Golf Swing Basics: 3 Drills To Build Skill

Golf can be a difficult game.

However, the journey as you improve and get better is highly enjoyable and rewarding.

There aren’t many things better than breaking your next score barrier whether that is 100, 90, 80, or 70.

The roller coaster ride that the game of golf provides is exhilarating and many golfers get addicted to the journey and the challenge to improve!

When you look around at some of the best golf swings of all time, you will see various stances (wide and narrow), grips (strong and weak), alignments (left and right), tempos (slow and fast), swing lengths (long and short).

So what are really the basics to golf and how can you build the skill in those areas?

What Are The Golf Swing Basics?

The typical golf swing has a pre-shot routine, setup, takeaway, downswing, impact and finish. All of these are constructed to help the golfer make solid contact, send the ball down the intended start line with a predictable curve and have enough swing speed to hit the ball the optimum distance.

Ultimately, golf comes down to three basic skills that every golfer should be working on on their journey. The adjustments to the elements listed above should be with the goal of improving in one of these three areas:

Low Point Control: This plays a major impact on the quality of the strike. The best golfers are able to control their low point over 99% of the time, while the weakest golfers struggle to control the low point even 50% of the time.

Start Line and Predictable Curve: The best golfers are able to start their golf ball on the intended start line a high percentage of the time and have confidence that the ball will have a predictable curve (draw or fade). This is often referred to as a stock shot.
Distance: The golfer must have enough swing speed to play the course.

The great news for golfers is there are 3 excellent drills and training protocols below that can help you master these basics in the game of golf.

As you head on your own journey of improvement, it is important to keep coming back to these basic skills and improving your ability level. Golfers can find ways to assess their game and track their progress by keeping stats in practice with these drills and then monitor their progress on the course through score and key stats.

Below, we will dive into the following drills/training protocols:

Low Point Control Drill
Stock Shot Drill

OverSpeed Training

Learn to strike the ball solid, control your start line and curve and have enough speed and your game will improve quickly!

Drill #1

The Low Point Control Drill

Take some yard paint and paint a 1-2 yard long line.
Setup with 55% of your weight on your front side.

Try to hit the target side of the line and see how many times out of 10 you can do this successfully!
Repeat this drill every day for a month, tracking your progress and your ability to do this successfully in trials of ten.
You may need to start with half swing and progress to full swings.

If you are struggling, put more weight forward and work on keeping your head still to help control the low point in the swing.

Drill #2

Stock Shot Drill

At the driving range, set up an alignment stick about 6-8 yards in front of you, straight down your target line.
If you have a second alignment stick, set the stick 3-4 feet right of the first stick (for a draw) or left of the first stick (for a fade).

Complete your initial assessment to see how many times out of 10 you can start the ball to the right or left of your target. Pick one side and measure your game at this point.
The goal is to eventually complete this successfully 7 out of 10 times!

What a difference these 3 speed training clubs can make in your driver distance! Get started today!

Speed Training Drill With SuperSpeed Golf

The game of golf has evolved to where speed is important in the game of golf. The faster your swing, the further the ball flies and the more shorter irons or wedges you have into a green.

Training for speed is a great idea and one worth exploring!

If you are going to train for speed, I would highly recommend the SuperSpeed Training System.

Gone are the days of simply being content with the distance you currently hit your golf ball. Many older golfers have proven over the past several years that an increase in swing speed is possible.

There are training systems to help you get your game to the next level and distance is arguably the fastest way to make this happen!

My number one recommendation is to check out SuperSpeed Golf and their protocols to help you find a safe way to increase your swing speed.

I spent many years wondering how I can increase my swing speed. When I was playing junior golf, we weren’t fortunate enough to have some of the training aids and knowledge that is now available. Smart people have studied the golf swing and have created training aids and protocols to help all golfers increase their distance!

At around the same time, the statistics from the PGA Tour have become more clear and the importance of speed is acknowledged by many to be a key to being the best on the PGA Tour.

Within the past several years, there have been several products hit the market to make speed gains possible. While many people for many years waited for the latest driver to come out to gain an additional 5-10 yards, you can now do this even with your current clubs.

Did you know that with the SuperSpeed Training System you can gain 5-8% increase in swing speed as early as the first training session? This would allow you to gain somewhere between 10 and 30 yards depending on your current swing speed.

SuperSpeed Golf

The SuperSpeed Training System is based on three different swing speed sticks all weighing at different weights. There is a green club that is 10% lighter than the average driver, the blue club which is 5% lighter and the red club which is actually 5% heavier!

Following their prescribed protocols the golfer completes the training every other day. The total time to complete most of their protocols is between 10-15 minutes. Most people can find the time to make this happen. The golfer will also need a swing radar to measure their progress.

The science behind the SuperSpeed Training System is based on overspeed training. Overspeed training has been around for several decades now and has been used by olympic athletics in the sport of Track and Field.

The science behind this overspeed training is based on the premise that your brain will only allow your body to move as fast as it feels it can stop safely! So, you get to work and swing the clubs as fast as possible, retraining your brain to allow you to swing your driver faster.

For more permanent results, the golfer should continue these training protocols for several months. The initial 5-8% is great and can become more permanent with the right length of training. The golfer can expect to continue to break down barriers every several months at a 1-2% increase.

My own experience has been an increase of 7-10 miles per hour on average from between 98-101 all the way up to 106-109. My goal is to hit the PGA Tour average of 113 mph in the coming months. I will continue to train every other day and watch in amazement as I am hitting drivers longer now than ever before!

Phil Mickelson (a senior golfer now) has been known to increase his swing speed in the past year or so and is close to 120 miles per hour in his swing speed. There are potential results for golfers of all ability levels and age!

Check the current price on SuperSpeed Golf System, here!

Original Swing Speed	After 4-6 Weeks	New Carry Distance	Total Distance
95	102	245	265
100	108	259	279
105	113	271	291
110	118	283	303

When you get to a hole like this you will be thankful you worked on your 3 basic skills in the game golf golf!

Other Golf Basics – Non Skill Related

While we choose to focus on the 3 key skills to building a quality swing, there are people who will spend hours trying to perfect your setup, grip, alignment, takeaway, transition, downswing and follow through.

Common Swing Fault Areas and What to Explore

Slice or Hook

I would highly recommend checking out your alignment, grip and swing path. Those are numbers 1, 2 and 8 below.

Lack of Solid Contact

In addition to working on the low point control drill above, I would recommend checking out a swing where your weight is a bit more forward at setup to help control that low point better. This is number 9 below.

Lack of Distance

I would highly recommend the SuperSpeed Training Protocol above. It really is a game changer and worth checking out. I would also look at a stronger grip and faster tempo. These are numbers 2 and 7 below.

Lack of Consistency

While most golfers never feel consistent enough, most golfers want to hit their best shots more often and the worse shots less often. This starts with all three of the skills above. I would recommend reviewing how often you are working on those basics and check out our mental game resources linked below in number 10.

I would also consider ways you can play golf year round. I went with a Golf Simulator build in my garage which was a game changer for me and my game improvement. I have a bunch of frequently asked question resources linked at the bottom of this post.

Depending on the current status of your game, here are some quick pointers of where you can turn to if you are having some common issues.

Here are some helpful resources in each of those areas:

Next Steps: Take Action!

Let’s get to work and start building skill in these three basics of the game. The stock shot drill is a drill you can use from now until the day you no longer golf. It is a solid drill that teaches you to control the clubface and really become a good golfer.

Plus the speed training with SuperSpeed is something we can do for the rest of our golfing careers. As we age, most people lose speed, but you can help reverse this swing speed loss by proper training.

Finally, playing golf or having access to golf 365 days a year is a game changer! A golf simulator is now affordable and becoming popular in the house or garage of golfers of all ability levels. The opportunity for game improvement and the pure fun in the winter months is phenomenal!

Nothing like it! Playing golf in the evenings, weekends or on those cold winter days!

My Secret To Golf Improvement

Let’s face it, in order to get really good at golf, we must practice frequently. About three years ago, I made the leap and invested in a golf simulator build for my garage. I went with a SkyTrak Launch Monitor and the TGC software and can now play over 100,000 courses including Augusta, Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, Whistling Straits. St. Andrews and many other of the top 100 courses in the world.

This golf simulator setup, which is more affordable that you might imagine, has been a game changer. I can now play golf everyday of the year regardless of rain, snow, cold weather or time of day. I can practice or play rounds of golf. I can stand in the 11th fairway at Augusta and with the auto-rewind feature I am able to practice my approach shots from various differences.

It is worth checking out through Rain or Shine Golf as they offer some incredible packages along with financing offers that are difficult to beat.

Some direct links to Rain or Shine Golf for pricing and financing:

Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better

What does this mean for you? I believe in the following recipe to get better:

1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor. Here are some options:

Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:

George Gankas

2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed. Here are some options:

Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:

3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier. Here is a series on breaking through:

We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.

How to Break 70

4 – Practice Frequently

Did you know that I build a golf simulator in my garage and have played over 500 rounds of golf on my SkyTrak system? It has been a game changer and one worth checking out. Here are some of my other posts on golf simulators frequently asked questions:

Is a Golf Simulator Worth It?