How To Fix A Baseball Swing in Golf?

The golfer needs to correct the swing path of the golf swing by keeping his or her shoulders closed longer into the downswing. This will force the path to be more in to out vs out to in. The in to out swing pattern is one where someone can hit a slight push draw or a slight push fade. The over the top (out to in) swing movement is devastating and should be avoided.

If you play both baseball and golf, your golf swing could be negatively impacted.

While playing baseball helps future golfers with developing quality hand eye coordination and a powerful movement, sometimes the movements in a baseball swing can cause some issues.

One of the major differences between the two swings is that in baseball where the ball ends up going is less significant than in golf, where a golfer is trying to hit a golf ball with a 10-20 foot range when it comes to the irons.

The typical baseball player will oftentimes come over the top and slice the golf ball. This is a difficult shot pattern to play as it is difficult to control and the golfer loses a significant amount of distance.

The good news is that there are some minor adjustments that we recommend below to fix a baseball swing in golf and get you headed in the right direction.

As we said earlier, the hand eye coordination and the speed and power than many baseball players have can be a major advantage as someone begins playing this magnificent game.

Taking your baseball swing to the golf course can be difficult, check out the four drills below to help you out!

How to fix a baseball swing in golf?

Specific Fixes and Drills for the Baseball Swing in Golf

Shoulders Close Drill

The Pump Drill
Understand Ball Flight Laws
Stock Shot Drill

Complete Post: Golf vs Baseball Swing

Fix #1: Shoulders Closed Drill

This drill is rather simple. It all starts with the proper setup. The golfer should follow the steps below.

Set up square to the ball.

Go ahead and close your shoulders so that your front shoulder is closer to the ball than your back shoulder.
Take a normal grip and ensure the club face is aimed toward the target.
Go ahead and keep your shoulders quiet and swing along your shoulder line.

By setting up like this the golf swing is forced to swing along a closed shoulder line. The goal here is to help you get the feel of more closed shoulders because oftentimes the over the top movement happens when the golfer fires the upper body and the hands move out and across the ball resulting in a poor swing path.

Go ahead and hit 20-50 shots until you can get the ball to start turning right to left for the right handed golfer. If you are struggling, try to keep everything still other than your arms.

What causes a slice in golf? (Solutions Included)

Fix #2: The Pump Drill

This will once again get your arms firing before your upper body, helping to produce an in to out swing path. Follow these steps below:

Go ahead and swing to the top of your backswing and stop.
Pump your arms several times from top of backswing to waist high.

After three pumps, go ahead and hit the ball on the 4th movement.
The feeling should be to keep your back to the target.

This is similar to the drill above as the goal is to get your arms on the in to out swing path that will help fight the dreaded over the top move found in many baseball players.

Go ahead and hit 5 of these shots and then hit 5 normal shots. Try to engrain the feeling of your back staying towards the target and your path moving from in to out.

Fix #3: Understand Ball Flight Laws

While drills are wonderful, one of the keys to getting your game to the next level is understanding what is actually taking place in the downswing and what produces a draw, hook, fade or slice. Understanding the elements will help you make adjustments at the driving range and on the golf course.

The ball flight laws have become much more clean in the past 10-15 years now and we understand some of the most important basics on what causes specific ball flights.

Draw shot in golf (Complete Overview)

Here we go…

Generally speaking, the ball will start in the direction the club face is pointing at impact and curve away from the swing path. For example, if the club face is 3 degrees open and the path is 7 degrees to the left, you will produce a shot that starts right and slices to the right. This is due to a 10 degree difference in your golf swing.

Bottom Line:

The ball will general start in the direction of the clubface at impact
The ball will curve away from the swing fath.

For example:

If your club face is 3 degrees closed, but your path is 12 degrees left, the ball will start left and curve significantly to the right.

The ideal math up for a slide fade is around 1-2 degree left with the club face and 3-4 degrees left with the swing path.

For a draw, the golfer will want a slightly open face at impact of around 1-2 degrees with a swing path that is 3-4 degrees to the right.

Ultimately, the key is that the golfer is able to control the start line of the shot and the amount that it curves.

Any shot that curves too much, whether it is a hook or slice makes the game difficult. On the other hand, trying to hit the perfectly straight shot will be near impossible and I would highly recommend trying to develop a swing that results in a slight draw or fade, depending on your shot preference and swing makeup.

The number one swing fault with the slice looks like the following:

With the traditional pull slice, a shot hit by many high handicap players, the ball will start left of the target line and then curve to the left. This means the clubface is closed relative to the target line. Let’s say the club face is 3 degrees closed. Then let’s say that the path is 6 degrees left of the target line. We have the following:

Clubface: 3 degrees closed

Swing Path: 6 degrees left

This means the ball will start left and then curve away from the swing path resulting in a fade or a slice.

Fix #4: Stock Shot Drill

My all time favorite drill. The golfer has to be able to control the start line and the curve of the ball. Without an idea of where the ball will start and what direction it will curve, the golfer will struggle and feel lost out on the course. This drill helps build in the feeling and the awareness of what is taking palace in the swing.

When a golfer can add a Launch Monitor like the Skytrak to practice sessions, the golfer gets some amazing feedback that is a game changer when it comes to golf.

I would highly recommend some amazing products at Rain or Shine Golf. I own the Skytrak and it has changed my game!

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:

Whether this is a stock shot draw or a stock shot fade, the golfer needs confidence in their start line and the direction the ball will curve. The fade and the draw both have some advantages, but the slice is something we cannot live with if we want to get our game to certain levels.

Set up an alignment stick down your target line about 8-10 feet in front of you.
Set up a second alignment stick about 2-4 feet right of the first alignment stick.

Go ahead and attempt to hit the ball through the gate.
Assess how many times out of 20 you are successful.
Write this number down and repeat this drill for as long as you play golf.

This drill helps you control your club face and get the ball started to the right. If the ball is not curving back towards the target, you might need to get your path more to the right.

Playing a slice on this hole would be difficult. Learn to hit solid, great trajectory shots with the four drills above.

Final Thoughts

If the golfer that is a former or current baseball player will utilize the four drills above, he or she will be on a good path to hitting a quality ball flight that he or she can rely on in pressure situations.

Slicing a ball all over a golf course is no way to play the game. Learn to hit the ball solid, on your target line with a predictable curve to the shot and the game becomes a ton of fun. Add some short game skills and the golfer can start to dream of breaking 80 and working towards par!

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?