Josh’s Tips & Tricks: Strike it pure EVERY time

Welcome

Hello Windmill golfers, welcome to this weeks tips & tricks. This week I’m going to help you strike your irons and wedges pure every time. I’m going to show you a classic drill but with some additions to help you understand why you don’t strike your irons and wedges crisp every time. 

Towel Drill

You’re going to practice setting up with a towel a few inches behind the ball to start and then two alignment sticks either side of the clubhead. 

The towel behind the ball will encourage you to strike the ball first and the ground after. I see lots of people who try to help the ball in the air by scooping the club under the ball, consiquently hitting the ground first or topping it / thinning it. In this case you will hit the towel before the ball or miss the ground completely. 

The alignment sticks will help find a centred contact from heel to toe. These will give you feedback if you hit either of them meaning you have struck the toe or heel of the club and can also suggest the path of the clubhead. 

Top tip: Don’t use your golf clubs for this! 

Pure Strike

This first video shows a centred strike that misses the towel and the sticks. This leads to a well struck wedge with plenty of compression and spin because the ball struck the middle of the clubface. 

Towel First (Ground First) Strike 

This video shows an example of hitting the towel first before the ball. This will lead to fat and thin shots and plenty of frustration on the golf course. Lots of people try to help the ball in the air when they don’t need to, the loft on the club does it for you. 

Swing From The Inside

This video shows an example of hitting the stick closest to the body before getting to the ball. This suggests an inside path and again a likely example of hitting the ground before the ball or thinning it. Hitting the stick closest to the body can also be from a toe strike meaning the club has simply moved closer to the body through impact. 

Swing From The Outside (Over the top)

This video shows an example of hitting the stick closest to the body after the ball. This is the most common path and I see it on a daily basis. This can be one of the main causes of the dreaded shank but can be quite simply fixed using this drill. If you hit the stick furthest from the body before the ball that also suggests an out to in path and the clubhead moving further away from the body at impact. 

Conclusion

Without trying to change anything technically, try to understand and teach you body how to miss the obstacles every time. When you can do this the chances of hitting a well struck wedge or iron shot will be much higher. 

If any of this interests you and you would like to get an understanding of your own swing faults you know where I am. Get yourself booked in for a lesson now and we can breakdown the errors before the summer really gets going. 

See you soon, 

Josh