During a recent round, I realized something quite frustrating: my ball-striking is pretty terrible right now.
Sure, about 60 percent of the time I can strike it pretty well, giving me a nice, high draw that lands softly near the putting surface. But if that’s not happening, I’m usually mishitting my shots off the toe or topping them, which is partly due to a bad setup and swing sequence, where my weight and club path are out of whack.
Since there’s nothing better than, you know, actually executing the golf shot you envision, I needed some help to do this more consistently.
So I tapped GOLF Top 100 Teacher Mike Bender to see what tips he could give me to improve my ball-striking, hit solid shots and, hopefully, score lower because of it.
Bender offers up a simple drill that can help, which gives golfers the proper feel that’s necessary to pure more shots. Take a look below at how it works.
Better ball-striking is just 1 drill away
“There are lots of reasons for poor ball-striking, but the most common are having too much weight on your back foot and leaving your hands behind the clubhead at impact,” Bender says.
So how can you ensure better ball-striking with more consistency? Bender says the key is to learn where the proper impact position is, and to then experience that sensation over time through repetition.
Bad ball-strikers make this mistake while shifting their weight. Here’s how to fix it
“Once you learn the proper impact position, you need to ingrain that into your mind and body to replicate it on each shot,” he adds. “Once you’re able to learn to leverage your weight properly and keep your hands ahead of the clubhead through the ball, you’ll cure all those frustrating mishits in no time.”
By following this simple two-club drill from Bender, you’ll be on your way toward doing just that.
Step 1: Set up a hitting station with a ball and two clubs that run parallel to the target. You can also use two alignment sticks, if you prefer.
Step 2: Address the butt of the grip closest to you, then set the clubface squarely against the cap of the grip.
Step 3: Mimic a solid impact position by sliding your hands ahead of the clubhead and moving your weight into your left hip. Your hips should be open, but your shoulders should remain square.
Step 4: Hold this position for 2-3 seconds, which allows your body to feel the sensation.
Step 5: Immediately address the ball that’s sitting between the two clubs. Now go through the previous steps, working on recreating the same motions in order to strike the ball pure.
Once you learn how to shift the weight to your left hip and set your hands ahead of the clubhead, you’re ball-striking will be much more consistent and improved.
