5 Best Ball Striking Drills

Take your game to the next level with these game-changing 5 ball striking drills from Top 50 Coach Ged Walters. He'll show you how to master the ideal angle of attack to hit crisper, sweeter iron shots. 

1 Bag drill

This is one for those golfers who suffer with hanging backing through impact which will typically lead to thin and fat strikes. Rest your trail foot on top of your golf bag. Make sure that you flex your lead knee more than normal, as it’s pretty much taking all the weight (the video with this article shows exactly how it is done). 

This is getting you used to the feeling of what it’s like to have the pressure forward through impact, and it’ll encourage a downward angle of attack. Just take some half swings. You’ll struggle to hit the ground first if you try this drill; it’s really effective for getting the weight moving towards the target, so the club hits the ball before the ground. 

2 Line drill

This drill encourages you to get into the right positions and execute that perfect strike – ball first, then turf. Score a line in the ground (I’ve used a tee), then take some practice swings. Focus on brushing the line. What’s great about this drill is that it provides you with instant feedback about your weight distribution in the golf swing. If you take a practice swing and hit the wrong side of the line – typically behind it – you’ll get a very good idea of what you’ve done wrong – swaying back, perhaps? By keeping your pressure moving forwards, you’ll hit the ground in front of the line. With the perfect contact, the divot will start approximately an inch after the line. 

3 Hit and stop drill

What I love about this drill is that it helps the body to organise itself a little bit more naturally. Take out a 9-iron, and set up with a touch more pressure into your lead foot. Keep the pressure there and make a nice controlled swing. The really crucial part is to stop as quickly as you can beyond impact. Start with half swings and make a comfortable speed swing before cranking it up. 

You’ll start to appreciate how your weight moves forward, how your pelvis tucks underneath your torso, and the extension through the legs, pelvis and spine; it really helps you to understand how the body should move during the golf swing. 

4 Swing plane drill

This is worth trying if you’re someone who’s looking to rein in a big draw or fade. All great ball strikers have a fairly neutral swing direction – so nothing excessive, such as ten degrees right or left, which is what I’ll often see with amateurs. If you’re someone who tends to slice, you’re most likely cutting across the ball. 

Practice the opposite – so turn the sticks out to the right (approximately 40 degrees). Vice versa, if you tend to hook the ball – turn the sticks to the left to encourage a feeling as though you were coming across the ball a little more. The picture you should have in your head is to swing the club down between the sticks. 

5 Tee peg drill

This drill is all about controlling the low point in the arc of your swing. Start by teeing up a ball, and then try to clip it away cleanly. Once you've successfully done this, put another tee about a clubhead’s width behind at the same height. Your objective is to miss the rear tee and clip the ball cleanly off the other one. For the final part of the drill, put a third tee a clubhead’s width in front at the same height. Now the aim is to miss the rear tee, clip the ball off the middle one, and hit the front tee - the video with this article shows exactly how it's done.

This drill encourages a downward angle of attack and gets your body moving in the right direction. This drill also helps you to adjust to different lies on the course, which we don’t tend to come across on mats at the range.