So you’ve been scouring the internet for answers to improving your downswing.
There is a misconception that the moment of impact is the alpha and omega of your golf swing.
This is not true, as it is the way the club moves down which determines the quality of your shot. This guide focuses on effective drills that will let you master your downswing.
First things First
Before we even dive into those useful drills, let’s focus on the most important part of your downswing- transferring your weight correctly.
At address, make sure that your weight is evenly distributed with your feet.
Throughout your backswing your weight has to be moved towards your back and right foot while twisting your shoulders over your hips.
When you have done that, move your weight towards your front foot as this will help you push loads of power onto the golf ball.
The Drills
The first few drills in our guide will help you transfer your weight much smoother. We will focus on ensuring that your weight transfer goes in the right direction, instead of moving all the way left- aka the reverse pivot error.
Anti-Reverse Pivot Drill
The journey from your backswing straight to your downswing is one of the building blocks of a flawless golf swing. This will be the only time throughout your swing where the club changes direction.
As we said previously. Many golfers cannot shift their body weight correctly from right to left.
The main culprit here is what we know as the dreaded reverse pivot. This happens when your body weight moves more left during the backswing, split seconds before you start the downswing.
Luckily, there is an easy drill you can practice to prevent this.
- Get into your usual stance using your driver and tee up the ball.
- The main focus of this drill is to look at the position of your feet. Hold your right foot in its usual spot, but now position your left foot right beside it. Hold your clubhead behind the ball as you normally would.
- Start your backswing, but before you get to the top of your swing, move your left foot back to where it was positioned originally.
- Now you can go through with your downswing. Pay attention to how you will have no choice but to adjust your weight from right to left.
This easy drill will help remedy the dilemma of adjusting your weight in the downswing.
Lifting Your Right Heel
Now here’s yet another effective drill intended to expand the movement of your downswing. Here we will also look closely at shifting your weight.
Previously we covered fixing your feet positioning throughout your swing.
One more common cause for a golf player’s weight-shifting botch is the excessive use of the arms and hands. Remember that the correct weight-shift has to start from the hips.
The next stress-free drill has been carefully aimed to solve this issue.
After you have followed through with this drill, we guarantee you will know how to use your hips correctly as you make your way to the downswing.
Here’s how you do it:
- Get into position with your driver. You can practice this drill at home and if space is limited you don’t need to use a ball. Then again it would be best to find a wide-open area where you can use a ball.
- Start your backswing. Lift your right heel when you reach the top of your backswing more than you normally do.
- Now for the secret behind this; your right heel will usually lift up while you make your way to the downswing. In this case, we intensify the movement in your heel, so try to lift up your right heel a tad higher than you would ordinally.
- Try to lift your heel up to the point where you noticed that it has lifted off from the surface.
- You may now execute the downswing
Most of your attention throughout this drill has to be on your right heel. The main reason for this is to help you progress in your hip movement as you change over to the downswing.
By intensifying movement on your heel, you can now add some extra weight when moving from right to left. The motion of your hips can also improve a whole lot with this drill.
Golf Meets Baseball
Here we will be taking you out to the ball game and look at swings.
One of the biggest culprits of a bad golf swing, is because of improper weight adjustment from the right side of your body to the left.
You might wonder where the baseball part comes in, let’s look at the steps.
- Take the club that you have the most trouble swinging with and get into your normal stance.
- As you initiate the backswing, lift your left leg, the same way a baseball pitcher would when throwing the ball.
- When you are in your backswing position, plant your foot back on the ground, and start the downswing
- As usual, start slow, and pick up speed once you are comfortable with the drill
Even though this hybrid drill can improve your downswing, it also fixes the right form during your backswing, transition, and downswing.
The aim of this drill is to keep a good stance while lifting your foot. Yes, it will feel a little odd and uncomfortable to do in the beginning, but it will become natural with enough practice.
Refining Your Shift to The Downswing
One more drill to advance your downswing transition.
Whereas the previous drills focused on adjusting your weight accordingly we will now have a look at how you should be hitting the ball correctly throughout the downswing.
This drill is ideal if you are in the habit of slicing the ball. On closer inspection this could be because you have too much inward motion in your downswing.
Perhaps your problem might be the complete opposite and you have more outward movements in your downswing which results in some nasty hook shots.
Try this nifty drill:
- Place your tee peg in the hole located on top of the grip of your club. Any length will do, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of your swing.
- Mark down a straight line behind the ball as you tee it up.
When marking your line, just check with the course’s management
what spray or chalk you are allowed to use. If you are using this
drill indoors, you could use white tape or chalk. You can use white
tape if you are trying this indoor
- Perform your backswing, but hold still when you get to the top of the swing
- Focus on the tee peg; While you move towards the downswing, aim the tee peg on the line you’ve marked.
- This will require some practice sessions so do it slowly. You can increase your swinging speed as you become a bit more use to this drill.
It sometimes happens that golfers experience some trouble with their aim because they aren’t practicing this enough. This drill has been thought out explicitly to focus on your aim, if you practice this regularly you will see your aim improve within a few weeks.
Avoid Swinging Over-the-Top
In our final drill for improving your downswing, we look at swinging over the top. This is a terrible mistake that happens when the club spins away from a golfer at the top of the swing. Also, the player’s hands move towards the front of the golfer which leads towards an outside-in swing.
The Drill:
- Hold your golf club with your left hand, as you would, at the top of the grip.
- Now, slide your right hand down until it holds the club on the shaft, underneath the grip.
- Do some practice swings with your hands in this position.
- Pay attention to how your right elbow moves after you reach the top of your swing.
- In an over-the-top swing your right elbow will have a tendency to distance itself from your body. This means that it will also move your hands and club away from your body in front of you.
- Concentrate on dropping your right elbow straight down to the right side of your hips. This should be the first movement you make at the top of your swing before going to the downswing.
This drill should help hook your hands and club. It will also help protect you from the pesky over-the-top swing that you are trying to dispose of.
Conclusion
Many hopeful newbies have more than one problem when it comes to their downswing. In many instances, it is the inability to accomplish a suitable weight-shift throughout the downswing.
The few simple drills we have discussed are easy to practice with more than one benefit in mind. There is no need for extra gadgets or fancy new equipment either. With these convenient drills, you will be able to
advance your downswing very soon.
