Help with drills for my team.

[tlhorsh]

Hey all. Had our first match last night. The first 3 guys were good 41,43,45 but the final three needless to say had a rough time. A lot of there problem has been topping the ball and down right whiffing on the ball. If tried all of the normal...watch the club hit the back of the ball, keep some knee flex throughout, stay down on the ball, hit the back of the ball. Are there some range drills I can have these guys do.

[HoldenCornfield]

I don't have a drill for you, so I don't know how useful this might be, but I invariably find that when I struggle with controlling the low point its because of too much lateral movement from the lower body (swaying), although it could also be from knee flex changing too much during the swing.

I've seen instructors check for this swaying by holding a shaft about an inch outside the back hip. If the golfer hits the shaft in his backswing he knows he's moved off the ball too much.

[Kathy Marie]

I've been topping the ball since forever and whiffing too. Here are a few things that have helped me:

Along the target line, look at the grass ~1-2" *ahead of the ball* instead of the ball itself before and during your swing.

I *think* what I'm usually doing is standing up. Tommy Armour says if a golfer stands up during the swing, they were too crouched before the ball to begin with so it's my set-up and address position that are the problem. If I stand a little closer to the ball, it does seem to help. Where I especially have the problem are slanted lies--uphill isn't sooo bad, but side-hill and down-hill are killer.

There's not a lot in the literature I've read that covers how to correct whiffing. Harvey Penick does though (pg 65 of [u]For All Who Love The Game[/u]) and again the answer was set-up. Here is the practice drill verbatim:

"Bill taught her a practice drill.

He stuck a tee in the tip of her grip. Pat could then see and feel the tee pointing at the target line in the correct backswing."

The more I play golf, the more I'm convinced set-up determines ~90% of your swing. Look at birly-shirly's experience in this thread:

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1204670-cheating-with-a-vintage-bag/"]http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1204670-cheating-with-a-vintage-bag/[/url]

HTH,





KM

[stevemcgee99]

I'd suggest they try to hit it perfectly straight about 100 yards, and not further. Until they can do that they should not be trying to reach 200+ yards.

[TimV]

2 1/2 foot long piece of light sisal rope with a noose on each end. One noose goes around their neck. The other goes around their nutsack. Guaranteed to work!

[birly-shirly]

Good advice above, I think. Get the basics right, and consistent from shot to shot, in terms of grip, posture and alignment and even if you don't have a great swing you at least have a solid and consistent base on which to build. It has always made sense to me that how you swing is likely to be a reaction to your previous shots - but that process of learning and adjustment is disrupted if you don't work from solid fundamentals on every shot.

There are lots of books on how to swing. There are very few, as far as I'm aware, that deal convincingly with the causes and cures for mishits like topping, thinning and chunking. Haney has one "No More Bad Shots", but the best I can think of are John Jacobs (Practical Golf and Golf Doctor) and Jim Hardy's Solid Contact.

[oldschoolrocker]

Well Coach,
From my POV you are in a delicate situation. Coaching a Schoolboy golf team with a number of different personalities and abilities. A fine line to be drawn with respect to how much "teaching versus coaching" to do.
Not qualified to offer any technical advice, but, will say in all areas of instruction, especially when dealing with this age group remember to incorporate a threefold leaning plan.
Head, heart, and hands.
Good luck and keep us posted.