The Most Important Practice You Can Do Leading Into Spring

You've played golf throughout the winter which is great! Keeping your swing moving is always good and will always give you a head start when you get out to the course in spring for that first round of golf outside. The big thing you missing is right under your nose while you're playing that very few people are working on, yet it's the most important part of golf when you're actually outside thinking about your score!

When was the last time you tried to hit an iron shot 30 yards shorter than your "Full Swing"? Never?

How many times on the golf course do you get a perfect "Full Swing" yardage? "Never?

So if we take that into consideration, why do golfers only focus on full swings? Seems odd doesn't it?

Here's what You need to be practicing to play your best this summer:

OFF SPEED SHOTS

Try to hit that 8 iron 100 yards. Why? Because you may have too during your round of golf or you may just get a better feel for taking a few yards off a club instead of trying to rip a wedge as hard as you can. I'm not advocating for swing slow... that's not it. Hit the ball hard with driver and most things. When it comes to controlling a golf ball, the best players in the game are fantastic at controlling distance and that's what you're working on. What you'll find is number 1... it's hard! You'll struggle! You most likely rely on your hands to do all the work in your golf swing and don't rotate your body. To hit a half or 3/4 shot, you need more body control. So practice those off speed shots and watch your ball striking improve! You're going to hit a lot of shitty shots before you get it though and thats OK! That's practice!

WEDGE LADDERS

You should be using the technology at your disposal and working on your wedge game to control distance. Start at 40 yards, then add 10 yards for each shot. Give yourself 1 or 2 swings from each yardage at first to see where you're good and where you stink. Then work from there.

Right now my coaching program students are working on wedge ladders starting at 40 and working out to 120. Two balls from each yardage. That's 18 golf shots. This will help your game more than you could ever imagine as you move from being a "Feel player" to someone who actually knows their yardages. That's some series skill development.

When you're at an indoor facility you get these distance numbers in front of you so you can work on the skill development. If you're outside without a way to measure the distance you're just guessing and won't know. Use the simulators to KNOW what distance the ball is flying. Learn what each distance feels like for your individual swing and you'll be a better golfer when it comes to the outdoor game! Use the technology at your disposal!

So what am I preaching here? Speed control. Working on controlling speed with your golf clubs instead of only focusing on that perfect 'Full Swing". Those who control speed are the players we all want to be like.

Get after it!