Most golf advice tells you what a good swing looks like. What it rarely tells you is how to actually build one. That’s where golf swing drills come in — they’re the bridge between knowing what you’re trying to do and being able to do it without thinking.
The drills below cover the most common problems club golfers face — poor tempo, disconnection, casting, and inconsistent contact. None of them require a teaching pro, specialist equipment, or a range. Most can be done in your garden or living room.
Drill 1: The count drill (for tempo)
The problem it fixes: Rushing the transition from backswing to downswing.
Take your address position with any club. Count out loud — “one, two, three” during your backswing, “four” as you swing through impact. The counting creates an external rhythm that overrides the internal urgency most club golfers feel at the top of the swing.
The goal is a 3:1 backswing-to-downswing ratio: three counts back, one count through. This mirrors the timing that almost every professional golfer uses, regardless of how fast or slow their swing looks from the outside. When you count and it still feels rushed, it means you’re starting the downswing before the backswing is complete — the single most common tempo fault in amateur golf.
Do twenty practice swings with the count before your next range session. Then hit shots without counting, but try to retain the rhythm. Most golfers find the count drill produces measurable improvement within two or three sessions.
Drill 2: The towel drill (for connection)
The problem it fixes: The arms separating from the body during the swing.
Fold a small towel and tuck it under your trail arm (right arm for right-handers) at address, holding it lightly against your side. Make a swing. If the towel falls, your arm has separated from your body — which typically means you’re lifting the arm on the backswing or chicken-winging through impact.
A connected swing keeps the arms working with the body’s rotation rather than independently. When the arms disconnect, you lose rotational power, the club path becomes inconsistent, and you end up relying on timing to square the face — which is a losing battle over a long round.
Start with half swings until the towel stays reliably in place, then extend to three-quarter and full swings. The towel drill is particularly useful for golfers who have been told they “swing with their arms” or who struggle with a loss of power despite reasonable swing mechanics.
Drill 3: The pause drill (for sequencing)
The problem it fixes: Casting from the top and poor downswing sequencing.
Swing to the top of your backswing and stop. Hold the position for a full second. Then start the downswing — deliberately, from the hips — while keeping your wrists hinged.
The pause breaks the automatic, rushing motion that causes most casting. Without it, many club golfers essentially complete the backswing and start the downswing in one continuous motion, which means the arms and body start down together rather than in the correct sequence (hips first, then shoulders, then arms, then club).
After five paused swings, make three normal swings while trying to retain the feeling of the lower body leading before the arms. Then five paused swings again. Alternating between paused and flowing swings trains the nervous system to feel the difference between good and bad sequencing.
Drill 4: The punch shot drill (for impact position)
The problem it fixes: Scooping or flipping through impact, which causes thin and fat contact.
Take a 7-iron, play the ball slightly back of centre in your stance, and make a three-quarter swing with the deliberate intention of keeping your hands ahead of the club head at impact. The result should be a punched, lower-trajectory shot with a small, tidy divot in front of where the ball was.
The punch shot is one of the fastest ways to teach yourself what correct impact feels like, because the setup and ball position make hands-ahead contact almost unavoidable. Once you can feel the compression and forward shaft lean of a good punch shot, you have a reference point to carry into your full swing.
Spend ten minutes hitting punch shots at half-speed before your next range session. Focus entirely on impact — where the divot starts, how compressed the contact feels, whether your hands are leading. This is the drill that most improves iron consistency when done regularly.
Drill 5: The feet together drill (for balance and tempo)
The problem it fixes: Loss of balance, overswinging, and weight transfer issues.
Stand with your feet together — literally touching — and make full swings with a mid-iron. This sounds impossible at first, but it quickly becomes manageable with a smooth, balanced swing. If you’re overswinging, losing your footing, or transferring weight incorrectly, the narrow base makes it immediately obvious.
The feet together drill is a favourite of teaching professionals precisely because it exposes balance and tempo problems that a wide stance masks. Golfers who lunge at the ball, sway on the backswing, or spin out on the downswing all find the fault becomes impossible to hide with feet together.
Hit twenty shots with feet together, then widen to your normal stance. The balance and tempo you found with the narrow base should carry over — and if it doesn’t, return to the narrow stance to reset.
Drill 6: The one-handed drill (for release and feel)
The problem it fixes: Over-reliance on the trail hand, poor feel for the correct release.
Grip the club with your lead hand only (left hand for right-handers). Make slow, controlled swings from waist height to waist height, focusing on feeling the club head swing through the hitting zone. The lead hand controls the swing plane; the trail hand, when it’s too dominant, tends to interfere with the correct release.
This drill is best done slowly and without a ball initially. The goal is feel rather than power — understanding what it means for the lead hand to pull the club through rather than the trail hand pushing it. Once you can make a comfortable one-handed swing, put the trail hand back on the grip and try to replicate the same feeling with both hands.
When to use training aids alongside golf swing drills
Drills work through repetition and feel. A good training aid can accelerate that process by providing feedback that’s hard to produce on your own.
For the tempo and sequencing drills above, a weighted swing trainer makes the consequences of poor execution more obvious. The Orange Whip and SKLZ Gold Flex are both designed for exactly this — the weighted head and flexible shaft make a rushed or arm-led swing immediately uncomfortable. Twenty swings a day with either trainer, combined with the count or pause drill, is one of the most effective home practice setups available.
For the connection drill, the Tour Striker Smart Ball effectively replaces the towel with a more structured feedback system — it’s specifically designed to keep the arms connected to the body through the swing.
Training aids don’t replace drills; they support them. Use the drill to understand what you’re trying to feel, then use the training aid to groove it.
How to practise golf swing drills effectively
A few minutes with a clear focus produces better results than an hour of aimless repetition. Before each drill session, choose one fault to work on — not three. The count drill for tempo, or the pause drill for sequencing, or the punch shot for impact. Not all of them at once.
Spend ten minutes on the drill, then hit some shots without thinking about mechanics — just let the ball go. This alternation between focused technical work and free swinging is how skills move from conscious effort to automatic motion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which golf swing drills is best for fixing a slice?
The towel drill and the pause drill address two of the most common causes of a slice: arm-body disconnection (which produces an out-to-in swing path) and casting from the top (which opens the face). Start with the towel drill to build a connected swing, then add the pause drill to fix the sequencing issue at the top. Used together, they address the root causes of most slices without requiring you to consciously think about swing path or face angle.
Can I do these drills at home without a ball?
Yes — and for tempo, connection, and sequencing drills, practice swings without a ball are often more effective than hitting shots. When there’s no ball to focus on, you can pay attention to feel and movement rather than outcome. All six drills above can be done with practice swings, and most experienced coaches recommend doing them this way first before adding ball contact.
How many practice swings should I do per drill?
Twenty to thirty repetitions per session is enough to begin building the movement pattern without exhausting yourself or losing focus. Short, regular sessions — three or four times a week — are more effective than occasional long practice sessions. Consistency matters more than volume.
Should I film myself doing the drills?
Only occasionally. Filming is useful for checking that what you’re feeling matches what you’re doing — particularly for the connection and impact drills, where feel can be misleading. But watching yourself too frequently can shift your focus from feel to appearance, which slows down learning. Film once every few sessions to check progress, not after every swing.
Which drill produces the quickest results?
The count drill typically shows the fastest improvement, because tempo responds quickly to external rhythm cues. Most club golfers notice better ball striking within two or three sessions of consistent counting. The punch shot drill is the second-fastest for improving contact quality. Sequencing and connection improvements tend to take longer — four to six weeks of regular drilling before the new movement starts to feel automatic.
Want to add a training aid to your drill routine? See our full reviews of the best golf swing trainers on Amazon.co.uk.
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