Swing Path Drills - SirShanksAlot.com | Sometimes it's okay to shank

Top 3 Faults Caused By Standing Too Close To The Ball

November 18, 2024March 29, 2013 by SirShanksAlot

Sometimes it’s the simplest things that cause the most problems in the golf swing. The misstep of standing too close to the ball at address can lead to a whole host of swing problems. This is likely why this is one of the toughest games in the world to master. The act of standing too … Read more

Cross Drill – Fine Tune Your Swing Path

November 12, 2012 by SirShanksAlot

Most players out there have a natural shape to their ball flight, whether that be a straight (lucky you), fade or a draw. I for one, play a draw, despite having an affair with a nice fade a few years back (ironically, when I was playing my best golf too). While I can talk endlessly … Read more

Pull Slice? Try a The Sidehill Drill

September 11, 2012 by SirShanksAlot

The fault being demonstrated by the lines in this picture is called coming over-the-top. This classic fault is very common with slicers, and is most often characterized by a big looping slice that starts left of the target line (right-handers anyway). This move, of hacking down at the ball from a vertical position with the … Read more

Extension Through Impact Drill

July 13, 2012 by SirShanksAlot

Today we’re going to share with you a great drill to help fight the dreaded follow-through chicken wing, or pull-up at impact fault that plagues many people. This fault is characterized by top and thinned shots that lack distance, consistency and accuracy. This fault is surprisingly common, despite how awkward it looks in the video below. Even if you’re not routinely thinning your shots, this specific drill can really help people hit down and through the ball on their follow-through by encouraging a solid arm extension through impact. This drill is a great way to encourage a downward angle of attack as well as a solid release.

Like the video below shows, the trick is to setup in your impact body position, swing back to about 10 o’clock, hit the ball and hold your follow-through position without breaking your wrists. You’ll notice in the video that this drill looks very similar to a knockdown position – and you’d be right. This drill is effectively asking you to hit a modified knockdown to really feel the proper positioning of your arms and body post impact. The benefits of this new position include a downward angle of attack into impact for better contact, additional power created by more lag and better transfer of power, and finally more accuracy.

The Hip Coil Drill

May 10, 2012 by SirShanksAlot

One of the most common power leaks in the golf swing is an over-active lower body. For some players, instead of coiling their body to generate power, they resort to sliding their hips laterally. This fault is a huge contributor to inconsistency at impact, and often big swooping block slices. If you’ve ever stepped up to a ball and let go a huge block fade – this drill is likely for you. Another term for this fault is called “getting ahead of the ball”. In a nutshell, as you swing back, your lower body slides back with the backswing laterally, and as you swing down into impact you often slide forward and clear your hips too early leaving the club wide open at impact. Some players (with wrists of steel) can even see a snap hook from this fault.

Fix Your Push From Your Knees

July 18, 2011 by SirShanksAlot

This particular drill can be used for two completely different purposes, and trust me, it is very effective for both.

Bucket in Knees Stabilization Drill

February 25, 2011 by SirShanksAlot

I myself have used this drill many times to help stabilize my lower body. It’s really is amazing how easily it helps to fix an over-active lower body. By placing a bucket between your thighs, right above your knees (as shown), you can really minimize the movement allowed by your lower body (remember to pinch your knees inwards to hold the bucket in place). Take a look at the picture to better understand what I mean. I personally focus on squeezing my knees inward, it helps to increase resistance and torque while preventing a slide, it’s a very effective combo.

If you tend to suffer from quick hips or you slide them through impact, try this golf drill. Hit balls with a short iron and focus on turning through impact. You’ll see a large difference in ball contact, direction and distance.

Stop Sliding Drill ~ Cure your Push

February 21, 2011 by SirShanksAlot

Sliding drills pushing golf

You reach a short par 5, you’re playing well but could really use another birdie. You address the ball and swing a little harder than normal, thinking about reaching the green in two. You make your swing, you finish, and watch your tee-shot sail way into the trees on the right. Sound familiar? It does for me, especially when I was a junior golfer. I had the tendency to slide my hips into impact in attempts to get more distance. This fault lead to an in to out swing path, resulting in my blocked shot.

This was one of the drills I have used to help force my hips to stay stationary and turn instead of sliding to get those extra yards. You can clearly see in these two pictures that this student’s hips are moving horizontally. Timing the motions of the hands and sliding hips to create solid contact is nearly impossible with this swing problem. To help maximize consistency a player would ideally, want his hips to turn rather than slide. This drill will help you reduce your hips from sliding.

Chair Drill For Spine Stability & Blocks

February 5, 2011 by SirShanksAlot

Problem:

Thousands of junior golfers can relate to this problem – in attempts to gain more distance, they all move their hips so forcefully into impact that they cannot maintain their spine angle. The result is often a block / push. Maintaining your spine angle throughout your swing is the key to unlocking your consistency. This simple drill using a chair is a great way to improve your consistency.

How to Reduce Your Head Movement & Eliminate Fat Shots

February 5, 2011 by SirShanksAlot

head movement spine angle drill For most players, extra head movement during the swing is a nuisance. It can result in inconsistent contact, and quite often lead to fat shots. The players on tour that get away with extra head movement, like Jim Furyk, get away with it because they are able to maintain a consistent spine angle throughout their swing. This type of swing is not something that can be taught, it takes years to perfect. So with that in mind, a simple, repeatable swing that maintains a consistent spine angle is the best approach to improving consistency and ball contact. The easiest way to maintain your spine angle is to reduce your head movement – this drill will help you achieve this.

This drill is simple enough to perform… you don’t even need a club. Face a wall, and get setup in your address position. Cross your arms across your chest, and move towards the wall until your head is making contact with it. Next, start back as if you were performing a swing – at the top of your backswing – hold the position… your head should still be in contact with the wall. Next, follow-through, focus on keeping your head touching the wall until after impact.

This simple drill will help you steady your head, and feel what a stable spine angle is like. With some practice, you shouldn’t have any issues with fat shots anymore. Give it a try.