Best Ball Striking Drills for 0, 10, and 20 Handicaps

Learn highly effective drills for ball striking no matter your handicap! Each drills targets specific issues you’re likely to have depending on your skill.

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[Music]
kind of Gass it all right I’m here with
Dr linois we are talking about ball
striking drills to get better he is a
motor learning expert so he’s got a
unique take on this yeah so we’re going
to talk about 20 handicap drills 10
handicap drills and then zeros and it’s
going to vary based on your ability a
lot awesome let’s get into it all right
Luke 20 handicapper what do they need to
work on so first of all 20 handicappers
have bad golf swings so there’s
something we need to fix about their
golf swing but we’re going to keep it
fairly simple we’re going to talk about
path face and contact we’re going to
give a drill for low point and then some
awareness around that so first thing I
need you to do is Imagine we’re outside
cuz this is actually a good drill to do
with divots and actual dirt I’m going to
put a low Point down it’s a pretty
common drill but we’re just going to put
a little stripe on the ground we’re
going to put some golf balls here in the
game you have to do cordi is you have to
make sure make the divots after the line
okay okay so we’re using a seven iron
we’re going to make the divot in front
okay then we’re going to take a look at
the direction of that divot as well is
that divot pointed at your target should
it be pointed at the Target what goes on
there okay all right so we’re going to
hit
one there we go pretty good right in
front of it in your
experience the 20 Hy CER how well do
they do this drill they’re really spotty
with contact probably one out of three
maybe even every other shot is going to
is going to struggle with low point and
actually where the ball hit the club
hits the ground got it and you want the
ball the club to hit the ground
right at the point under the ball and
then the bottom of the arc should be 3
to 4 in in front so this is the point
where the bottom of the divot is and the
divot should be about this long got it
if you don’t have as much speed the
divots are a little smaller but
generally that’s the idea okay so I’m
going along here
um how do I get better at this yeah so
let’s say that you chunk one then we’re
going to exaggerate getting that low
Point more forward and I love a simple
feedback drill where if you chunk one
hit behind it you’ve got to do a
practice swing and
make that divot fly in front of the line
so you got a feedback drill along as
you’re going okay okay so you’re saying
hey don’t just hit the next one go ahead
and let’s do a practice thing and you do
a divot and you’re well in front so we
understand what that might feel like and
you might be exaggerating and feeling
like it’s four feet forward when really
it’s just an inch right y so that’s a
really important one for 20 handicaps is
to have a good low point this drill
helps a lot with that the other thing
you can look at with this drill would be
a little bit of your divot Direction
remember the divot goes uh after the
ball mhm so the divot is a tangent of
your Arc and it points left because you
should hit the ball relatively straight
so your divot should point a little bit
left of the target for a straight shot
little bit left Target yes I don’t think
most people think about that no but
you’ll see good players the divots
always Point left you go to PJ t or t
box they’re all left except for the
righties Y unless they’re hitting a
giant hook yep yep okay so we got low
Point control path control mhm what else
should our 20 so the other ones that we
have to watch would be face angle and
when we look at face angle we’re looking
at what’s our dispersion plot like let’s
say you’re looking at where the ball’s
going on a launch monitor we have a lot
more shots right or left we need to
correct that we don’t want to play with
the idea of missing all one way this
idea of one way Miss really won’t add up
to good scores so let’s say you’re
missing right you got to find a way to
close it that’s going to be a grip
change and or fuction or release but
some way to close the face for a
beginner I honestly don’t mind if you
just learn how to close the face a
little bit okay just set up learn how to
it right we’re working on Concepts now
as you get better I probably don’t
advise big like shut the face but s out
it’s fine give us the simplest hack if
somebody knows that they need to make a
swing change maybe they look at their
swing and they see that they do this
right what’s the way how should they
change that besides you know just trying
to feel like yeah I mean what I’m going
to do is I’m going to get grab a chili
whacker or a pool noodle put it in a
golf bag make sure their plane is
underneath it we call it a constraint
sled approach and if we put a constraint
in the way somebody going to change the
pattern really well and typically what
I’ll have them do is if they hit that
pool noodle then they have to do a
push-up changes the pattern much faster
okay yeah okay got it so we’re putting
something out there um if we have an
obvious change like that and then and I
sorry broke his hand perfect push-up
kidding all right so anyway so you’re
going to go around and then back in
there yep we almost got really close to
like one of those YouTube fails where
the other coach she didn’t hurt too okay
we’re save good for a 20 handicapper a
constraint is a good way to make a swing
change it really is here I’m at the rip
Academy we’ll have constraints chili
whackers noodles for everybody to make
sure that the path is where we want it
to be uh and then we can focus on low
Point uh and face angle all right so we
have our constraint yeah this looks hard
yeah so this is going to keep your
playing in a really tight range and it
should help you with your path as well
at the bottom okay and we know tour
players have a real tight tolerance of
where their swing comes in and where
their divid is at the bottom this helps
a lot with just that that guidance okay
so we’re going back I mean are we we’re
not taking like full Fast Swings with
this are we I mean you could start
slower again like if this is really
difficult go a little slower but um you
can go hard you’re skilled oh boy trust
you c
yeah you go no problem huh yeah I mean
this this is difficult right like yeah
we can tie that too take it
harder nice cool got it so you’re on
plane
so we’ve taken care of low Point we’ve
taken care of plane and path yep you got
face angle which could be a little bit
of the wrist or the grip Y and you’re
going to be much better I think my
biggest tip is if you’re a 20 handicap
and you’re trying to improve something
in your golf swing and you’re just out
here trying to do it just by trying to
feel it without any good feedback you’re
hurting yourself get some feedback get
something that is going to help you make
that change faster I think would be my
advice to 20 handicap I’ve seen 20
handicaps that they take a swing and
they literally think they look like
Tiger Woods and it’s like an octopus
falling out of a tree they have no idea
how it looks so we need feedback you
need video or something guidance yeah
cool all right next up we have the 10
handicap what do we want them to work on
yeah so we assume that we’ve got decent
mechanics and now we’re going to start
talking about skill practice and we’re
going to shape shots the idea of shaping
shots is controversial but I do think it
makes you a much more skilled player
because it’s hard it’s going to help you
learn how to hit the middle of face
because you’re adding a lot of moving
your setup around anytime we change your
setup you get better actually learning
how to hit the middle of the face even
though it’s hard uh and it’s useful on
the golf course especially in trouble
situations and you can fix your swing
better if you understand the mechanics
exactly not enough people have awareness
of what things feel like I don’t think
that’s true I think you should
experiment and become aware of what like
hitting a draw feels like if you’re
strictly a you know fade player
something yeah like let’s say you have a
day where you’re missing a mile right if
you know how to draw it you can fight
that pretty quickly right right okay so
number one is if you do this properly
your setup is going to do the work it’s
not going to feel like you’re changing
your arm and hand swing when I grew up
and maybe like you I felt like I did it
with my arms and hands let’s avoid that
let’s have one swing but Master the
setup for drawn fade so I’ll ask you
like when you shape it is that how you
do it it’s a combo probably okay it’s a
combo of both things and I would say for
a lot of good players that is probably
normal I would say the better you can
standardize it probably the more
repeatable it would be in theory does
that make sense so so here’s what we’re
going to do stray one’s easy alignment
Square let’s do a draw field and what
we’re going to do is we’re going to
actually put a Target right here this is
going to be your draw Target okay this
is going to be your fade Target that’s
going to be your straight Target okay
okay so what I’m going to have you do is
aim like you’re hitting a straight shot
at that farthest right ball with your
feet pointing straight over there so
maybe just a little more right there you
go so pretend you’re hitting a straight
ball there okay got it all right so now
what I would say is for you
all you got to do now is just close the
face your face angle is going to close a
little bit from that aim point and it’s
usually going to be about halfway
between that aim point and the target
got it now for some people like tiger
sets up and opens the face on a draw
instead of closes it it’s going to be
different okay so what you want to do
then is start paying attention to where
the ball’s actually going and adjust
from there got it but good Ru thumb
about halfway is a good start got it so
does it feel like you’re hitting a
straight shot over there with your setup
uh it does y okay and then you got the
club face a little closed yep close it
and then we’re just going to swing it
Pat I should say that’s a draw you want
to make sure that you close the club
face and take the grip after so it feels
like the face is shut yes and you’re
done you’re saying set it up close then
grip it don’t grip it and then yeah it
does nothing if you close the face with
your grip going like this right right
it’s going to return to where it was yep
well so you got it it worked so what
we’re going to do is bees get degrees on
this on this drill okay so you did a
draw that’s a b it’s okay okay so we’re
going to do Fade now so now we’re going
to aim over the left
ball and you’re going to pretend you’re
hitting a straight shot with your setup
this gets your ball position to be
awesome okay right because it’s going to
feel like the low Point’s the same now
we’re going to open the face and then do
your swing
yeah what do you notice about the
distance that one is shorter way shorter
Fades obviously open the face adds more
Loft the ball goes higher but the sheap
was good enough call that a b okay so we
go back to our draw now let’s say it’s
not good enough it might take you five
or 10 reps to get there that’s fine go
learn it figure it out work on the
harder shape if you’re good at both
shapes you’re going to have a much
better chance of correcting your swing
so when I play this game and you go back
and forth are you suggesting that if
let’s say that fade I would have um you
know hit a draw straight not happy at
the shot do it again until you get it
just keep rotating back and forth yeah
you know like let’s say you hit 10 in a
row way too left you need to open the
face more and learn that learn how to
get the ball going back this way and
we’re always looking at bias and
changing patternss got it so if it’s
going left get it going right you might
literally need to feel like you’re
holding it open to make that ball go
right that’d be fine got it yeah so set
up for this intermediary targets set
those up yep alignment stick yep change
your alignment and then change your face
yeah got it yep you got it setup face
angle yeah and then just swing your
swing Perfect all right so we’re going
to get into the zero handicap let’s
rewind quickly in our first section we
talked about low Point path and face
let’s get those right and using freezers
if we need to change technique then we
just looked at let’s be able to shape
the ball and get some awareness of what
that is like our zero handicap what ball
striking drills should they be working
on so this is going to be very skill
driven we’re not really worried as much
about your swing again kind of like the
tens um but we’re going to add a lot
more difficulty to it and this is sort
of stuff where you are going to feel
uncomfortable even if you’re a zero
because it’s very difficult but that’s
good find that discomfort embrace it so
I got a sheet of numbers here okay and
what we’re going to do is try to hit the
number okay and it’s carry number I
don’t really care about roll because you
would do the math and figure out how
it’s rolling so I’m going to give you a
number and then we’re going to go
through a sequence of the first shot’s
going to be normal okay the next one’s
going to be a draw next one’s going to
be normal next one’s going to be a fade
next one’s going to be normal next one’s
going to be a wind okay so we literally
have six different shots we’re going to
do as our sequence and keep going
through that huh rationale being about
half the shots should be normal numbers
as you play golf and up to maybe half
might be shapes that you may want to use
now I don’t advise maybe shap shaping it
half the time yeah but we’re pushing
into some hard practice here okay and
you could go through your bag here what
club do you have there I have an eight
iron so let’s just call it uh 155 now
for you is that taking something off uh
yeah okay so you got to think about
strategy to take a yard off or two yards
whatever it is right okay so I think my
stock is like one probably 165 so I’m
going to take a little bit off normal
shot straight let’s see what we can
do and that’s a pull hook m
we get the
distance you kind of got you chunked it
and hooked it so it worked great it
worked perfect 154 now this is super
rare that somebody will actually hit a
shot left and right and hit the number
yeah because usually when you hook it it
goes too far right but if you chunk it
it might work great okay okay okay so
you passed that test we call it a birdie
if you’re within four yards and Eagle’s
within one okay we out next number 119
girro yeah which might almost be stock
shot yeah let’s go uh 50 degree okay
119 is that a full 50 or you taking
something off no I’m gonna take
something off that so I’m going to what
I’m going to do is aim over here right
we just worked on the last drill mhm and
then close the face right yep and then
we’re going to swing normal throw a
little punch
shot got the shot sh it you got it look
that that’s an eagle I think got the see
we’re bouncing on the cart path carry
number 18 16.2 within a yard we call an
eagle really nice all right all right so
now we’re going to go back to normal
shot we’re going to go
175 shot 175 let’s go seven
iron is that a good number is that in in
between this perfect yeah this should
just be a normal smooth swing don’t have
to hit it hard anything let’s
see uhoh wow kind of gassed it I did
left you can see like this game again
it’s it’s a hard game when you start uh
hooking them they go too far if you fan
them right they go too short yeah so
that’s a double bogy anything more than
10 we call a double okay all right so
now we’re going to do uh we did the draw
variation now we’re going to do a fade
variation I’m going to give you a 205
fade 205 fade maybe you’re coming in at
a far five five
iron let’s go five how often would you
actually hit a fade on the CH Cordy
um I would hit it on longer shots I had
a fade yeah because I needed to stop
right so it doesn’t go so far you play
at summer B in the summer and it’s firm
I broke a ball that’s how good I’m
hitting it right now okay so I’m going
to open up a little bit we’re going to
just open the face how do you like the
setup love it
okay that was super
solid over faded though
but4 so 10 off that’s a double double
okay hard game all right this is a hard
game now we’re back to normal shot let’s
go uh let’s go 102 all right 102 normal
stock shot it should be just a little
bit off
this sit hang
it
sit not bad Bernie I think within four
think so walk us through the how do you
score again so I do within a yard is an
eagle okay and then one to four would be
a birdie good shot um uh once you get
over four four to four to like seven is
like par seven seven to 10 is boy and 10
plus is double cool really simple
scoring but I think it’s really easy you
can use it on any machine okay so now
show me what your win strategy is let’s
go 135 okay and this has to be flighted
I want to see this peak height under 25°
or 25 yards what kind of are We thr an
abandon like 30 m hour wi are we talking
uh are we talking just normal call it 15
mph yeah not abandoned me all
right that actually got left
shoot got the arage though do you notice
when you slow down or take clubs off you
miss left more yes yeah so that’s
exactly why we do this so we kind of
figure that stuff out and you go go work
on it got it got it cool good game yeah
that’s super fun yeah I like it you keep
track series of number once you get over
20 20 numbers that’s a good way to kind
of see statistical significance so I do
a set of 20 and then maybe do some
wedges and drives and then come back to
it if you want got it very cool Luke
that was super fun uh I love that last
game I’m going to do that a bunch uh
when I get home here but walk us through
like what are The Parting thoughts when
people need to remember yeah so the
first part with the 20 handicaps really
is like dialing in the important things
for good golf which is path face and
contact so it’s a little bit more
mechanics focused is if you can’t do
that you’re probably not going to get
better right and we don’t actually need
to make a lot of variability like we’re
doing some block practice with that cuz
if I have have a 20 handicap shaping it
it’s ugly it’s too much right right
right so now as your skill level
improves and you start to make better
contact now you can start to add
variability in your environment we call
it adding contextual interference so
with a 10 we do simple shapes right and
left have kind of a feedback tool and
learn that and then with the zero we can
add a lot of contextual interference
we’re curving it all over we’re also
changing numbers and we’re also um like
learning how to go in between really
well right so and keep the score too you
got that testing as well super fun I
love all these games and drills Let’s uh
we’ll put together a little cheat sheet
um make sure to check that out down
below you can download that kind of go
through all these games uh and then let
Luke know what you think check out what
he’s doing Instagram where else should
people go yeah Instagram is the main one
um but you know with uh with ripstick
we’ve got a lot of like swing drills you
can do as well okay great thing to check
out as well awesome thanks Luke yeah
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