Best College Golf Practice Drills
Getting onto the college golf team is quite exciting. It means a great milestone with your budding golfing career. But, it also means more work to do. You are going to have to prove your worth, and show why you should remain on the team!
With this in mind, expect more rigorous practices, and routines that could be a lot to handle.
To help you out, I’ve taken out time to narrow down the best golf drills for college golfers. These drills will help in improving your body movement, posture, and strength.
So, here are the best college golf practice drills you can try out in your practice time.
Resource: Step by Step Golf Practice Routines + Training System
10 Best College Golf Practice Drills To Become A Champion
Thread-the-Needle Drill
Thread-the-needle is a great putting drill that will put you under some considerable pressure and help you gain some control over your game speed.
Why Do This Drill?
This drill will help you as a new golfer gain some control over your game speed.
How To Do This Drill?
Choose a distance closer to the hole (around 10 feet).
Your goal is to get it past the hole on the first putt. The following putt should finish just some inches short of the hole.
Your final putt must land in-between your first two putts. If you accomplish this successfully, you will be able to move farther away!
Rotation/Pivot Drill
Pivot drill is the move that creates power by turning and transferring from back to front. It is one of the main and most important moves in golfing. Hence, you need to learn early in college if you aspire to play to a decent level.
Why Do This Drill?
This works on body rotation. It looks at the body motion and the role that plays in a good golf swing.
How To Do This Drill?
Take your starting position as you’d do for a mid-iron (7 or 6 iron). Cross your hands and place the golf club on your shoulders.
Then, have a little pivot backward and then, forward. Continue shifting your weight into the follow-through as you do that.
Keep your head still and make a little rehearsal where you get the sensation that the lead side of the golf stick is walking towards the golf ball.
This transfers the weight on the lead side to the lead leg without losing focus on the golf ball.
Ball Striking Drill
This ball striking drill focuses on the contact and the concept of understanding what happens at impact.
Why Do This Drill?
This drill helps to improve the consistency of your ball striking and control when it comes to your irons.
How To Do This Drill?
Get into a convenient position and hit the golf ball from there. From this position, ensure that you feel everything is in order and balance. Maintain your balance as best you can.
If you do everything correctly, you will begin to hit the ball and then the ground. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right away. It takes some practice to ensure proper balance and alignment.
When you hit the ball from the ground, the golf club would have to pass through to strike the golf ball first, and then the ground.
If you don’t make contact with the ground at all, it’s very difficult to hit the middle of the golf club.
Read Article: Golf Alignment Drills for Your Golf Swing
Tee Shot Test
This is a fun drill that is specifically targeted towards perfecting a tee shot.
Why Do This Drill?
This drill is definitely very helpful in improving your tee shooting precision. It will also help you get some practice in this area.
How To Do This Drill?
You will build imaginary fairways approximately 30 meters wide. You can start with 10 shots.
You give yourself the following results for each shot that is on the fairway: 1 point for iron, 2 points for a hybrid/fairway forest, and 3 points for a driver.
This will force you to use a little strategy to see what you can do. More importantly, each shot will be under real pressure which will help you get better for sure.
Read Article: Best Golf Swing Release Drills
Birdie Drill
Typically, scoring a birdie results from a combination of skill, experience, and luck. So, it isn’t easy and requires practice.
To achieve it, you will have to deliberately set yourself up with a long, straight, and target shot. This you can only achieve through proper practice.
Why Do This Drill?
With this drill, you can improve your birdie shots easily.
How To Do This Drill?
In this drill, you don’t have to do a lot. You just need to keep putting from different sides of the hole.
You need to set goals here. For instance, you need to putt at least 50 times from each side. But, make sure that you don’t do all 50 reps altogether. Instead, break it up into 10 and then, move to the other side.
Lag Putting Drill
Lag putt is yet another excellent putting skill that you need to learn as a college student. This drill will help you achieve that. It will also help you stop 3 putting in golf.
Why Do This Drill?
Many golfers often don’t have a specific target. This leads to a bad performance. But, with this lag putting drill, you can rectify the problem and come closer to the second putt!
How To Do This Drill?
To create a box around the hole, use shafts or canes. These canes can be 4ft long so that you can establish a 2ft zone behind the hole on either side and a 3ft zone behind it.
Set the balls to an angle, so that each of the balls has a clear path at the hole. Position the ball closest to the hole 8 ft away and return at 2 ft. Start as soon as you do the exercise.
Use the same routine and time frame as you would on the real course.
Give yourself the points to hollow the putt, add three points to leave the ball in the box, and take two points to hit a cane or leave it short.
Keep your statistics and always try to do your best.
Resource: How to Score in the 70’s Golf Training Plan
Indoor Chipping Drill
As a college golfer, you may not get enough time between tests and assignments to go outside and practice golf. Yet, this swing drill will help you stay indoors and practice chipping.
Why Do This Drill?
You can easily do this drill right at your home. You will also be able to enhance and analyze your chipping skills. It will also help you focus your chip shots on a particular spot instead of just the hole.
How To Do This Drill?
You need to take a towel and put it around 10 feet away from you. Then, put 10 balls on the floor.
All you need to do is hit all the 10 balls such that they land on the towel. Try to take note of your performance. Once you can perfect this, you can then take a smaller towel and follow the steps given above.
Full Swing Drill
If you’re looking for a simple full swing drill that will help you understand where you go wrong, then try out this one.
It’s a simple, time-saving, and indoor drill.
Why Do This Drill?
You may have difficulty with your swing path if you don’t practice enough. This is especially true in the case of a backswing. With this drill, you can find the flaw and correct your technique accordingly.
How To Do This Drill?
You just need to place a mirror wherever you’re practicing your swing skills. Then, take your club and swing it back halfway. Then, take a pause and look at the mirror.
You need to ensure that your club is exactly parallel to the ground. Moreover, your clubhead should also be blocking both the grip and shaft. You can practice this at least 10 times to perfect your swing path. You will also be able to maintain consistency with all your swings.
Resource: Get the All Access Pass. Learn about our training programs with step by step practice drills, weekly schedules and routines to follow so you can break 90, break 80 or scratch golf. Plus access our video lesson library in addition to following the practice plans.
Sand Bunker Drill
Bunker shots are hard to master for both amateurs and experienced players. But, there are drills to help you with that. The sand bunker drill is just one of those.
Why Do This Drill?
The sand bunker drill will help you make proper contact with your bunker shot and remain consistent.
How To Do This Drill?
First, you need to draw a line using your clubhead. Then, take your golf ball and place it right in front of the line.
Now, when you’re hitting, make sure that you don’t hit the ball. Instead, aim for hitting the line that you drew behind the golf.
Distance Control Drill
You need to learn putting distance control because once you know how to control your speed, you can keep the ball closer to the hole. Hence, you get a chance to make a second putt.
Why Do This Drill?
The distance control drill will specifically focus on improving your putting distance control and speed.
How To Do This Drill?
First, use tape or a marker to draw a 1-foot long area. Now, what you need to do is putt three balls into this area. You need to make sure that you hit the ball only a little further away from the previous one.
When you come to the third and the last ball, make sure it doesn’t go past the 1-foot long area.
Final Thoughts
With your studies, a team, and performance pressure, these college golf drills are what you can do without eating into your schedule as a college student.
Apart from drills, you can also check out these practice plans to score in the 80s or in the 70s below.
Lastly, ensure you are consistent with your practices, and you will definitely see results!
Golf Practice Plans to Follow
- How to Score in the 60’s Golf Training Plan
- How to Score in the 70’s Golf Training Plan
- How to Score in the 80’s Golf Training Plan
- All Access: Get Every Practice Plan (Lifetime Membership)
Thanks for reading today’s article!
Nick Foy – Golf Instructor
