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As a handicap 13, I’ve been known to knock my golf ball off the toe or heel multiple times per round. Yes it’s frustrating – especially since it seems to be happening 140 yards off the green – adding a few more strokes per round.
Squaring the club face on impact is always the name of the game. When done correctly, the ball will be hit flush, giving it the best chance of traveling with optimal distance and accuracy.
Unfortunately, doing this constantly is what amateurs like myself struggle with.
But Cameron McCormick from Top 100 Golf Instructors has an easy drill that can improve your putt and lead to better results.
In the video below, McCormick describes the “jumping the fence” golf exercise, which helps players maintain the square of their putter face at impact. All you need is either an alignment stick or another golf club to give it a try, so take a look below and start testing it out for yourself.
Try this “jumping the fence” exercise to improve your shot
As McCormick shows in the video above, this “jumping the fence” exercise will help players who repeatedly hit their toe or heel. And because it doesn’t take much to get started, you can practice this from just about anywhere outside (even if that means using plastic golf balls).
Here’s what McCormick wants to do to fix heel strikes:
“Start with the club [that you’re holding] on the other side of the alignment rod. This is the “fence” I’m referring to when I talk about “fence jumping”.
Take your position, and start with small, slow swings [in the backswing], you land the club on the same side of the fence you’re standing on. So start on the other side of the fence, and go down the near side.
“Build a hammock along. Speed up construction. And then, finally, turn those swing exercises into a live shooting rep, where you try to use the same sensations that bring the club progressively closer to you as you bring it back to impact—something that’s bound to happen farther from the center of the call.”
For those hitting on the toe, McCormick describes a similar method as with the heel, but emphasizes extending the arm through impact with the ball.
“For toes, the setup is exactly the opposite, as we’ll start on the same side of the ‘fence’ with our club head as we stand up,” says McCormick. Again, we’ll be small [with practice swings]and landed the club on the other side of the fence.
“[The toe] It requires more extension of the arm that moves the handle and, thus, the club head away from us.”
By trying this easy exercise, you should get better communication and improved results. So give it a try next time you’re in the range.
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