How To Get Back In Control Of Your Golf Swing

If you're currently struggling with your golf swing, losing control, hitting it offline, with poor consistency of strike, then this short blog is going to help. 

My hope for you in writing this, is that you'll be able to improve your understanding of what's happening to cause a bad shot, AND put you on the path to help gaining back some control of your direction, and ball striking. 

Let's rip in to it!

When you're losing control of your golf swing, the first thing I would suggest is to look at the way you are practicing. Most golfers tend to practice at the driving ranges hitting predominantly full swings at full speeds. 

Hitting full shots at full speeds might not the best way to understand what might be going wrong.

One of the best drills you can do when you feel like you're losing control of your golf swing is to SLOW THINGS DOWN, by doing some half swing drills. That can mean simply hitting shots swinging to hip height on the backswing, through to hip height on the followthrough. 

That is going to slow things down, and give you a better awareness of what might be happening at impact with regards to the club face angle, ground contact (low point control), and strike location on the clubface.

When you look at the best players in the world, what you'll see is some very unique styles of swings, but what remains fairly similar (relative to the shot they are trying to hit), is what's happening just before, and after impact.

It's well known that the angle the club face is pointing at the moment of impact, has the biggest influence on the starting direction of the golf ball. So, this seems like a great place to start.

The first thing to understand is the golf swing moves in an arc (or on a circle). A lot of everyday golfers that I see, tend to swing the club down the target line in an effort to hit the ball straight. They "swing straight, to hit it straight", if you will. This is a poor concept that leads to a host of club face control issues.

Start by making some half swings where the club works on an arc, in and around on the backswing, and in and around on the through swing, and just note how well you're able to get your club face square, or pointing toward the target at the moment of impact. 

Because you're swinging much slower, you'll have a much better awareness of whats happening with your club path, and your club face.  If you then find yourself hitting these short shots left and right, with no consistency, then I would suggest moving on to the next stage of this drill.

When it come's to club face control, it's great to also note, that we're not always trying to hit straight shots. It's great to know how to start the ball in different directions for certain situations you might find yourself in on the golf course. However, the main reason I love practicing doing it "wrong", to get it right, is this; When it is going wrong on the golf course, you need to have an understanding, or at least the basic skills to change the presentation of your club face.

Assuming you have a functional grip, the only other way to control the club face through the golf swing is by using the hands/forearms.

I'd recommend hitting half swing shots from a normal set up, with a normal grip and try presenting the face a little more open at impact for a few shots and purposely hit them offline. After a dozen or so shots with an open face, try the same drill, but this time explore your ability to present the club face closed at impact. Golfers practicing next to you may think that you're having a terrible practice session as they watch your balls fly in all sort of directions, but what you are developing here with your skills, is far more important than what the person in the next bay to you thinks!

Finally, come back to neutral and try to hit a few shots starting at your target.

If you're struggling with fat or thin shots then it's important to get back on top of this all important skill, particularly when it comes to the irons. Please see my recent blog on HOW TO STOP HITTING FAT OR THIN GOLF SHOTS.

Again, practicing at full speeds can make it more challenging to understand where you are contacting the ground, and there may be compensatory moves in the full swing that can help create these low point issues.

Just as with the club face control drill, go slow with some half swings here, too. When making the half swings, try to get a feel of where your weight needs to be moving in order to get the low point of the club AFTER the ball (with the irons). A good feedback tool when practicing this, could simply be to place your golf towel flat on the ground approximately 8 inches behind the ball, and hit some shots. Your goal is to miss the towel. If you hit it, then chances are you would be hitting the ground before the ball. If you don't have a towel, you can use your head cover.

Try this drill, and watch your strike improve. Often times, players making half swings will hit shots further than some of their full swings, just because they are starting to strike it much better!

Last, and by no means least, is how to get back in control of where you are striking the ball on the club face. This is SO IMPORTANT, as this can also have a huge effect on direction AND distance. See another recent blog for even more on this topic THE THREE KEYS TO CONSISTENT GOLF.

With better awareness, comes better decisions. With better decisions, comes better results. And with better results, comes lower scores!

To increase your awareness of strike location you will need some kind of hitting tape, or strike spray. Pop some of this on the club face and start making some half swings. After each shot, take a look at the club face. Do you see a pattern?

If you're strike is very central and consistent, then great! However, if you notice a shots scattered all over the face, then it's clear this is an area to work on.

Just as with the club face control, you can practice doing it "wrong" to get it right, here, too. Practice some half swings trying to hit it out of the toe. Then practice some half swings trying to hit it more out of the heel. If you can develop this skill in practice then you're more likely to be able to make an adjustment on the golf course, when you may need to move the strike location one way or the other, following a poor strike.

In other areas of life, when things get stressful, what do we do (or what should we do?). Slow down, and breathe! That's what I am suggesting here for your golf. When your golf is getting stressful and you're losing control of your swing, go the practice range, slow things down, take a breathe, and REGAIN CONTROL with this ULTIMATE GOLF DRILL!

Now you're understanding more about where you might have been losing control, you can begin to add speed to your practice shots again, and you should notice some improvements. 
Imagine trying to improve these elements of the golf swing at full speed right away. Very difficult to do! Golf is a skill, and is no different to other skills, which need to be done slowly at first until the motion because more natural and repeatable. Give this is a try and let me know how you go! 

If you'd like to deep dive further and have me personally assess your game, REMOTELY or IN-PERSON, CLICK HERE to learn how we can work together and help you create lasting success in your game!

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Thanks again for checking out my latest blog, and I hope to connect with you soon!