Below are five golf swing tips that can help you build a strong, versatile game. Mastering them will invigorate your play:
Watching Tour pros play is entertaining. It’s also instructive. You can learn a lot from it, especially at the start of a new season when you need to knock off the rust. That’s why I recommend it to students taking my golf lessons. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching the pros, it’s that there isn’t one thing that makes them successful. It’s several things.
Of course, each pro has his or her strengths. Take Phil Mickelson. He’s a masterful short game player. Or, Rory McIlroy. He’s an awesome driver of the ball. Strengths aside, though, Tour players have versatile games. They may not be the best in every area, but they excel in several of them. The wouldn’t be pros if they didn’t
If you’re serious about improving —and you should be—you’ll work hard at all phases of your game. Building a strong, versatile game has numerous pluses. Using these five golf swing tips will help you beat tough courses, reduce your scores, and whittle down your golf handicap index—all good things no matter what your level of play.
Use these five golf swing tips to get a strong start to the season
1) Bump your hips for more power: The first of the golf swing tips involves bumping your hips forward can pump up your power. So instead of hitting 150-yard drives, you’ll be breaking the 200-yard barrier. The key is starting your downswing by bumping your hips laterally toward the target. Then keep them moving that way through impact. That boosts club head speed. A good exercise to ingrain this move is to stick a shaft in the ground next to your left foot when at the range. Then bump the shaft with your left hip while hitting shots.
2) Sweep your fairway woods: Many students taking golf lessons hit fairway woods poorly, especially the 3-wood. Fairway woods are potent weapons. They’ll help you tackle par-5s with ease. The secret to hitting these woods is simple: Keep the club head low to the ground in the takeaway and after impact. This move does two things: It ensures that (1) you execute a full release and (2) that you hit the ball below the equator, launching it high into the air.
3) Hit different approach shots: A good exercise to work on at the range is to practice hitting approach shots with different trajectories and shapes. Hit three shots with a low trajectory, three with a medium trajectory, and three with a high trajectory. Also, hit three shots as fades and three as draws. Aim for the same target. Then switch clubs. Identify which shots you hit well and which you hit poorly. Practice hitting the shots you hit poorly.
4) Chip with your right hand only: This exercise might seem a bit odd. After all, you use two hands to chip. But chipping with your right hand only is a great drill. To hit good crisp chips, you have to keep (1) the angle between your right wrist and the club shaft intact and (2) the right side of your body moving through impact. Practicing one-handed shots keeps you from collapsing your right wrist and ensures crisp contact using a descending blow.
5) Look at your putts in reverse: Downhill putts are always tricky. They can make you tentative so that you leave them short. Next time you have a downhill putt, take a look at it from below the hole. Picture the ball rolling in reverse. This move helps you see the final part of the break—often the trickiest—more clearly. It also lets you put more trust in your read and gives you the confidence you need to make a more aggressive stroke. That way you won’t leave the putt short.
Ingraining these five golf swing tips can help invigorate your play. That, in turn, will help you build a strong, versatile game—the kind that can help you chop strokes off your golf handicap index and provide the confidence you need to tackle the toughest courses. And keep watching the pros on T.V. You can a lot learn from them.
