For the most part, golfers who struggle with consistency don’t really understand why their shots change so much in one single round. Many players often incorrectly diagnose the reason why they hit a wayward shot and make the mistake of trying to correct it during the round.
Let’s make it simpler! The first step to understanding consistency is to understand that starting direction is majorly influenced by clubface angle at impact and is usually the culprit for lack of consistency.
Today’s tip is about a practice drill to help you control your starting direction and simply diagnose whether your clubface control is causing your problems with consistency.
Step 1 – Setting Up the Drill
Choose a target and place alignment sticks on the ground parallel to that target line with enough room for your club to easily strike a ball set up in the middle. Place a third alignment stick in the ground on the target line about five meters in front of the ball. When you look down the line, the alignment stick should cut through your intended target.
Step 2 – Getting Ready to Hit Balls
Setup square with your intended target, making sure that your clubface is perpendicular. Keep in mind, while the setup is important, this drill is diagnosing what happens at impact.
Step 3 – Hit Five Shots
Take five shots and let your focus for each shot be specifically on keeping the clubface square at impact. If you have success the ball should fly directly over the alignment stick on your target line.
Think Box
After hitting your five shots, be honest to yourself about whether your ball started straight. Don’t be distracted if your ball curved left or right (this is related to path and not what this drill is focused on). If you were able to maintain a consistent clubface at impact, you probably saw the same ball flight five times in a row. This means it’s time to calibrate your alignment.
Step 4 – Remove the Alignment Sticks of the Ground.
If in the previous step you faded the ball, now realign so that you feel like you are setting up left. Start your clubface left of the targetline and your ball should naturally fade back to your target. Do the opposites direction for the same steps if you were drawing the ball in the previous step. For those of you who hit straight bullets, keep yourself set square. Continue your practice and you should begin to see consistent shots and learn how to align to your target.
While some people are happy to have consistency in their shots, others have a specific shape in mind. This exercise is designed to cater to your swing, however, if you want to see a specific shape with your shots, come down and see me at the Leadbetter Academy in Bali. With the combination of Trackman technology and the Leadbetter philosophy we will have you producing the shots that you want to see and help you improve your game!
