Try These Golf Swing Drills To Maximize Your Practice Time

Practicing golf swing drills, while really important, is unfortunately not a priority for many golfers. Let's face it, your time is in very short supply. When you actually have an opportunity to get to the course, chances are you spend your time playing.

Improving your golf game is pretty difficult when the only time you focus on swing improvement is during the course of a round. Believe it or not, you can actually cover the most important golf swing drills in the time it takes you to finish your pre-round breakfast.

The challenge that most golfers have on the practice range is that they simply don't know how to practice. They may spend a lot of time on the range but this time spent is usually not as effective as it could be. Beating ball after ball into submission does not constitute effective golf swing drills. Nor does it really produce any tangible results. Except painful blisters, of course!

Whenever you practice, it's really important to have a goal. Goals help us to focus. They also help us measure our progress - are we getting better or not? Goals also help to save us time. By focusing only on the most important golf swing drills, you should easily be able to complete your practice sessions in under 30 minutes.

During your practice sessions it's also really important that you concentrate on the process of practice. By this I mean, really focus on doing the golf swing drills correctly. Focus on the mechanics. Don't get too hung up on where the ball goes.

If you continue to improve your fundamentals by working on core golf swing drills, the golf ball will take care of itself.

Before getting started, it's important to note that golf swing drills are different than simply a warm up. Drills are highly focused on improving a certain aspect of your golf swing. A warm up is the first step before starting any practice session - you need to warm up your muscles and get loose!

Enough intro...let's get started!

Prepare to Practice!

To start with, set a time limit for yourself of no more than 30 minutes on the range. This will keep you focused. Take short breaks during your practice session but really concentrate on your drills.

Before you swing a single club, make sure to spend a couple minutes stretching. We will cover golf stretches in another area of the site. For our purposes here, make sure to stretch the larger muscles - primarily your back and shoulders.

Next, take a couple of your shorter, heavier clubs from the golf bag and take some slow, deliberate three-quarter swings. For example, take your sand and pitching wedges, grip both grips and swing s-l-o-w-l-y. Don't injure yourself in the warm-up!

To help warm up your swing, you can also use what is called a swing donut (seen to the right). These handy little items slide down your club and rest just about the clubface. They provide a little extra club weight to help you loosen up. They are also rubber-coated so they won't scratch your clubs.

As is the case with swinging multiple clubs, make sure to swing very slowly. Avoid injuries during the warm-up.

Using these weighted donuts before your golf swing drills can really help you warm-up.

Keeping Your Head Down (and Still!)

If keeping your eye on the ball is so easy to do, then why do we always seem to forget to do it? The following simple golf swing drills will help you keep your head down, eyes focused on the ball, and minimize head movement through your swing.

Take the pitching wedge you used during your weighted warm up swings. Address the ball as you normally would. Stare at the ball. I mean, really stare at it! Find a single dimple and stare until your eyes start to water. Take a half swing and hit the ball, all the while staring at that single dimple. Repeat this five times.
Using the same pitching wedge, address the ball and take a full swing. On your follow through, don't ever look up. That's right, don't allow yourself to see where the ball goes. Keep staring at the ground. You should feel your chin digging into your shoulder. This means you're doing it right. Repeat this ten times.

Following Through

A weak follow through leads to a variety of shot issues including a lack of distance, trajectory, and spin (the good kind). The following drill will help encourage you to complete a strong follow-through.

One point to note...a poor follow-through may be a symptom, not a cause. That is, the reason you aren't following through may be related to some other swing issue. If this drill is difficult for you to master, you may want to set up some time with your local professional.

Take a medium-long club from your bag, say a 4 or 5 iron. Address the ball and take a full swing. After you hit the ball, force yourself to take two steps forward towards the target. Repeat this 10 times.
Important note! Only work on this drill when you can take your steps forward and not run the risk of getting beamed by your range neighbors untimely shank!

Work On Your Balance

Maintaining proper balance is vital for golf. The golf swing exerts a tremendous amount of torque. Without solid footing, your body tends to sway and swagger - and so do your shots! Improve your balance with the following drill.

Grip a 7 iron and address the ball as you normally would. Next, narrow your stance completely so that the heels of your shoes are touching. Take a full swing and hit the ball. Your goal is to keep your feet flat-footed with heels touching after you hit the ball. Refer to the images below for help. Repeat this 10 times.

For hard-core balance, try crossing your legs and repeating this drill. In this case, the outsides of your feet will be touching one another. Go gently with this advanced move and start only with a half-swing. Swinging with your legs crossed exerts a lot of lateral force on the knees. If you have poor knees, do not attempt this advanced drill.

Pre Shot Target Practice

Far too many golfers just whack away at the bucket of balls like they have some grudge against the game. If you truly want to use your range time to improve your handicap, practice your entire shot, not just your swing.

On the course you go through a process to hit each shot. Striking the golf ball is one small step in that process. Prior to the swing, you've picked out your target, calculated the distance, selected a club, visualized your shot, approached the ball and aligned your body. Finally you swing!

Do the exact same thing on the driving range! Always follow the same setup and swing process - on the range as well as on the golf course.

Starting with your pitching wedge, set aside five range balls. For each shot, start behind the ball and pretend like you're hitting a real shot on the course. Practice your pre-shot routine in addition to your swing. Visualize your shot, approach the ball, complete your setup and swing!
After each shot, step away, move behind the ball and complete the routine again. Repeat this five times each with your pitching wedge, 8 iron, 5 iron and driver.

The Cool Down

What's the opposite of the warm-up? It's the cool-down. And it's just as important (if not more so) than the warm up. Without a short cool down after your practice sessions, your body is not as effective in removing muscular waste products created during your golf swing drills. This can result in cramps and muscle aches. Without a cool down your body also doesn't recover and repair itself as quickly.

The cool down is really quite simple so there's really no excuse to skip it. Simply take a few three quarter or half swings with a pitching wedge. Follow this up with the same stretches your performed in your warm up. Presto!! cool down complete.

Finished with golf swing drills?