchase such as tethered golf balls, restricted flight golf balls that will allow you to take full swings without launching a golf ball.

If your short game needs help (and who’s doesn’t) smaller chipping nets provide for some great target and accuracy practice and are easily moveable so you can vary the distances of your pitch and chip shots. For your putting practice there are a multitude of indoor putting greens and swing trackers that can check your putting line and swing path.

Of course, let’s not forget how computerization can help you with your golf practice drill. You can find computerized products that will measure and log your swing tempo your club head speed, and just about any other part of your swing.

Certainly, golf practice equipment can be an important part of your practice routine. The key here is ‘practice routine’. You have to take the time to practice. No amount of practice equipment is going to magically improve your game. It takes a commitment to improve your golf game on your part.

If you are willing to put forth a consistent effort to understand and improve your golf swing, improve yourself physically, use your golf practice equipment and swing aids wisely, and be patient with your progress, then you will begin to drop strokes from your game in no time.

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.