Tag Archives: golf drill

Turn Every Golf Club Into Three With Trajectory Control

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Learning to control the trajectory of your golf shots is crucial if you want to take your game to the next level.

Trajectory control is one of the ways you can quickly multiply the number of clubs in your bag. Just think about it, if you can hit all of your clubs at three distinct trajectories it’s effectively like tripling the number of clubs in your bag.

As Bill McKinney showed you in the video changing the trajectory is as simple as moving the ball around in your stance and moving your hands more or less forward at impact.

To lower the trajectory of a golf shot (keep the ball flight lower) simply move the ball back a bit in your stance, and increase the forward shaft tilt at impact (move your hands ahead of the club head and ball). Both of these changes take loft away from the club.

A low trajectory shot is great for staying under trees, cutting through the wind, or getting more roll out of the shot.

To increase the trajectory of a golf shot (get the ball higher in the air) you want to play the ball forward in your stance. At impact you want less forward shaft tilt (although your hands still need to be a bit ahead of the ball and club head). You still want to maintain a flat left wrist, even for a high trajectory golf shot.

For these high trajectory golf shots you will be striking the ball right at the bottom of the swing arc. This means that you will take little to no divot on the shot.

This shot will feel more like you are sweeping the ball up. However you don’t want to try to flick the ball into the air, you must remember to stay down through the shot.

High trajectory golf shots are great for getting over trees or getting less roll from a shot.

For more great golf instruction from Bill McKinney Click Here.

Go out there and try this technique.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP Golf

Perfect Your Ball Striking With This Simple Drill

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Just so there is no confusion, this golf drill it is not meant for practicing bunker shots. This drill is geared toward improving your ball striking for golf shots off of grass.

This golf drill will teach you to strike the ball more cleanly. By practicing in the sand you are able to see exactly where your club first touches the ground in relation to the golf ball. This will really help you dial in your swing.

During normal practice off of grass it is difficult to tell whether or not you are striking the ball cleanly, because after you swing the ball is long gone and you have no reference point to compare your divot to.

As you saw in the video when you practice this drill in the sand you can draw a line, place the ball just ahead of it, make your shot and get instant feedback from your swing. After you take a few shots you will know right away if you were are a little ahead or behind the ball.

Ideally you want to strike the golf ball first then the ground, so your divot should start right after the line you drew in the sand. Your divot should never start in front of the line (that would be a fat shot). If your divot starts before the line you know you need to adjust your swing.

The length of your divot is also important. This is where the sand really helps out. Since grass is resilient it will only take a divot where you make hard contact. Soft contact simply scuffs the grass.

Sand on the other hand will tell you exactly how long you were contacting the ground. A long divot means that you have a good follow through and are maintaining proper wrist conditions through impact.

If your divot is short you need to work on staying down through all your shots. Try focusing on having a flat left wrist through impact, and carry that wrist position as long as you can into your follow through.

If you really want to dial in your golf swing this drill is a must, so go out there and try this out.

For more great golf instruction from PGA Pro Bill McKinney Click Here.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP

Hit Longer Drives Using This Weird Bucket Drill

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The key to hitting longer drives is developing a more powerful golf swing. As many of you know swing power is not developed in the arms. Instead the power in the golf swing comes from your core and your pivot.

One of the crucial ways you get power out of your core is by creating torque from your torso. It’s kind of like winding up a spring (your spine is the spring). The trouble is many golfers think they are winding up their torso, when in reality they are just turning their whole body during the back swing.

To visualize this, think of a bungee cord going from your right shoulder to your left knee. If you turn your shoulders the same amount as you turn your hips there won’t be much tension in that imaginary bungee cord. In other words there isn’t much torque in that swing.

If however you rotate your shoulders more than your hips you would be stretching that cord and storing a lot of torque and power in your golf swing.

Now don’t get me wrong your hips and knees will rotate to the right during the backswing. The key is that for a powerful swing your shoulders must rotate further.

The key to this simple golf bucket drill it that is makes you conscious of how you are winding up your torso and hips. You can see and feel it right away.

If the bucket is pointed in the same direction as your shoulders you know you haven’t created any torque in your golf swing. That’s what makes this golf drill so powerful. You don’t need anybody to watch your swing, and there is no guess work (even better it’s free).

So go out there and try this out.

For more great tips like this from PGA Golf Pro Marc Minier (He’s also received the Teacher of the Year Award 4 times) Click Here.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP

Unorthodox Golf Drill Cures One Sided Golfers

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Not only does this drill look really cool it can actually help improve your golf game in a big way. This golf drill allows you to train both sides of your body and your hand eye coordination at the same time.

It is similar to the one handed chip shot. The one handed chip shot forces you to use both sides of your body properly if you want to make a clean shot. It exposes weakness in your swing that your strong side may be compensating for.

The drill in the video above also exposes weaknesses in one side of your body or the other. Mastering this drill will not only amaze your buddies, it will also sharpen your golf skill tremendously. Your hands will be forced to get into the right position for impact every time you swing the golf club. Training with this drill will make proper wrist conditions (flat left wrist, bent right wrist) second nature.

This golf drill will also improve your hand eye coordination. Luckily the ball doesn’t move when we address it on the course, but your body is constantly moving during the golf swing. Although we don’t often think about this it requires a lot of hand eye coordination.

Developing good enough hand eye coordination to be able to hit the golf ball after turning and twisting our bodies in the back swing is something that we learn very quickly. However, developing the razor sharp hand eye coordination that will allow you to hit the right spot on the golf ball every swing, regardless of course conditions, is something that many golfers never achieve.

This is exactly the kind of drill that fine tunes your hand eye coordination taking your golf game to the next level, and like I said above it educates your hands at the same time.

So go out there and try this drill. If you can get half as good as Bill McKinney at this drill I guarantee that your ball striking skills will improve and your golf scores will start dropping.

If you want to get even more serious about dropping your golf scores and improving your swing check out Bill McKinney’s Natural Power DVD package.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP

P.S. Don’t forget to leave a reply in the comment section below. I’d love to hear what you guys think of the video and take any requests for future videos.

Golf Tip – Using Delayed Release To Hit Longer Drives

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As you saw in the video waiting as long as you can to release your lag angle (delayed release) will enable you to put much more power into your golf swing.

The key is where and how you release this lag angle. By waiting till the last minute you prevent yourself from “casting” and wasting that power. The other key is that you must release that energy down into the ball, not forward down the fairway.

If you try to release your lag angle forward you will end up with improper wrist conditions at impact (and lose all your power).

Pay close attention to Marc’s wrists in the video. Although he is dumping that lag angle right at impact he still maintains a flat left wrist and bent right wrist at impact. This is the most crucial part of the swing.

If you are not able to keep your left wrist flat at impact all that energy you stored by keeping that lag angle will be worthless.

The other thing to note is how you get the club face square when you maintain this lag angle until impact. All it takes is a simple turning of your left wrist.

Getting the club face square does not require you to roll your arms over one another. This is one of the most common mistakes that results in a bent left wrist at impact. Instead you simply rotate or twist your left wrist right before impact.

This little twist motion is so quick that it allows you to square the golf club face at the last moment, enabling you to keep that powerful lag angle until you deliver that power into the golf ball (the moment of truth).

Just remember to keep that lag angle till the last moment then dump all that energy down into the back of the ball.

For more instruction from Marc Minier Click Here.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP

How To Load Your Wrists For Longer Drives

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This week’s video tip is short but sweet. Check it out…

When it comes to loading your wrists the biggest mistake golfers make is to start loading from the start of their back swing. This is a big mistake. This will prevent you from using your core as your swing engine and cause all sorts of consistency problems in your golf swing.

As Nick says in the video you need to have a one-piece take away. That means you start the back swing with your hips, torso, and shoulders; never with your hands.

When your hands are level with your belly button or a little higher you can start loading those wrists.

Just remember that you need to have a flat left wrist and a bent right wrist at impact to deliver maximum power to the ball and hit long consistent drives.

Loading your wrists allows you to create a more powerful golf swing. It is important to keep this power stored (with a flat left wrist) until you deliver it into the ball at impact. Remember proper wrist conditions at impact are the key to consistent ball striking.

Proper wrist loading is just one part of a natural swing sequence. As you can see in the video, Nick, who is not a large guy (he’s about 150 pounds) utilizes great technique and proper swing sequencing to consistently drive the ball 300 yards.

His close attention to technique allows him to use his body effectively and out drive guys who are much taller and stronger.

If you watch the video you will notice that his swing doesn’t even look that fast, yet he can seriously crush the ball. That’s because he is able to store tons of power in his back swing and he doesn’t release that power until impact.

Bottom line…there is no substitute for proper form and knowing when to load your wrist is a big part of this. Now go grab your driver and try this out.

For more driver distance secrets Click Here.

For Better Golf
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP Golf

Simple Golf Workstation Drill For Longer, Straighter Drives

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As you can see in the video this “work station” that you can easily set up on the driving range can help you fix several problems and get you hitting longer, straighter drives.

The best part is you only need two spare clubs and a handful of golf balls.

The first step is to lay a club between your stance pointing at the ball and perpendicular to your target. This lets you to easily glance down and see where the ball is in your stance (forward, back, or center).

Next lay a club parallel to your target line and about 6 inches away from the ball. This makes it much easier to see your target line while you are looking down.

Place a few golf balls along your target line downrange. Place the first ball 2 feet in front of the ball you are going to hit. Place the next ball 2 feet from that one, and so on.

The final step is to place a few golf balls behind you, along your swing path. The first one should be about 3 feet behind you along your swing path. The next 2 a few more feet back along your swing path.

The video shows pretty clearly what the swing path should look like. Your current swing path may not look like this (even if you think it does) so give this drill a shot. This workstation is designed to make it easy to visually check and make sure your golf swing is following the correct path.

As Bill describes in the video the first ball that is placed behind the golf ball you are hitting teaches you to have a low take away. The phrase low and away is a great way to remind yourself of this.

The back of your club should tap that ball out of the way as you take the golf club back to the top of your back swing. A low take way forces you to use your core and pivot to start your back swing (one of the keys to great golf). To practice this you can even let your club drag on the ground a bit in the take away.

This drill helps you on your down swing too. The balls placed along your swing path will help you see if you are coming over the top (swinging from outside to inside) or laying off (an exaggerated inside out swing).

For another one of Bill McKinney’s free golf instruction videos click here. Be sure to come back next week for another great video tip.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP Golf

How Disappearing Hands Can Fix Your Golf Swing

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Hey Fellow Golf Nut,

Doc here with one of the simplest ways to see if you are swinging “on plane.”

Swinging on plane will make all your shots more powerful and consistent. It will make your pitch shots deadly accurate and your drives long and straight.

On the other hand, swinging off plane will make your golf shots erratic and weak. You will be forced to play the kind of “army golf” that you swear is just for those other duffers on the course.

Often times the biggest difficulty amateur golfers have is simply knowing whether or not they are swinging on plane (and if they aren’t how to fix it). The golf swing happens so fast that it can be nearly impossible for anyone but a professional golfer to recognize the slightest of mistakes that are robbing power and accuracy.

This is where PGA Pro Bill McKinney’s “disappearing hands” trick comes into play.

In the following video Bill McKinney is going to show you how to make sure your hands are “disappearing” after contact with the golf ball. Your hand position, during and after impact with the ball, is a great indicator of whether your swing is on plane or not.

Okay I know this sounds a little strange but if you watch the video I promise it will make perfect sense.

The best part about this trick is that you don’t need a pro watching your swing to see what you are doing wrong. You can have one of your golfing buddies or even some guy at the range (he’ll be delighted to learn this trick too) simply stand behind you and watch.

It’s so simple a 5 year old could do it. Check out the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snn4sMMFWOs

It’s really that simple. This is a great way to fix your golf swing quickly and easily.

Stay tuned to my blog for more simple tips on how to start hitting longer and straighter golf shots.

For better Golf,

Doc O’Leary

Head Golf Nut, OHP

How Mr. Hogan Was Wrong

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Dear Fellow Golf Nut,

Doc here with a short video showing you a simple drill, originally designed by the great Ben Hogan now recreated by golf Pro Bill McKinney, that will put massive power behind your golf swing.

Ben Hogan was one of the greatest golfers ever…but…he did make one big mistake in the way he taught people how to play better golf.

Mr. Hogan created a training drill using a heavy ‘medicine ball’ (the kind you see in the gym). In this drill he compared using your pivot to throw the ball down the fairway to a golf swing.

PGA Pro Bill McKinney has taken that drill to the next level. See he understands that, YES, your core is the source of your power…but…you should be delivering that power ‘down plane’ into the ball not in a sweeping motion down the fairway. In the video above you can see that McKinney is using his core pivot to drive the medicine ball down into the golf ball on the tee.

This is much more like a golf swing, where you transfer your power and energy into the ball not down the fairway with a horizontal tossing motion like Mr. Hogan’s original drill.

Why am I telling you about this? Well many high handicap golfers suffer from something pro’s call ‘false speed,’ which is essentially a misunderstanding about where power is developed and where it should be delivered.

‘False Speed’ is the speed you develop by mainly swing with your arms, or speed you never actually put into the ball. For example some guys seem to have a wicked fast swing but can’t figure out why their drives are still lacking. The real problem is that they are developing much of this false speed from their arms that is wasted in their follow-through after impact. It’s kind of like the difference between slapping a guy in the face and stepping into him with a punch. Only one is going to knock the guy back. Just like the slap ‘false speed in your golf swing looks fast but doesn’t pack the punch.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not what Mr. Hogan was doing. He put the power into the golf ball (if he didn’t we wouldn’t still be talking about his incredible ball striking abilities 40 years after he retired). But… many guys have misunderstood him.

Allow me to straighten this out. Power is created by using your core, stored in your lag, and then delivered ‘down plane’ to the ball at impact. This power must be created and stored before contact. And remember swinging fast with your arms simply doesn’t send the ball anywhere. Learning how to do this is the REAL secret to putting power into your golf shots.

Go try this drill and let me know what you think. When you get a club in your hands after doing this a couple of times, I think you will be impressed with the results.

For more from PGA Golf Pro Bill McKinney Click Here.

For Better Golf,

Doc O’Leary

Head Golf Nut, OHP