When trying to incorporate something new into your golf swing, or even when trying to reinforce something you already know how to do, turning to a practice drill is a wise idea. A good drill will help you feel the way something is supposed to work during the swing. That way, when you go to make an actual swing, you have some frame of reference to judge your progress as you move along.
In this section, we are going to present a drill you can use to work on maintaining the connection between your left arm and shoulder. This drill is extremely simple, and you don’t even need to be at the driving range to put it to use. Anywhere you have room to safely swing a golf club will do the job. When you are ready to give the drill a try, work through the steps below.
- To get started, you will need to find a club and a place to make a swing. One of your middle irons would be ideal for this drill, but any club other than the putter will do the trick. In terms of finding a place to swing, you can certainly do this drill at the driving range if you are there for a practice session. If not, you may be able to find space in your backyard or some other location you have access to that is not going to put anyone or anything else in danger as you practice. You won’t be hitting a ball with this drill, so you simply need to make sure you have space for the swing.
- With your club selected and a safe place to swing located, it will be time to get started. At first, you are going to position yourself in a stance just like any other you would use for a normal golf shot. There won’t be a golf ball down in front of you, but pretend that there is while you take your stance and settle in to a comfortable address position.
- Before starting this practice swing, take your right hand off the club. You can either place it in your pocket or move it behind your back. At this point, you will be in your normal address position, however only your left hand will remain on the grip of the club.
- It is now time to start the swing. Using your shoulders to initiate the action, turn away from the target slowly as the club moves up toward the top of the swing. To do this successfully with just one hand on the club requires nice coordination between your arm and the rest of your upper body.
- Swing all the way up to the top and then down through the bottom of the swing. Do your best to reach a full finish on each swing, even though you only have one hand on the club. After a few repetitions, put your right hand back on the grip and make some normal two-handed swings. Hopefully, the feeling you experienced with only one hand on the club will help you make a better backswing with two hands involved.
This might seem like a simple drill, and it is, but it has the potential to greatly help you stay connected during your backswing. And, if you do stay connected, you should have vastly improved timing as you come down toward impact in your swing. One of the nice things about this drill is the fact that you can perform it on the course from time to time, if you wish. For instance, if you feel that your timing is getting a bit off during a round, you could go through this drill a couple times on the tee while waiting for the group in front of you to play their shots. Just a couple of quick repetitions may be all you need to get your game back on track.
