How to Make More Birdies

Improve your iron game
I use these two drills to sharpen my full irons and place the ball where I want it on the green.

Drill 1 - The curve game

I prefer to hit the ball right to left, but my goal is to always leave the ball right of the hole. To practice this, I divide each side of the green into thirds (with the flag in the middle). If I leave the ball inside the outer third on the right, I give myself one point. For the middle third on the right I give myself three, and for the third closest to the hole it's five points. If I miss to the left of the hole, I deduct one point for the inner third, and three and five for the middle and outer third. I play to 20, but you can set your own score.

Patrik Giordino

Patrik Giordino

Drill 2 - The plane test

This is simple: Stick a shaft in the ground and put an impact bag behind it. If your swing is on the proper plane, the bag will spin clockwise and end up to the right of the shaft. If you came in too steep, the bag will spin counter-clockwise and go left of the shaft.