Eliminate Heavy Strikes With A Pair Of Practical Drills (One Inspired By Ludvig Aberg)

Sometimes the best lessons are the most relatable - and this will resonate with many mid- and high-handicap golfers.

Mace Bothroyd, a 20-handicapper, recently visited Top 50 Coach Trey Niven in a bid to shoot lower scores and cut his handicap in 2026 - and he did not come away disappointed.

Like many amateurs, Mace struggles with consistency of strike - which stems from the low point.

In this video and article, Trey shares his best tips and two great drills to help Mace, and all other amateur golfers, to find a centred strike more often...

Eliminate Heavy Strikes With A Pair Of Practical Drills

THE PROBLEM

While Mace was able to hit some very nice shots, it became clear that inconsistency of strike was an area for improvement.

Mace was struggling with a heavy contact, costing him distance, and a two-way miss that made it hard to play strategically on the course.

Interestingly, everything looked great at set-up, but there was a clear issue with the movement of Mace's lead shoulder in his swing.

Going back, the lead shoulder moved away from the target, towards the trail side, which shifts the low point and causes fats.

The position of the lead shoulder is important. It dictates the low point and should return to the position seen at address, or slightly past it, at impact.

As Mace was shifting his lead shoulder backwards, he was never returning to that position, leading to inconsistency.

He was also overflexing his knees, sinking him into the ground and shifting the low point further, and was a little steep in the downswing, another factor that can lead to heavy contact.

TREY'S SOLUTION

By restricting knee flex in the backswing, and feeling taller over the ball, Mace instantly felt more stable.

As he started down, I encouraged him to feel like his lead arm stayed in contact with the chest for longer to prevent a steep, over-the-top action, and also to bump his hips towards the target to ensure his lead shoulder ‘covered' the lead foot, with the low point just past the ball at impact.

Within five balls, clubface, swing plane and strike had improved markedly.

I then gave him two great drills to work on. The first is the ‘Ludvig' drill, named after the Swede, in which you place your lead hand on the grip normally, with the trail hand open and flat.

Halfway back, when the club is parallel to the ground, the trail hand should point straight behind you and the trail arm should feel like it's pushing the club away to create width. A wrong position would mean no pressure from the trail hand.

The second one is the step drill. Start with feet together and the lead foot next to the normal trail foot position.

Halfway through the backswing, step towards the target with your lead foot to promote the lead shoulder covering the lead foot and thus ensure the low point is past the ball.