Play Better Golf.
My teaching philosophy focuses on choosing the easiest shot to hit, hitting the ball in the center of the club, and controlling the low point of your swing. One of the biggest mistakes golfers of all ability levels make is that they don’t take enough club, then choose more aggressive targets most touring professionals which puts stress on them to hit a perfect shot, which makes it much very hard to hit a perfect shot. When I’m assessing a new student one of the first things I look for is the wear mark on your irons, getting a “thumb print” wear mark on every iron is a great goal to set as an aspiring golfer. Controlling your low point is crucial to playing your best golf, two of the most common misses (even on the PGA Tour) are fat and thin shots, both of these misses directly relate to the low point of your swing.
Finding Your Full Swing
Here's a drill to help you learn your yardages and hit the ball more solidly with every club in the bag. Start with a sand wedge. Hit a shot under 10 yards. Watch it land and roll out, with your next shot try to land your ball on the first one- again watch to see where it lands and how far it rolls out. Next, try to land the third shot on the second ball, and repeat this process. The length of your swing should be the only thing changing to make each shot carry slightly farther, try to limit as many variables as possible.
As you continue to lengthen your swing, the ball should go farther on each swing, however, at some point your results will eventually start to decline as you add more effort- this is your point of diminishing return. If the ball starts going off line, or you start to hit fat or thin shots you have gone past your “full swing”, and even though you are physically capable of “swinging harder”, the results will not match the input therefore you’ll be wasting time and energy. To play your best golf you need to hit the ball first then the turf on the center of the club as consistently as possible, and that just doesn't happen when golfers overswing. Once you've found your full sand wedge swing, continue this drill with longer clubs. Use your next club and start by trying to land on your last shot you hit with a sand wedge. I recommend using face tape or spray, and a launch monitor for precise carry and total distances on every shot- this is the best way to see when you start losing distance.
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Side note- If you try to “fix” your swing after every bad shot you’ll always be treading water as a golfer. To improve you need to develop a pattern first, next you’ll develop your “stock shot” then adding small adjustments to your setup will result in controllable changes in ball flight. Book a Consultation
Setup a phone call to find out where we can get your game!