Tee peg under left palm to keep swing shorter, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Tee peg under left palm to keep swing shorter, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

A couple of issues that sometimes people find when they're not controlling the golf ball particularly well is that they're inconsistent with the length of their swing and sometimes just too long. A lot of people that I see when they're swinging the golf club too long, really struggle to feel where it is that's making them go too long and what they can do to stop their swing short.

One of the main issues here is collapsing in your wrist and sometimes even letting go of the golf club, feeling like the left hand almost comes away from the club. We're always told that we've got to relax in golf and we've got to grip the club lightly. But there is a limit to that because if you're not holding it tightly enough, when this club gets to the top and it gets heavy, and don't forget the centrifugal force, the momentum pulls the golf club down there, you're trying to change direction, and if you're letting go too much with your left hand, this club can get very long and out of control at the top.

So, here's a great exercise and a great tip to help with this, just simply using a tee peg. What I'd like you to do is make your normal grip with your left hand if you're a right-handed golfer, and then just take a tee peg and just push it in behind the back of your palm, in your little finger so it's just held in there nice and loosely.

Then, go ahead and make your grip and you should feel you can make it swing and come back down and the tee peg stay in place. But likewise if you swung to the top and you released a bit of the pressure there, that tee peg could move or even fall out of your hand. So, you can go ahead and set it up, make sure it's in a nice position just held loosely under the palm of the hand, not squeezing it too tightly because it would never come out, but holding it. So, if you felt like you moved your hand too much, the tee peg would fall away.

Then go ahead and hit a few shots. Now, this is particularly noticeable for a lot of people when they're swinging with their driver. When they're swinging with their driver, they get too long at the top of their swing and let go of the tee peg. So, I should be able to start off in my good address position here. I've got my tee peg held nicely in the back of my left hand, normal shot, come back down to set up again and the tee peg has stayed in exactly the same place so now I didn't lose my grip pressure at the top and let my left hand open up too much.

If you have a problem swinging long, feeling out of control and you don't feel like you're controlling the club head at the top, check your left hand isn't coming off the grip by putting the tee peg through the back of your left palm and making sure that you practice that drill a few times before each round of golf, just to give you a good, solid, firm hold of the top of your swing.

 2013-01-22

A couple of issues that sometimes people find when they're not controlling the golf ball particularly well is that they're inconsistent with the length of their swing and sometimes just too long. A lot of people that I see when they're swinging the golf club too long, really struggle to feel where it is that's making them go too long and what they can do to stop their swing short.

One of the main issues here is collapsing in your wrist and sometimes even letting go of the golf club, feeling like the left hand almost comes away from the club. We're always told that we've got to relax in golf and we've got to grip the club lightly. But there is a limit to that because if you're not holding it tightly enough, when this club gets to the top and it gets heavy, and don't forget the centrifugal force, the momentum pulls the golf club down there, you're trying to change direction, and if you're letting go too much with your left hand, this club can get very long and out of control at the top.

So, here's a great exercise and a great tip to help with this, just simply using a tee peg. What I'd like you to do is make your normal grip with your left hand if you're a right-handed golfer, and then just take a tee peg and just push it in behind the back of your palm, in your little finger so it's just held in there nice and loosely.

Then, go ahead and make your grip and you should feel you can make it swing and come back down and the tee peg stay in place. But likewise if you swung to the top and you released a bit of the pressure there, that tee peg could move or even fall out of your hand. So, you can go ahead and set it up, make sure it's in a nice position just held loosely under the palm of the hand, not squeezing it too tightly because it would never come out, but holding it. So, if you felt like you moved your hand too much, the tee peg would fall away.

Then go ahead and hit a few shots. Now, this is particularly noticeable for a lot of people when they're swinging with their driver. When they're swinging with their driver, they get too long at the top of their swing and let go of the tee peg. So, I should be able to start off in my good address position here. I've got my tee peg held nicely in the back of my left hand, normal shot, come back down to set up again and the tee peg has stayed in exactly the same place so now I didn't lose my grip pressure at the top and let my left hand open up too much.

If you have a problem swinging long, feeling out of control and you don't feel like you're controlling the club head at the top, check your left hand isn't coming off the grip by putting the tee peg through the back of your left palm and making sure that you practice that drill a few times before each round of golf, just to give you a good, solid, firm hold of the top of your swing.