Nick Faldo’s simple drill which is the ‘opposite’ of what most amateurs do 

Sir Nick Faldo’s simple drill for the driving range

Faldo’s drill is all about shortening the backswing for more control, and putting real emphasis on an often overlooked part of the swing: the follow-through. 

He said on Golfing World’s YouTube, “One of the drills I’m really into right now: the golf swing is really, can you get from a really good address position, can you then simulate your impact position, and then go through to your follow-through position?

“We spent so much time, and I know I was a culprit of that, so much time thinking about our backswing, especially the club golfers. They’re grinding on their backswing: ‘where’s my position?’ He gets the ball so they’re full back and half through, so I want you to think about the other way.

“Let’s go half back, and all the way through it will make a big difference to your game. Because remember, you’re collecting the golf ball, you’re not hitting at the golf ball.

“I’d love the youngsters out there to imitate or visualize your favorite players follow through, your Jason Days, your Adam Scotts, your Rory McIlroys. You know how they finish? How they wrap the club around their neck?

“So you think I love that follow through, I’m going to go for the old classic Ben Hogan, you remember that pose with the one iron at Merion? So you stand up and think, well, there’s address, I want to clear my body for a fade, so I got to feel where my hips are for a fade, and I’m going to get through, and I’m going to pose my Hogan finish, so there you go.

“So I’m going to start from there (half swing). The goal is to feel impact and then get through to that follow-through, and that is great for the club golfer because so many of you are stuck here (full backswing), you’re long to short. So let’s do the absolute opposite.”

Padraig Harrington says why the follow-through is the ‘most important’ part of the swing

Another European legend of the game is in agreement with Faldo, as three-time major winner Padraig Harrington said, remaining balanced at the end is the most important part of the swing.

Speaking to the Golf Channel Academy, he explained: “The better your finish, the better your consistency is going to be. So to get to this position, you have to do so many things right.

“So, probably the most important thing in the golf swing is to be able to finish balanced. Now, if you’re an old codger, look, that’s fine. Balancing here (half swing). You don’t need to finish like (full swing), oh god, I’m old.

“You don’t need to finish all the way around. You just need to be able to finish in a balanced position posted up on the left-hand side.”

Faldo and Harrington’s advice is something we can all easily stick to, and it can see huge improvements to our games!