The key to shrinking your golf handicap is to develop a repeatable swing that combines consistency and distance. That’s easier said than done! Some weekend golfers hit the ball long, but lack consistency. On the other extreme, some hit the ball consistently into the fairway, but with far less distance than they need to conquer longer par 4s and 5s over time. One common reason for this lack of consistency and distance is poor shot control.
I’m not going to lie–improving your shot control is a challenge. It takes patience, practice, and repetition–especially if you want to acquire as much shot control like a tour pro. In other words, it takes time and effort to develop this kind of control, which means you’ll have to spend some time at the range.
If you’re anything like me, you don’t have a lot of time to spend at the range. So you need to make the time there as productive as possible. The golf tips and drills below will help you do that.1. Touch Hands To The Wall Drill
Making a good turn is critical to improving shot control. The following drill helps you make a good turn:
Drill: Pretend you’re holding a club. Now take your stance with your rear-end lightly touching a wall. Keeping your head steady and take your backswing. Keep going back until your hands touch the wall. Both arms should be extended and your head in the same position as at address. Practice this drill to improve your turn.
2. Develop A Draw Drill
If you can hit a draw, you can learn to hit just about any shot in golf. All you have to do is change your alignment. The drill below helps you practice the right alignment to hit a draw.
Drill: Pick out a target on the range. Assume your normal setup. Then without moving your feet, lay your club on the ground flat against your heels. Now walk behind the ball and draw an imaginary line through your ball, but parallel to the shaft on the ground. This shaft reveals where you’re really aiming. Repeat the drill until the imaginary line that’s parallel with the shaft points at your target.
3. Practice Curving Shots
Hitting a draw, as we said above, is paramount to developing exceptional shot control. If you can master hitting a draw consistently, you can start to add a fade, and learning how to spin the ball. Then you’ll really be on your way to mastering whatever course you come across.
Drill: Pick out a target. Then insert two shafts together and stick them vertically in the ground on the target line about 15 feet in front of you. Now work on shaping shots from right to left (for right-handers). Start the ball right of the makeshift pole.
Try to curve the ball back toward the target without crossing the target line. Identify a start line (right of the pole) and a target zone just right of the flagstick. Now practice your draw. Try to hit 7 out of 10 shots in your target zone.
4. Train Using a Two-Piece Swing
Your arms and body must move properly to help you control your shots. Breaking your swing into two segments trains your arms and hands to do this. Use this drill to practice a two-piece swing.
Drill: Swing your club to the top and then down, stopping when your hands are just below waist high. Make sure your grip points at the ball, your hips are square to the target, and your shoulders closed. Pause for a moment, then release the clubhead through the ball—firing your hips sharply to the left as if they were taking a right corner. Stop your swing when your hands are waist high on the follow-through.
5. Prevent “Over-Drawing”
Hitting a natural draw is great. But if you have a big hook, it’s almost impossible to control the shot. To minimize your big hook, match your arm swing with your body turn through impact. If the clubhead moves faster than your hips, the clubface rotates too much, leading to your hook.
Drill: To help cure a big hook, keep this swing thought in mind: Your first move down from the top should be accelerating straight through the ball. This move helps pull your shoulders, arms, and club around in the proper sequence.
Work on he drills described above to boost shot control. Learning to control your shots boosts consistency, cuts strokes from your golf handicap, and enhances your chances of breaking 80.