Tee Peg Drill for Better Ball Striking

This week I wanted to give you a drill or practice exercise to help integrate the downswing ideas of the previous couple of blogs.  Many of you have e mailed asking for a drill to use at the range to improve your ball striking consistency and we have had many questions about topping or thinning the ball.  This video gives you swing thoughts and feelings as well as a drill for the range that will improve both of these areas.

The tee peg video is one of the best ways I know to improve your ball striking in a short space of time.  Many golfers are unaware that to hit the ball into the air you MUST strike it with a DOWNWARD blow.  This applies anytime the ball is on the ground (the only exceptions to this rule are Driving and Putting).  By focusing on hitting the tee peg you must automatically move the club handle first, pulling it towards the ball in the downswing.  This pulling motion not only creates the ideal angle of attack but it also increases the club speed and that means more distance with less effort.

Start with the tee peg at a comfortable height and use a mid-iron (6 or 7 iron).  Every shot should focus on striking the tee peg not the ball.  As you get more confident lower the tee peg to increase the difficulty and gradually mix in some shots from the ground.  With the correct downswing movement you will see a big improvement in your ball striking.

Our competition winners are now halfway through their winter coaching programs.  It has been great working with them and they have both made significant improvements.  The main reason for the speed of the improvement is that they both arrived with great set-ups, especially their posture and alignment at address.  Without these 2 elements it is almost impossible to improve your game. 

The first sessions involved working at backswing elements, understanding why they hit certain shots and which parts of the swing are responsible.  Keith has significantly improved the plane of his backswing allowing us to concentrate on returning the club online at impact.  His goal is more accuracy, particularly in the short game.  Julia has improved her body action in the backswing, allowing her to shorten her backswing and is now starting to produce much more power with less effort.  We have also spent time working at her pitching, developing a technique which not only strikes the ball more consistently but allows her to control the distance accurately.

We will hear their thoughts when their program finishes in January.

Please e mail questions and comments on this video to academy@howdididomedia.com

Your input is a crucial part of the Academy.

In the New Year we will be announcing some exciting developments for the Academy in 2013; including a number of events you can attend to improve your game.  We also have new coaches sharing their ideas in the areas of fitness, putting and equipment.