Swingtweaks Practice Guide
Nice work grabbing that Swingtweak! Now, you've aced step one. The next move? Dive into some practice and rock those coaching tips. Here's the lowdown on how to spend an hour honing your skills after you've got your tweak. Shoot for 3 or 4 sessions before you hit us up with an update.
You got this! 🚀
Warm Up 10 minutes
Stretch a little bit and ease into your session with 10 or 15 half shots with a wedge. This will help you engage your body and all your core muscle groups, and it also gives you a much-needed grace period before you start to become too critical of your shots.
Drilling 30 minutes
This is where your Swingtweak comes into play. Your PGA Professional would have explained your issues and their consequences in your Swingtweak, including some drills for you to work on.
Repetition is key: watch and listen to your video.
Then, step into a drill.
Focus on working on the things your coach has outlined and the outcome desired by the drill. Hit 15-20 balls and then take a short break to think about the feel and your feedback. Afterwards hit another 15-20 balls and repeat.
Taking breaks is important; it allows you to think, refresh, and apply learning. We've all been at the range where we're auto-firing balls into the air. This sort of practice is not useful. Always have a target; swinging into the void is pointless
Monitor each set of 15-20 balls with the following metrics:
1. Contact
Are you hitting it solid? Worry less about the specific curvature. Applying foot spray to your club head lets you see where you are making contact.
2. Dispersion
Where are your shots landing? Are they grouped or all over the place in relation to the target?
3. How does this drill feel compared to your normal swing?
Think about and internalize the things that make this drill different from how you usually swing. Everyone's proprioception is different, so figuring out the feelings and movements that make a swing different is key. Drilling really helps with that. Over time, you should start feeling that the drilled swing and your own swing are less and less different. This is a good sign—progress!
This type of practice is beneficial because the repetition makes the mechanics you are working on eventually unconscious.
Remember:
This part of your practice is free of consequences; do not pressure yourself to hit targets or get it right immediately. This is about working the drills and focusing on the differences between your previous mechanics and the new ones. You will hit hosels, fats, thins, duffs as you work through it. This is natural.
Always use an Alignment aid.
All golfers should use alignment sticks, but if not, a club on the ground pointing along your target line is okay. This helps you train your eyes and body to know what being square to the target is and will help groove sound mechanics. Bad alignment causes a lot of basic issues."
Application 20 Minutes
Near the end of your practice session, when you have gone through your drills, try incorporating random practice to apply what you've worked on in a more consequential setting.
This might involve changing your target for each shot.
It might involve 'playing golf'—by imagining a hole you know well, first hit the driver, giving yourself a target, then change that target and hit an approach.
You can also choose a club and hit 5 shots at a target, score yourself for proximity. Then choose another, rinse and repeat.
This will help recreate game-like scenarios where you need to stay present and execute the shot at hand. This builds confidence and unconscious mechanics.
Summary and Final Thoughts
Don't practice on the same day as a big round, or at least don't practice right before your round. Some folks treat warm-up like a practice session, but honestly, that's not the best idea.
Don't get frustrated. Golf is hard. One of the biggest predictors of consistent progress and improvement is being able to stay calm and rational. You want to think and act clearly. Getting annoyed at yourself is counterproductive. If you feel this happening, just leave. Tomorrow is another day, and the balls still want to be smashed. 🏌️♂️👊