A range bucket can instantly improve your ball-striking. Here’s how

By: Mike Bender, Top 100 Teacher , Nick Dimengo August 7, 2024

When your ball-striking is inconsistent, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Mike Bender says using a bucket of range balls can instantly help you improve

When you need instant ball-striking feedback, a bucket of range balls will do the trick!

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Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a GOLF.com series in which we’re sharing improvements, learnings and takeaways from amateur golfers just like you — including some of the speed bumps and challenges they faced along the way.

The good news: I saw the true definition of Jekyll and Hyde. The bad news: It came after seeing my scorecard.

Embarrassingly, I shot a whopping 54 on the front nine, even carding a 10(!) on one hole after taking three shots to get out of a daunting greenside bunker. I was fuming, cursing, humiliated, and felt completely lost.

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Then something magical happened — I improved my tempo and made some slight swing tweaks, leading me to a 1-over 36(!) on the back 9.

So what changed? My ball-striking on the back nine was superior to anything I’d ever seen before, with bombs flying off the driver, approach shots hitting the dead center of the clubface, and my putts rolling with perfect pace.

After recapping my round with a buddy, we joked about how wild of a day it was, and then kept things pretty simple as to why I shot the 9 holes of my life: I was hitting things pure, and when you do that, you give yourself a chance to score low.

Try a range bucket to improve your ball-striking

If you’re someone who often struggles with ball-striking — something every golfer can probably relate to — there’s a simple solution that can help: A bucket from the range. GOLF Top 100 Teacher Mike Bender shares the details of how below.

“If you take the club too much to the inside in your backswing, then you’re causing it to ‘cross the line’ at the top,” Bender says. “This position, which has the club pointing to the right of the target, forces you to make compensations in your downswing to try and make solid contact.”

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Since these compensations are hard to time during your sequencing, your ball-striking often suffers.

“These create inconsistency in your ball-striking and the quality of your shots,” adds Bender.

In order to avoid these common mistakes, Bender says this drill with a range bucket will help.

Step 1: Take your address position over a ball as you normally would before a shot. Instead of holding a club, though, hold a regular range bucket in both hands (which should have about 8 balls in the bottom).

Step 2: Next, make a mock backswing and try to get the bucket above your right shoulder (for a right-handed golfer) without disturbing the balls in the bucket. If you rotate inside too quickly, the balls will fly from the bucket immediately, and if you take the club across the line at the top, they’ll plunk you in the head.

Instead, you want the balls in the range bucket to fall out gradually just behind your right shoulder.

Step 3: Finally, move the bucket down towards impact as if you’re making a normal swing. If you’re able to point the bottom of the bucket at the ball on the ground as you approach contact, then you’re on the right swing plane.

“Your goal should be to simply swing the club from address to the top and then back down without having to reroute it or make adjustments on the way down,” Bender adds.

So by completing this drill consistently over time, you’ll feel the sensation you need to improve your ball-striking and hit shots more pure. Give it a try during your next range session.

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