Straight Shots Drill
What’s the shortest point between two points?
Obviously straight is.
Well, I so often see golfers starting the ball either WAY right or left of their target that it costs them a lot of distance.
So for today I’m going to give you a drill to help you hit the ball straighter. And years ago a golf magazine had an article with Ken Green, and it showed him hitting golf balls out of his living room through the ranch-slider doors that were open about a foot or so and the ball was flying out onto the golf course that was next to his house.
Crazy stuff!
Now although that may seem a bit crazy it’s actually a great way to work on improving your swing path so you get the ball starting consistently on the line you want it to start.
To do this place some objects in front of where you’re hitting balls so that your ball has to go through them to travel directly towards your target. A couple of closed golf umbrellas, with the top points pushed into the ground works well for this. Once they are standing up on their own they essentially form a gateway for your ball to travel through to ensure your ball is starting off on the correct path. If you hit either umbrella then you know your swing path was either too far left or right, and you’ll know how to correct this by seeing which umbrella you hit.
Here is a picture of a golfer setting up to a ball and we have photo shopped a couple of umbrellas on the image to show you what we mean.
Now when you’re working on your club path you should do so with small swings first. Start off with chip shots trying to hit them through the gate you’ve setup. Then move up to half swings, then three quarter swings and finally, once you’ve mastered all the shorter swings, then full swings with a driver.
Also, you can move the gate closer together so the gap your ball has to fly through is smaller, thus making it harder when you start to get really good at this. Also, you’ll have to experiment with the distance you position your ball from the ‘gate’. If you really get into doing this you can record how close you’ve got the gap your ball has to fly through and then try to get it closer and closer together. Make it a competition and try and beat your best.
When doing this you might want to use softer than normal golf balls rather than real golf balls, because if a ball ricochets off your gate and comes back to hit you it might hurt!
Straight Shots Drill Task
- Practice hitting shots through a gate that you setup so you learn to hit the ball straight at your target. When doing this start with short shots and then build up to full swings with your driver.