I've got a lot to write about from the practice drills that I have been doing recently from The Game Before The Game. I thought I'd start with two that have made the biggest difference so far. After playing the game for 2 years I'm still finding myself returning back to the basics time and time again - I guess people are playing for their whole lives and need to keep returning to their grip, posture and tempo.
Tempo
Up until now I've not thought about the tempo of my swing. When I've seen it on video I have always thought I had swung generally too fast, but it seemed there have been so many different things to work on that I've not thought any more about it. I didn't swing the club so fast that I'd fall over, but things were still quick. So here's the drill:
- hit 3 balls at 50% tempo
- hit 3 balls at 100% tempo
It is best to do this using a different club for each ball. Amazingly I found that the balls travel just as far at 50% tempo and with much better contact and consistent direction.
So am I swinging at 50% all the time now? No - probably around 60-75%. Before I reckon I was at around 95%! I can certainly now tell when I am out playing the course and am swinging too fast as things just feel uncontrolled and generally it is pot luck if the ball goes where I want.
This drill is ideal to do as part of a warm up before a round. You work on the extremes, 50% too slow, 100% too fast - then your tempo is somewhere in the middle.
Grip strength
Grip strength is another thing I haven't really ever thought about. I guess most people think about are their hands in the correct position holding the club, but sometimes this can lead them into holding the club correctly in their hands but actually gripping it too tightly. The saying 'Grip it and rip it' doesn't help as this makes me always think to grip the club hard! This drill has really helped me out:
- hit 3 balls with the lightest grip possible
- hit 3 balls with a medium effort grip
- hit 3 balls with the hardest effort grip you can.
It is difficult not to use the word 'strength' in these sentences, but strength when mentioned within the context of the grip has meaning around the position of the hands as well as the actual effort going into gripping the club.
With this drill I found my best grip is somewhere between lightest and middle. Before doing this drill I would have said my grip effort was between medium and hard. By gripping the club as hard as you can all you do is create tension in your hands, arms and whole upper body. This will stop you being able to make a good swing as the drill will show you.
Try this drill and figure out what gives you a nice feeling of control, without any tension in your hands and arms. I bet if you did a survey most club golfers would be gripping the club too hard.
This is another great drill to do every day or as part of a warm up before playing as it helps you find the right grip effort and re-aligns it for you each day.