When professional golfers prepare for a major championship, it requires a different plan of attack than a typical tour event. For example most players will refrain from making major swing changes a few weeks before the major championship, they’ll spend additional time on the tournament course and practice shots that are specific to the conditions they’ll face the week of the event.
Which is exactly the kind of fine-tuning that amateurs can benefit from ahead of the biggest events in their own schedules.
While at the 2024 KPMG PGA Championship, we spotted the following five drills that players were using to dial-in different areas of their game and asked Keith Bennett, one of Golf Digest’s Best Young Teachers to explain how they can help your game.
Prepare for your next big event like a pro with these simple drills.
1. ‘JUMPY’ SWING? FEEL MORE GROUNDED
If you’re like Lexi Thompson and you tend to jump in your swing, you probably do a good job of pushing off the ground to generate power. However, if it gets out of control, being too ‘jumpy’ often causes inconsistent strikes, which leads to an unpredictable ball flight and fluctuating distances.
One way to feel more in control and stable through the swing is to put a workout band around your thighs, like Lexi is doing here.
“A drill like this is designed to root the feet and legs. And by keeping the band in a state of tension, it creates awareness in those key areas of the body and engages key muscles,” Bennett says, “Which will increase your stability and help you control your low point.”
To try this drill on your own, grab a workout band, like this one, and slide it in the middle of your thighs. It should create a bit of light tension when taking your normal golf stance. Then hit a few shots, starting small at first with pitch shots and eventually working your way to a full swing.
Remember, the goal of this drill is to counteract your normal tendencies, not make a drastic swing change.
“Players use these to create a nice, subconscious reminder of the swing feels they want to have,” Bennett says.
2. ROTATE THROUGH THE FINISH
As you can see in the clip below, Mariah Stackhouse has stuck a cut down alignment rod and stuck it in the end of her club. It might look a little odd, but this tool is so great because it gives the player immediate feedback on their swing. For Stackhouse that might look like going from a steep to a shallow swing plane or minimizing club face rotation. But for an amateur, Bennett says it can help you practice rotating through impact properly—and will help you compress the ball better in the process.
It works like this: stick the alignment rod in the end of a higher lofted club and see when it hits you in your swing. If the alignment stick hits you before or during impact, Bennett says you’re likely releasing your wrists early. Which can feel like you’re scooping your wrists or hanging back at impact.
“If you’re someone who scoops at the golf ball, you’re unknowingly adding loft dynamically at impact,” Bennett says.
And it’s why your contact is inconsistent and you’ll hit the occasional pop up. Luckily, the fix is easy.
Place the alignment rod back in the butt of your club. As you get into your setup, press your hands forward, leaning the club shaft towards the target. If you’re doing it right, the alignment rod will be in line with your lead forearm, pointing at your lead belt loop. Now, make a half swing. Your goal here is to have the stick hit you in your followthrough, like Stackhouse.
“This drill works two-fold,” Bennet says, “It helps you rotate through the shot completely, avoiding an early release and also encourages forward shaft lean.”
By setting up to the ball with forward shaft lean, you enter impact with your hands ahead of your clubhead, Bennett says. This decreases the dynamic loft and promotes ball-first contact, both of which are needed to compress your irons.
3. HIT THE LINE FOR BETTER BUNKER SHOTS
The drill that you see Rose Zhang demonstrating below is a simple line drill and according to Bennett, it’s a great way to boost your confidence and calibrate your feel before a round. To try it on your own, grab your favorite wedge and find a bunker—you don’t even need a ball.
Once you’re in the bunker, draw a line in the sand. This is going to represent your ball position, so be sure you have enough room to make a decent swing at it. After you’ve drawn the line, setup to it like you would for a greenside bunker shot: dig your feet slightly, playing the ball just forward of middle, with your weight slightly forward and a little flex in the lead knee.
Now make a few swings, your goal is to enter the sand about an inch before the line and sweep the line away, like Zhang. After making a few swings, Bennett says to look at a two things.
First, look to see where you entered the sand relative to the line, or ball. If you’re keeping your weight forward through the shot, you’ll consistently enter the sand about an inch before the ball. However if your weight is back or you lunge at the ball, where you enter the sand in relation to the line will vary.
“I love the immediate feedback of this drill,” Bennett says, “There's not many drills in golf where you get to look down and actually see, ok, where did my club truly hit the ground?”
The second thing Bennett says to take a look at is the depth of your divots.
“If you look at Rose, the depth of her divots are all the same,” Bennett says.
This ensures that you’re taking the same amount of sand every time. Why is that important? Because it helps you better predict how the ball is going to react out of the bunker. When you take the same amount of sand every time you can better anticipate how much spin or roll your shots will have.
4. GET CONNECTED ON YOUR CHIPS
Having a stock shot around the green comes in handy when you’re under pressure and this simple towel drill that we see Rose Zhang demonstrating can help. This towel drill is a classic chipping drill that many players have trusted to create the feeling of having their upper arms connected while hitting shorter, touch shots. Something amateurs could use a bit more of, Bennett says.
“It’s a staple that’s been around forever, and it’s easy to see why,” Bennett says, “The towel drill is designed to have your big muscles do all the work.”
If you’re someone that tends to get a bit hands and arm dominant around the greens, give this towel drill a try!
Grab a mid-to-low lofted wedge and place a towel under your armpits. Feel your upper arms pin to your rib cage as they hold the towel in place. Now, get into your chipping setup: narrow stance, weight forward, ball position in the middle of your stance with your shaft leaning slightly forward.
As you make short swings, no higher than your hip, Bennett says to feel like you’re making a small rotation through the ball. As you strike the ground, it should almost feel like you’re brushing the turf with your club.
5. DON’T BE AFRAID TO EXAGGERATE YOUR FEEL
One thing you’ll see a lot of players doing on the range is practicing swing feels. But what are swing feels exactly? They’re exaggerated moves that players make to groove what feels right to them. Even if they look wrong, they can help the player to rehearse the right move they’re trying to incorporate into their swing.
“If you’re trying to move the needle and push your swing in a certain direction, you can’t be afraid to make some funny looking, exaggerated swings on the range,” Bennett says.
“Look at Charley, you’ve got one of the top players in the world with very little care about what anybody thinks because she’s trying to feel something she knows is going to benefit her swing,” Bennett says.
You can use the Golf Digest Swing Thought Finder to check out a few examples of swing thoughts that the pros are using, and you can work with your coach to develop your own swing feels that you can incorporate on the range.