Golf Swing Drills that Will Help You Improve Your Balance
Balance is a part of the golf swing that not all golfers understand, but it is crucially important. If you don’t have very good balance in your swing throughout the round, your chances of playing consistently well are quite small. Balance is what makes it possible to strike the ball solidly swing after swing, and also helps you to predict the ball flight you are going to get from your shots. Golfers who are serious about lowering their scores and making better swings should focus a good deal of their attention on the balance of their swing.
To improve your balance during your next round, try using the drills below:
- Slow-motion swings. Swinging the golf club in slow motion is a good way to expose flaws in your swing that you might not have known were there to begin with. On the practice range, try making some swings at about half of your normal speed without hitting a ball. During these swings, your balance problems may be exposed if you are getting off track anywhere along the way. Notice what points of your swing seem to be off balance and then get to work making the corrections.
- Stay within yourself. By far the biggest cause of poor balance is simply golfers trying to hit the ball too hard. You don’t need to swing extra-hard to hit the ball a good distance – you only need to use good fundamentals and make solid contact with the back of the ball. No matter what distances you are capable of hitting the ball, stay within those limits and don’t try to force your clubs to hit the ball farther than they do naturally. Your balance will quickly improve simply by not swinging so hard while trying to maximize distance.
- Find a good posture. It is hard to make a balanced swing if you are on balance to start with. Get your body into an athletic position at address before you even start to move the club at all. A slight flex in the knees and a comfortable bend at the waist are the marks of a good posture, but you need to make sure you are balanced as well. To test your balance at address, take your stance and then have a friend push you gently from front to back, and side to side. If you can hold your balance during this test, you should be ready to make a good swing.
