How to Improve Your Golf Swing Consistency Using a Golf Mat
Golfers come to me and they want this all the time, this letter C right here, which is consistency. Which then helps build another letter C, which is confidence. Now they can not get that letter C until they do some things on a repetitive basis. A string of certainties. Something that they can do over and over again.
The #1 Way to Be a More Consistent Golfer
What they need to be able to be consistent with is the same bottom to their swing each time, so that they can hit the ball first and then the turf, which means taking a divot, and the divot always happens after the golf ball. I helped develop a product to help train golfers to be able to learn and develop this skill. It is called a Divot Matt.
How to Train With a Divot Matt
Take a look at it right over here; it is a special paper with images of golf balls on it. Now this paper when you make a swing will leave a mark, it will tell you exactly where the bottom of your swing is. A lot of players have never thought about where the bottom of their swing is or don't have that awareness. This is a skill that you can learn. It is a coachable, learnable skill, but you need to have the right feedback to be able to accomplish this.
This helps give you the feedback and I am going to show you how that happens. This skill you can practice away from the golf course. A lot of times at the driving range you play on mats and the mats are forgiving because you can hit behind the ball and you get lucky and the ball gets up in the air because the club bounces into the ball.
When Driving Range Practice Doesn't Translate to the Course
When you are on the golf course that skill does not transfer over when you hit behind it because you laid the sod over the ball and the ball is not going anywhere. Then you wonder why your skill does not transfer over to the golf course. Taking this into your practice environment will greatly enhance your time practicing and it will give you great dividends in improving your consistency.
Let me show you how it would look like. I am going to make a swing here and you see that it is going to leave a mark, and that club was delivered right on that golf ball, which means I would have hit the ball first, made a divot second and the ball would have gone in the direction of the target.
Using a Divot Matt to Hit More Consistently
Here is a swing that is going to be a little different, where I am going to hit well behind the ball. So here was the first swing where the club hit right on the golf ball and I had ball club contact first. Here is the second one where I hit well behind it; I basically laid the sod over the ball. Now if I can work towards being consistent, hitting the same spot over and over again, I can start to develop that consistency and that repeatability.
But if I hit one time here and one time here I am getting a different result every time and I am not going to be consistent. This is a learn, practice skill that you can not transfer over to a shot. Just like this. The divot is going to be beyond the golf ball. That is what all the best players in the world do.
Why You Need to Hit the Ball First
They hit the ball first then the turf. It is a learned skill but you need the feedback mechanism to help you do that. This is something that you can use to help you practice, you can do it at home, you do not have to go to the practice range to do it, you can just hit a few sheets a day. You will be surprised how good you get. It will give you that consistency, which helps you build confidence. Give it a try.