Joe Feather's Top Tips To Improve Your Golf Swing

Now we’re in February, the golf season is finally starting to loom on the horizon. It’s at this time of year we start to see the range filling up with club golfers keen to get their handicaps down and maybe even win some silverware. Our PGA Pro, Joe Feather, is here to bring you some tips that will help improve your golf swing so you can play at your best in 2018.

As a golf coach, I often wander down the range and see the same old faces, doing the same old stuff, huffing and puffing, and seeing the same old results when practising their golf swing. Don’t get me wrong, there is no ‘one size fits all’ drill or technique we can give you as a tip, but if you are struggling to hit the ball straight, or to strike the ball consistently well, have a little go at the drill below. It could well help you understand why your bad shots are happening, and how your swing needs to feel to put it right. All you’ll need is two clubs and a mirror. You don’t even need to hit a ball. Enjoy!

Step 1
Take a ‘deadlift’ style grip on the shaft of your club as shown. Put your other club a couple of inches in front of your toe line, and a ball in its usual position as if you were going to hit a shot. Adopt your golf posture and let the club in your hands hang over the club on your toe line.

Step 2.
Start to make your backswing rotation, while doing this try to keep your arms extended (your right arm will bend just a little) with your upper arms connected to your ribcage. Further to this try to keep the shaft angle pointing in between the ball and the club on your toe line. Don’t try take the club too far and make a nice full turn without letting the arms break down.

Step 3
From here, use your legs and core to start the downswing with a little shift and turn towards the target. As this happens, feel like you keep the club and arms at the same angle but relax them and let them drop towards the floor. Don’t pull them towards the ball, if anything they will feel like they are travelling downwards and away from the golf ball. All the while, keeping their extension and connection to the rib cage.

Step 4
To complete the movement to impact, turn the torso to return the club to its original position over the club on your toe line. Do this slowly to start with and increase the speed as you learn to make the movement correctly.

The purpose of this drill is to help you get the feeling of staying connected (arms and body) throughout your swing, and to stop your arms breaking down and swinging around too much. Both of which are common causes of over the top movements, and can cause all kinds of inconsistencies.

Faults and Fixes
If you are a slicer of the ball, and wish not to be, try and adjust the downward movement slightly so that the left end of the club meets the club on your toe line while the right side is still angled behind you.

If you are a shanker of the golf ball, and we know you don’t want to be, try and bring the club down inside but in line with the club on the floor, so that the arms, hands, and club stay closer to the body on the downswing.

This is a great drill to help you tidy things up and get some consistency, try get these feelings into your golf swing and they can’t hurt!

If you want to improve your golfing skills and techniques in 2018, get in touch with staff at reception who can point you in the right direction for personalised coaching sessions.