Quite often, golfers having problems with their swing may have an overall solid stroke, with only one part of the swing in error. Rather than relearning or rebuilding your strokes, you might be able to improve your swing with one or two simple tricks. Practicing an adjustment to your stroke fundamentals in a way you can remember on the course can be key to taking your game to the next level.
Tap Your Shoulder
Many golfers hit too far down on the ball, hitting the ground before contact because they are too focused on the contact point. Learning to hit through the ball will allow you to maintain an even swing plane and keep your club traveling smoothly through follow through. Without a ball, practice your swing, with your correct set up, takeback and follow-through. To make sure you take a full swing and not chop at the ball, make your goal to tap your thumb on your lower hand on top of your lead shoulder, twice, after the swing. Since there is no ball to distract you, you will be able to focus on finishing your swing. Once you have tried this five or six times, place a ball on a tee or the ground, and execute a swing, once again making your double shoulder tap your primary goal. If you can practice this into a net, you won't worry as much about where the ball goes.
Push Your Putts
Just as many players end up chopping at the ball with their full-swing strokes, so do many golfers chop at their putts because of their focus on the ball, rather than the swing. To make sure you maintain a low club path and an even club-head speed throughout your putt, don't think of hitting the ball, think of pushing it toward the hole. If you think in terms of "hitting" the ball, you are more likely to stop at contact, or at least decelerate into it. If you think of pushing the ball, you will continue to swing your club past the contact point---make sure that your "push" does not bring the club head up after contact. Despite the fact that the word "push" is almost always used to describe a miss-hit putt, think "push" during your practice sessions and see if it helps you get a more forward, instead of downward putting stroke.
Hit the Beach
Another problem caused by an over-focus on contact point is over hitting on sand shots. Hitting a chip out of the sand too fat can cause your shot to sail over the green and add two or more strokes to your score. In order to slow your club head down and keep it below the ball, make contact with the sand prior to hitting your ball, aiming for the sand---not your ball---about two inches in front of the ball. The sand, not your club, will help loft the ball gently out of the trap. Practice taking some sand during your practice to determine where you'll want to make contact with the sand, based on your swing style.
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