The Pro Football playoffs are upon us, and while it might seem like American football and golf couldn’t
be any different, golfers can learn a lot from watching American football—especially when it comes to the mental side of the game.
In fact, the right mental golf tips gleaned from football and correctly applied when practicing or playing can help golfers chop strokes off their handicaps without changing their swing.
Don’t believe it?
Below are 5 golf tips gleaned from American football that provide an excellent example of what we’re talking about above:
1. Draw it like a kicker
Hitting a draw off the tee maximizes distance. Draws run when they hit the ground, adding 10 or 15 yards to your drive.
Swing thought: Envision yourself a kicker on a football team. Using a soccer style kicking motion, approach the ball from the inside and kick it with your foot turning over, causing it to draw.
Do the same with your club on the course. Strike the inside of the golf ball with a closing clubface when on the practice range and you’ll hit a draw.
2. Break the plane with your divot
All a player has to do to score in football is break the imaginary “plane of glass” that runs the length of the goal line. If the player moves the tip of the ball just beyond the goal line, he scores a touchdown. Keep this swing thought in mind to improve hit crisp, clean irons consistently.
Swing thought: Your goal when hitting irons at the range is to swing down on an aggressive angle, make ball first contact, and create your divot just beyond the ball.
3. Extend Your Offense
A pass is football’s most powerful offense weapon. It can help a team gain 20, 30, or 40 yards in single play, maybe more. But to do it you need to extend your offense.
Swing thought: Take your wedge and hit 3 increasingly longer length shots. Chart how far you hit the ball with each backswing. These are your stock yardages—your pass plays, so to speak. Doing this with all your wedges gives you a potent “offense” of 9 different shots and distances.
4. “Hit the Hole” With Your Shots
Quarterbacks use a proven drill to increase their passing accuracy. They throw footballs through a tire hung from a tree. Use this visual imagery when practicing at the range.
Swing thought: Imagine a tire hanging from a tree. Your job is to hit the ball through the hole in the tire. This exercise helps you lower the trajectory of your shots and improve accuracy. Lower shots are easier to keep on line because the produce less spin and are influenced by the wind as much as high shots. Use one club more than normal and grip down for increased club control.
5. Know How Much Distance You “Need”
Ever see a ballcarrier stretch out
just at the first down marker? Sometimes, it’s almost as if they have a sixth sense about how far they need to go to get the first down, or to get in the endzone. Similarly, you should develop this sixth sense while
Swing thought: You need to do the same when putting. You should have an idea of how hard to hit each putt to reach the cup. It’s called distance control.
Try this drill to improve distance control on the greens: Drop three balls on the practice green. Hit the first ball one yard, the second ball one yard beyond that, the third ball one yard beyond the second ball, and so on. Focus on how hard to hit each putt. Ingrain this feeling.
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Use these gridiron golf tips when practicing. They work because you’re practicing actively, and with a purpose—not just hitting one ball after the other. Each tip includes a valuable swing thought that you can use on the course to sharpen accuracy and boost distance control. Improving accuracy and distance control will take your game to the next level. That in turn will help you break 80 and lower your golf handicap.