Have you thought recently or even said out loud, “my golf swing is a mess!”
Have no fear, we are here to help get your mess of a golf swing figured out. Whether you are an 80s, 90s, or even a 100s golfer there can be times where you feel like this and feel lost.
I will take you through some drills that can help you get back on track. I have spent years studying the golf swing and exploring the internet for the best free instructional videos available to help out.
I practice daily in my golf simulator or on the course and love the game greatly!
I believe we are all on a journey and at times feel lost with our golf swing. However, there are solutions to help us get back on track and play to our level of expectations.
My Golf Swing Is A Mess?
Typically this is a result of poor contact, poor start line control or the ball is over curving. Many high handicap golfers may fight the slice, while low handicap players might be struggling with a hook. The more we try to fight one of these a further mess can result.
Below I will take your through 3 drills to help you get back on track. These are quality drills that take you back to the fundamentals of golf and help you make solid control, control the start line and make sure your ball isn’t over curving.
I finish by providing some practice routines you can utilize in the coming weeks to help you return to the golf swing that works!
Drill #1: Ground Contact Drill
The first drill will help you hit the ball more solid by controlling the bottom of your swing. The best golfers are able to control the bottom of their swing close to 100% of the time as handicaps get into the 20s and above, these golfers might be unsuccessful controlling where their club bottoms out close to 50% of the time.
In order to compress the ball and make solid contrac to maximize and control our distance, we must ensure we are hitting the ground in the correct spot. The actual contact with the ground will come just slight after hitting the ball.
Here is a great drill to practice:
- Paint a line about 2 yards long in your backyard with some yard paint.
- Next, try to hit on the target side of the line. The line represents the ball and you want your divot to start just on the frost side or target side of the line.
- Go ahead and assess out of 20 how many times you can do this successful.
If you struggle with this drill, try placing 60% of your weight at address on the front leg and maintain at least 60% throughout the swing. The club will often bottom out where the weight it.
So if your weight is too far back, this could lead to you bottoming out before line or having to compensate with your arms and shoulders to avoid chunking the shot.
If you prefer having a ball, you could use a foam or wiffle and place just on the front side of the line. This drill may seem simple, but it is a key to lowering your handicap through striking the ball solid.
Even if you have to feel like you are swinging at 80%, go ahead and start to control the club face in your swing! Club face control is vital to success in the game of golf.
Drill #2: Start Line Drill
Being able to control the start line in your shot can be the difference in playing well or struggling. Those that struggle the most often have no general idea where the ball will start and end.
This leads to great uncertainty over just about every shot, whether you are hitting a driver with a tight fairway or an approach shot with bunkers. This uncertainty can cause you to tighten up or to try to manipulate the club in the downswing.
Instead, we want to have confidence in our start line and allow ourselves to focus on a target and get the ball started towards that target!
Here is a great drill to practice:
- At the driving range, go ahead and place at least one alignment stick about 6-8 yards in front of your ball. If you have a second alignment stick, pace this one several feet to the right of the first alignment stick.
- Take 20 shots and count how many out of 20 you are able to start to the right of the first alignment stick, but left of the second stick.
- The goal is to be successful with this drill at least 7 our of 10 times.
Now that we have your bottom of your swing improving, it is time to control our start line. This visual with the alignment sticks will keep you target focused and is a great way to start to learn to control the club face. The ball will start where the club face is pointed (see ball flight laws description below).
Once you can control the start line, focus on the curve of the ball. The goal is to get the ball to curve back towards the target without over curving. You will see below with the ball flight laws description that the ball will curve relative to the difference between your club face and your swing path.
Understanding The Ball Flight Laws
Why? If you understand the ball flight laws you can start to become your own swing instructor and make corrections on the range or the course by reading the flight of your golf ball.
Too often golfers turn to the video of their swing when everything you need to know can be read off of your ball flight. Did you know that your ball flight can tell you the following:
- Where your club face was at impact.
- If your swing path was left or right of the club face.
Once you know these two items you can make the corrections by checking out our 2nd Tip on understanding what swing thoughts can help you get the proper matchups.
So let’s dive into the ball flight laws:
- Generally speaking, the golf ball will start where the club face is aiming.
- The golf ball will then curve away from the swing path.
There are two different lines that we must understand. The target line and the start line. The best golfers start the ball left or right of the target line and then curve the ball back towards the target.
Let’s go over some examples to help you better understand the ball flight laws.
Example A: Let’s say that the club face is 3 degrees right of the target line and the swing path is 5 degrees right of the target line. What will the ball do?
Answer: The ball will start right of the target line and draw back towards the target. This is known as a push draw.
Example B: Let’s say the club face is 3 degrees right of the target line, same as in example A, but the swing path is only 1 degree right of the target line. What will the ball do?
Answer: The ball will start to the right of the target line and will fade to the right. Keep in mind that the ball will curve away from the swing path. In this example, both the club face and the swing path are to the right and the ball will curve away from the path.
Example C: Let’s say the club face is 3 degrees to the left of the target line and the swing path is 5 degrees left of the target line. What will the ball do?
Answer: The ball will start to the left and curve to the right. This would be a pull fade or pull slice. Keep in mind that even though the face is closed to the target line, it is open to the swing path and the ball will curve away from the swing path.
Example D: Let’s say the club face is 3 degrees to the left and the swing path is only 1 degree to the left. What will the ball do?
Answer: The ball will start left and curve left. This shot would look like a pull draw.
Hopefully, these examples help you understand the club face and swing path correlation and how they match up. Once you understand these ball flight laws, it will help you read your own shots and possibly make in round adjustments.
Drill #3: Balance Drill
A great deal of poor golf shots are the result of poor balance. Balance can be practiced and should be practiced by all golfers. Being able to maintain balance and tempo in the golf swing are keys to solid ball striking and being able to control the club face.
As we saw above, the club face is vital to where the ball will start and then curve relative to the swing path.
This balance drill is used by many great golfers at key times to control their golf swing and balance.
Here is a great dill:
- Go ahead and place both feet together.
- Hit shots at 50-75% speed and work on utilizing the gravity in the golf swing to swing back and forth.
- As you get more comfortable you can pick up the pace.
- For the expert level, combined this with the start linke drill (drill #2) to keep you target focused. Also, keep in mind drill #1 for solid ball contact.
OVerall, if we can get you hitting the ball solid again, controlling the start line and maintaining balance, we will increases your chances of improving your golf swing and you can lose the thought that your golf swing is a mess.
Stay positive, work hard and utilize these drills to start playing better golf today.
I would highly recommend this Shawn Clement video, which will help you move away from positional based golf to target based golf that has a focus on targets and utilizing the gravity in the golf swing.
Check it out below:
One of the biggest flaws in the golf swing is trying to manipulate the swing out of fear or anxiety of what may become of the results of you shot. Instead, follow Shawn Clements advice and focus on the target and let the body and mind take over to produce a free flowing, target focused swing that will help you control start line and curvature of the ball.
Final Thoughts
All of the advice above is based on what I have learned to be the fundamentals of golf.
Understanding the Fundamentals of Golf
The Stack and Tilt Instructors said it best when they described what they believed were the fundamentals of golf. They explained it somewhat similar to this:
- The first fundamental is the golfer’s ability to control the bottom of the golf swing. The best golfers will hit the ground in the intended spot, close to 100% of the time.
- The second fundamental is the golfer’s ability to control the curve of the golf ball. The best golfers are able to start the ball to the right or left of the target line and have the ball curve towards the target without the ball over curving past the target.
- The third fundamental is the golfer’s ability to have enough power to play the golf course. This means they are able to hit the ball far enough to play the course in regulation.
They explained that among the greatest golfers of all time there were different grips and different aim points. The fundamentals in golf are not grip, and alignment.
Ben Hogan played with a weak grip, while Lee Trevino had a strong grip. Lee Trevino and Fred Couples aimed way to the right, while Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer aimed well to the right.
The only piece I didn’t touch on is fundamental #3, but I have a highly recommended training tool and protocol to help you increase your swing by 5-8% as early as the first training session.
BONUS TRAINING TIP!
This product is the SuperSpeed System, which has worked wonders for me. My driver swing speed was for many years between 98-100 miles per hour, I am now up to between 104-107 on average and the other day, actually hit one 110 miles per hour and 109 miles per hour on my SkyTrak Launch Monitor.
My goal is to get to 113 which is the tour average. It will take my every other day training sessions, which only take up 10-15 minutes of my day. This commitment to speed training can be good for golfers of all ability levels and age.
As we get older, it is easy to sit back and dream about the days when we used to hit a driver further, but now you can get back to your old distance and maybe even surpass that distance. Have you seen Phil Mickelson lately?
He utilizes the SuperSpeed System and is hitting the ball further than ever! You owe it to your golf game!
SuperSpeed Golf – Use Discount Code Golfjourney365 for some savings!
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:
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.
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?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator?
- What is the Best Golf Simulator?
- Golf Simulator Accessories?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for under $7000
- Top 11 Reasons to Buy a SkyTrak
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for Under $1000
- Why Build A Golf Simulator?
- What Space is Needed?
- Can A Golf Simulator Improve My Game?
- How Much Does A Golf Simulator Cost?
- Don’t Forget to Check out our 15 best golf swings of all time.