Make Cleaner Contact – 3 Drills to Help Improve Your Ball Striking

In golf, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of clean contact.

When you strike the ball properly, you know it immediately – it feels great off the club, and you look up expecting to see the ball sailing toward your target.

It’s a beautiful thing, to say the least.

Of course, for most of us, those moments are too few and far between. It’s hard to make clean contact, and it can seem like you will go for long stretches without hitting any of your shots particularly solid.

So, is there any hope for improved consistency and better ball striking?

Yes, there is hope, and the three drills we have highlighted below should point you in the right direction.

Make no mistake – there is plenty of hard work ahead if you are going to get better, but give these drills a try and hopefully you’ll get on track sooner rather than later.

Drill #1 – Up on a Toe

One of the biggest issues average golfers face when trying to strike the ball cleaning is losing their balance. When you start to get your body out of position during the swing, there is very little you can do to recover – and a poor strike is the likely outcome.

With this drill, you are going to make some modified swings to get a better feeling for where your body should be at the moment of impact. You won’t be able to hit full-power shots with this drill, but it should help to improve your body control so you can become more consistent when you go back to your regular swing.

1. To get started, choose a mid- or short-iron and find a place to make some swings. If you are at the range, you can even hit some balls with this drill, but don’t expect those shots to travel very far.
2. Take your stance as you normally would, based on the club you are holding. Then, before starting your swing, move your back foot so it is resting on the toe of your shoe, rather than flat on the ground. For a right-handed golfer, that means moving the right foot up onto its toes, and your weight is naturally going to shift a little bit to the left.
3. With this modified stance set, go ahead and make a swing. Your backswing is going to be restricted because of your back foot’s position, but that’s okay. Turn as far back as you can comfortably, and then make your forward swing. Feel free to repeat the drill as many times as you would like.

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What you should find while performing this drill is that your swing path is naturally moving down through the hitting area. That’s because it is difficult – if not impossible – for your weight to lean away from the target while the back foot is up on its toes.

When you go back to hitting shots with a normal swing, remember this sensation and try to stay balanced all the way through the swing and strike.

Drill #2 – Feet Together

You’ll notice the theme of balance coming up over and over again in this article. That’s no surprise, as balance is directly tied to the quality of your ball striking.

With this drill, we are going to again modify your stance, but this time we’ll do so by putting your feet close together at address. You can use the same club you used for the last drill, and again you shouldn’t expect to hit the ball very far.

With your feet very close together, make a swing while focusing on striking the ball as cleanly as possible. You aren’t thinking about power – you are just trying to achieve a solid strike.

Since you don’t have much support from your lower body while your feet are close together, you’ll have to pay attention to your upper body rotation and keep it as centered and controlled as possible. If you are used to making compensations with your balance to get the club into the right position for a clean hit, those compensations are going to be highlighted with this drill.

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Any potential sway or other balance issues in your golf swing will be quickly revealed with this drill as keeping your balance is much more difficult with your feet positioned together.

Just as with the first drill, the idea here is to go back to your normal swing while remembering how it felt to swing with your feet together. With any luck, this drill will encourage you to quiet down some of your body movements and keep your swinging action as simple as possible.

Drill #3 – Left-Handed Chipping

Okay – so this isn’t a full swing drill at all. However, there is a lot to be gained by simply feeling what it is like to catch the ball cleanly, and a left-handed chipping drill is a great way to do just that.

When we say left-handed, we mean a right-handed golfer using only his or her left hand to hit practice chips. If you play golf left-handed, this would be a right-handed chipping drill for you.

This drill can be performed at the chipping area of your local course, or even in your own backyard if you don’t mind a few divots. Use your favorite wedge and grip down slightly on the club while holding on with just your lead hand. Then, the job is simple – hit some chip shots.

Most likely, this is going to be a struggle at first. With practice, you’ll learn that you need to keep your lead wrist firm and flat at impact to get the kind of strike you hope to achieve.

That same firm and flat lead wrist is as important in the full swing as it is when you are chipping.

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As you start to find success with this drill, make your way back to the driving range and try to hit longer and longer shots by adding your other hand to the club while still paying attention to your lead wrist.

Improving the way that lead wrist performs through impact will go a long way toward making you a better ball striker.