After a winter layoff the key to your practice sessions is working on ways to recapture the
feel and the rhythm of your golf swing. Three of my favourite drills will get you up and running.
Combination of body & wrist action
maximises your timing, speed & ‘swish’
Build on your momentum
The great thing about this exercise is that
when you turn the club around and grip
the head end (1), the lightness of the shaft
gives you a tremendous sense of feel and
feedback as you then go about making a
swing. You then start by moving the grip end
a couple of feet into the follow through
(2) before letting it fall and using
that momentum to continue into the backswing,
really cranking your wrists to ‘set’
the club up in a great position at halfway back
(3).
(1) Grip lightly
to maximise
mobility in the
hands & wrists.
(2) Move the club
forward to initiate
the exercise
[Rehearse this in front of a mirror
and look for that full angle between your
arms and the shaft.] A full turn of the upper
body over a solid supporting leg action
completes the backswing (4).
(3) Right wrist hinges
back on itself to
achieve this
full ‘set’
(4) Right knee/thigh is
braced as you rotate
upper body to complete
backswing
Now, study
frame (5) – the full release of the wrists and
the forearms into the follow-through – this
is the position you are looking to achieve
as you unwind from the top of the backswing.
I guarantee that if you can achieve
this you will generate fantastic speed (you
will hear the air swished by the grip as you
accelerate through the hitting area) and the
momentum will carry you to a full finish (6).
As a warm-up exercise before you move
on to hit balls, this is perfect.
(5) Hips rotate and clear to
face left of target as the
arms/wrists release and
re-hinge the club up
(6) Arms ‘soften’ as
you complete the
follow-through
Try a little fancy footwork
to improve your rhythm,
transition and release
through the ball
After a few minutes rehearsing the swish drill
(above), here’s another good exercise to help
speed up the process of recapturing rhythm
after a layoff. It’s all about footwork and – as you
can see in this sequence – the challenge here is
to lift your left foot up off the ground as you
make your backswing, and then literally step in
to the downswing sequence as you replant that
left foot through the transition period. It’s almost
a dance move and a lot of the players I work
with like to do this to a favourite piece of
music that reflects the personal ‘beat’ of their
swing. After a few minutes you really do get
into a repeating rhythm, while at the same
time developing a swing with a distinct weight
shift as you blend the transition from the top.
Lift your left foot as
you swing back and
then use the motion
of replanting the foot
to signal the change
in direction
Enjoy the feeling of
hitting into a firm and
braced left side as
you release the club
through the ball
Put your foot down for a real sense of shifting into your left side
Use a mid-iron, tee
the ball up, and start
here, with the toe of
your left foot raised
up off the ground as
far as you can get it
Do your best to keep
that left toe up off the
ground as you make
your backswing...
...then slam it down
to signal your change
of direction – really
feel that shift in
weight onto the left
side as you shift the
gears and unwind
through the ball
The left leg plays a
key role in shaping
the look and quality
of your finish – you
are now fully rotated
to look left of the target,
with 90%of your
weight supported on
the left side
Reproduced with kind permission of Golf International Magazine
