Weekly Golf Tip: to hit the ball far and straight, do the ‘Vijay Singh’ weight transfer drill

Last week’s tip was about a drill for maintaining good balance during your golf swing. Good balance is very important in golf. It is the foundation on which the entire swing has to be built. But it is not sufficient just to maintain good balance at the time of address.

Good balance has to be maintained right from the address position, to the club takeaway and the back swing, and then down through the hitting zone and into the follow through. In future posts, I will try to break down the golf swing into its different components. But that may get a bit technical for the high-handicap weekend golfer who is very happy to play off a 18 or 22 handicap.

To build on the simple ‘happy toes’ drill for maintaining good balance, here is another simple drill that can be practiced at home. You can also try it out before your weekend round. I saw Vijay Singh of Fiji do this drill on TV, when he was warming up before a PGA tournament.

Every golfer must be aware of Vijay Singh’s disciplined work ethics and long hours of practice – which made him the No. 1 golfer on the PGA tour just a few years back. When asked by reporters about this drill, he said that even professional golfers need to remind themselves about the basics of the golf swing!

Even though our bread and butter may not depend on our weekend round of golf, most amateur golfers can easily learn some of the simpler routines followed by the pros. As Nicklaus once famously said: You enjoy the game a lot more if you can play well.

Without much further ado, here is the drill (for right handers; left handers can switch the ‘left’ to ‘right’ in the drill):

Take a few of your ‘normal’ practice swings with your driver (or whichever club you take a few practice swings with before your round). For the next few swings, lift your left foot completely off the ground during your back swing and start the downswing by first planting your left foot back down on the ground, before swinging through to a full finish.

If your swing basics are correct, you will be able to maintain balance and not topple over. Try it a few times to get the hang of it. You will learn the process of transferring your weight to the inside of your right foot on the back swing, and to the outside of your left foot on the follow through. (Warning: If you are in the habit of swaying to the right during your back swing, you may fall down in trying to do this drill.)

Too many weekend golfers finish their follow through with their entire weight on the right (back) foot. As if, they were playing a back-foot off-drive in cricket. No wonder, the ball some times balloons up into the sky or flies way off to the right.

Learn to transfer your weight properly, and soon you will be able to add several yards to your shots – and the ball will fly straighter.

Weekly Golf Tip : to make solid contact with the golf ball, do the ‘happy toes’ drill

There are two main reasons why many high-handicap weekend golfers remain high-handicap golfers during their entire playing careers:

1. They read about different tips and tricks, but don’t put in the effort at the practice range; instead, they try new things during their weekend round – only to give up when the tips don’t magically change their golfing abilities.
2. The few who do practice at the range, don’t have a clear plan of what they are trying to achieve; so they end up smashing a few balls with the different clubs in their bags – without learning anything new or unlearning any bad habits.

This week’s tip is a drill that any golfer can do at home, in front of a mirror, without even breaking a sweat. It will teach you proper balance when addressing the ball – which is the key to consistent, solid ball contact.

Here is what you do. Take any golf club, and take your usual stance at address but instead of grounding the club, let it hover a couple of inches above the ground. Now try to tap the ground with your toes – one foot at a time, while keeping both heels firmly on the ground.

Eric Jones, the former long-driving champion calls this the ‘happy toes’ drill:

If you can do the drill comfortably, without changing your address position, you are properly balanced.

If you are like most high-handicap golfers, your address position is either too far forward, or too far back. If your upper body is too far forward – which happens more often, mainly due to anxiety – you won’t be able to lift your toes off the ground. If your upper body is too far back, you will be able to tap the ground with both feet at the same time.

This weekend, try the ‘happy toes’ drill before you go out for your round. But please remember that years of bad habit won’t get cured by one drill. Keep at it, till you understand and appreciate the benefits of proper balance – regardless of your handicap.