Beginner golf swing drills

The situation

You go to the range, hit forty balls with forty different thoughts, and leave less sure than you came. That is normal. Many beginners try to fix everything at once.

Drills work because they shrink the swing to one job. Each one below has a single thing to feel and an easy way to tell if it worked.

Taking these drills to the range? The driving range tips for beginners page has a simple plan for a small bucket.

The fix

1. 01
   Feet together Stand with your feet almost touching and hit easy half swings with a 7-iron or 9-iron. If you sway, you lose balance, so the drill teaches you to turn rather than slide. Finish each swing balanced and hold it for a count of two.
2. 02
   Half swings, nine to three Swing back until your lead arm is roughly level with the ground, then through until your trail arm is level. Short swings make solid contact easier to learn, and contact comes before distance. The swing note has the basics.
3. 03
   The brush drill With no ball, swing and brush the grass, or the mat, just in front of where the ball would be. Then put a ball down and try to brush the same spot. If you brush behind the ball, see the fat shot note; if you miss the ground, see topped.
4. 04
   A pause at the top Swing back, stop for a moment at the top, then swing through. The pause can stop the rushed start down that sends the ball anywhere. The tempo note uses a count to do the same job.
5. 05
   A club on the ground for aim Keep the alignment club down for every drill. Set your feet parallel to it. Many shots that look like swing faults are aim faults, and the setup note is the place to check.

Beginner golf swing drills: a four-week order

How long before a drill works?

Give each drill at least two or three sessions before you judge it. The first bucket usually feels worse, because you are thinking about a new movement instead of hitting the ball. The sign that a drill is working is not distance: it is a more consistent strike and a finish you can hold. When ten balls in a row pass the drill's goal, move to the next one, and come back to the old drill whenever that fault returns.