Fix your Blocked Golf Shots with the Wall Drill

Wall Drill ~ Fix your Block Problem:The player tends to let their lower-body slide horizontally. Result: The players hands get trapped due to the over-active lower body, and either remain open at impact causing a slice (most common), or flip over quickly causing a large hook. The trapped hands travel on an in to out path causing the ball to start to the right of the intended target. The Drill: How many rounds have you played, where you're trying to get those extra yards out of a shot, and are sadly disappointed when you block it badly into the trees? It happens to many players, myself included. The block is one of the most frustrating shots to have in golf; not to mention it is often accompanied by a wicked slice that makes looking for the ball almost pointless. What causes the block? Most commonly it's an over-active lower body, your hips and knees tend to slide towards the target in your efforts to get those extra yards. To be fair, even in professional swings, there is a slight hip movement towards the target, but it is minimal. In amateurs the hip slide tends to be a lot more noticeable. There are many simple fundamentals that can help to contribute to a blocked shot, firstly a stance that is too wide reduces turning and promotes the slide. Secondly, knees that are too bent, helps to destabilize the lower body contributing to added unwanted movement (be sure to give the next person that says to you "bend your knees" a good smack - having your knees unlocked is perfect). This drill helps to promote a turning of you hips rather than a slide, which is exactly what you want to have on the downswing. Setup so your hips are perpendicular to a wall; make sure that the wall is ending so you have some room to swing the club through impact if needed. There should be about 2-3 inches between your hips and the wall, if you setup normally, with a proper stance. This is more than enough room to complete your swing motion. Taking swings at about 10 percent speed; focus on turning your hips on the downswing, rather than sliding. The wall acts as a brace, and gives you the negative feedback you need when you make contact with it. At impact your hips should have cleared to create close to a 45 degree angle with the wall, without touching it. This drill is very effective at reducing hip slide, try it out! For more free golf drills and instruction tips check out The Golf Drill Guru