How A Bucket Of Range Balls Can Improve Your Golf Swing (Without Hitting A Single One)
A surprising drill from his coach has got Rob Spedding thinking about his hips more than ever
Until my last lesson I’d assumed that the green baskets at the driving range had just one job – holding golf balls.
However Josh Mayo, my coach, clearly has a better imagination than me. What to me is simply a receptacle for 100 white spheres of guaranteed frustration is to Josh a superb training aid for golfers struggling with their swing.
There are still many issues for Josh to sort out with my golf, but something he has quickly identified as an issue is my movement - or lack of - throughout the golf swing sequence.
And, in particular, the issue is with my stiff old hips. Going through the transcript of my hour-long lesson, Josh mentioned them 33 times. Shakira I’m not, but clearly they aren’t lying...
The Golf Range Bucket Drill
So, what am I not doing? “Your primary issue is scooping or throwing the club with your arms,” explains Josh.
“This leads to inconsistent strikes and face angles - with a closed face being your most common issue.
"What you’re struggling to do at the moment is shifting your weight and rotating your hips through the ball.”
I’m making the common high-handicapper mistake of thinking that simply swinging my arms harder as the club face makes contact with the ball is what produces distance and direction.
My brain still hasn’t got used to the idea that the club and the rotation of my body should really be doing most of the work, not my arms.
Something that Josh told me very early on. “Your arms should simply follow your body's rotation, not initiate the power.”
And that’s where the bucket comes in. “It is a very simple exercise,” says Josh.
“Grab a bucket with some balls in it by the handle, stand as you would when addressing the ball and rotate backwards by pushing down into your right foot and pushing that hip backwards, and then rotate forwards with the weight in your left foot and ending with the bucket facing down the range.”
This bucket drill is something every single golfer can try at the range
“The important thing is that you’re using your hips to rotate and get the bucket moving, you’re not using your arms.
"The momentum of the bucket is dictated by where your torso is. You also need to engage your core and transfer your weight, meaning that your body and the bucket will be working together.”
It’s a pretty decent workout to be fair, but it does quickly illustrate to me what I should be doing when I swing the club.
Far too often my hips end in pretty much the same position as they start, with my finish still quite side on.
Swinging the bucket helps me get attuned to driving those old joints forwards so that my belt buckle ends facing down the range at the end of the sequence.
"The point of this is so that rather than trying to control an outcome like distance or direction, you’re controlling the input,” explains Josh.
“If you execute the movement correctly and improve your tempo, rhythm and body sequencing the physics of the swing will naturally produce consistent distance and direction."
Rob Spedding working with Coach Josh Mayo during a recent golf lesson
Of course, swinging a bucket back and forth isn’t the same as swinging a club. As Josh mentioned, "tempo is important".
So with the bucket down and the club in hand, he reminds me of something that a number of people have told me - but that I’ve tended to ignore as soon as I get on the course.
“Maintain a deliberate, smooth tempo where the backswing – which starts with the arms and shoulders – takes twice as long as the downswing,” he says.
“Count one, two on the backswing and then three on the downswing as those hips rotate to help prevent a snatchy transition.”
At the driving range and on the course, slowing myself down and then trying to implement my drill movements with a golf club is definitely starting to yield some improvement.
Of course, Josh and I still have plenty to work – swinging a bucket of balls isn’t the answer to my closed club face. But that’s for next time.
Location: Windmill Leisure
Joshua has been playing golf pretty much his entire life with his dad, Paul, being a former Amateur champion and Walker Cup player. He brings a holistic approach to coaching for all ages and abilities and he will use a combination of modern teaching methods as well as the traditional methods. Is an all-round sports fanatic.
