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by Sean O'Hair
Sean O'Hair took the PGA Tour by storm in 2005 with over $2 million in
earnings and a victory at the John Deere Classic. It was no surprise
that was voted the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year by his peers. He also
possesses one of the silkiest swings on Tour. This is not by accident.
O'Hair has worked extremely hard over the years to groove his swing and
the following drill is one that he uses often to keep it smooth.
One of my favorite drills is one I use to work on tempo. I use this drill often when I'm on the range:
With
a full swing, I hit my 6-iron about 185 yards. In the first part of the
drill, my goal is to hit the 6-iron about 100 yards. To do this, I take
my average set-up, but I'm trying to control my swing and get my body
in sync. I'll take exactly the same length swing as normal but my swing
speed will be slower, and my tempo smooth. I'm concentrating more on
the tempo of my golf swing and having all my body parts move in sync
with one another more than anything else. To use a basketball analogy,
it's sort of like practicing your free-throw stroke from 5 feet,
keeping your stroke smooth and pure.
After
I've hit a few dozen and I'm feeling comfortable that everything is
moving smoothly, I'll bump up my distance goal to 120 yards. Again, I'm
controlling the tempo of my golf swing and feeling all the body parts
moving together. When I feel comfortable there, I'll bump it in 20-yard
increments until I get up to full distance.
The best
part about this drill is that it's real simple and it gets the body in
sync. Also, you can do this drill with a driver, you can do it with a
wedge, any club will do.
The beauty of the drill is
that when you get to your full distance, it almost feels effortless.
Along with improvement in your tempo, this drill will improve your
ball-striking and teach you distance control.
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