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Grooving Your Swing

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Published: 24Jan2008
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The key to hitting longer, straighter drives is squaring your clubface at impact. Anything less this results in either a weak drive or a slice or pull. To ensure you attain the correct impact position, your swing must be mechanically flawless or you must make pre-impact adjustments on the fly.

But making adjustments is not conducive to generating low scores or a low golf handicap. In fact, on-the-fly adjustments tend to do just the opposite, since they create a lot of opportunity for error. The goal then is to hone your swing so it is as technically perfect as you can make—not an easy task. Below are some drills that will help you grove your swing.

Triangle Takeaway Drill
The takeaway may be the most important move in the swing. It encourages good positions throughout the swing, increases your chances of executing a perfect swing, and delivers the clubhead squarely to the ball at impact—the key to hitting longer, straighter drives. This drill teaches you to stay connected during your swing, grove a one-piece takeaway, and employ a fuller body turn, creating added power:

Grip your driver a few inches below the club's handle. Place the club's butt end gently against your stomach at a point just above your navel. Now practice making small swings. Concentrate on keeping your arms close to your body with the club touching your navel. A lot of golf teachers use this drill in their golf lessons to help beginners groove the proper takeaway.

Thumbs-Up Drill
The next important phase of the swing after the takeaway is the backswing and the coking of the wrists. A mistake at this point in your swing causes a dramatically negative domino effect, with the club ending up well behind the body on the backswing. That in turn eliminates the chance of achieving square clubface-to-ball contact at impact.

Take your address position without a club. Swing back to chest level as if you had a club in your hands, making certain that your thumbs are angled up toward the sky. Hold that position for a few seconds, so you remember it and physically feel and grove it. Next, swing through to chest level, again making sure that your thumbs point at the sky. Practice this drill several times a day.

In-The-Slot-Drill
Players who fail to find the right slot in their downswing fail to have a square clubface at impact. Unfortunately, some players release their right wrist (left wrist for left-handers) and/or right elbow (left for left-handers) much too early in the downswing, causing a weak misdirected slice. This drill teaches you to maintain the proper wrist and elbow hinge until you reach the impact zone.

Take your address position and then swing the club to the top. Hold that position briefly. Now start unwinding your hips on the downswing. Simultaneously, drop your elbow down in front of your back hip then freeze this position. Feel the position of your arms but do not uncock the wrists. This move trains your wrist to remain cocked and teaches you to feel the sensation of delaying the hit, without feeling the need to pull on the butt end of the club.

Stop-And-Go Drill
One of the biggest mistakes weekend golfers make is triggering their downswing with either a violent body move or an exaggerated lower body slide. As a result, the player tends to come into the impact area with the clubface wide open and slice the ball severely. This drill teaches you to make a smooth transition and synchronize the downswing move with the rest of your body.

Take your address position and then swing the club back, stopping at the top of your stroke. Be sure at this stage to check that your weight is balanced. Hold that position for a few seconds. Next, complete the swing and trigger a perfect chain reaction by rotating your hips and legs smoothly toward the target. Many teachers use this drill during golf instruction sessions to teach an efficient, on plane move and for promoting good balance during the swing.

The Twenty Drill
Some golfers lose power on the downswing because they fail to accelerate their arms during this phase of the swing. As a result, the player hits balls much shorter than they should. The goal with this drill is to teach the player to swing the clubhead powerfully, so that by the time the club makes it to impact it is moving at high speed, enabling you to hit the ball longer with better height and carry.

Use your driver for this drill. Take your address position. Now swing the club back and through to the finish twenty times in a row without stopping. Ideally, you want to remain flat-footed through the impact zone. Some players are able to swing the club all the way through into the finish while remaining flat-footed. Swing as fast as possible. Do 20 swings in the morning and then 20 swings at night.

None of these drills require you to go to the practice range or the course. You can do them in your backyard or in your house or office. Work on the drills as often as you can. They'll help you achieve lower scores and whittle down that golf handicap.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction. http://www.howtobreak80.com .

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