5 quick home exercises that will help you hit the ball harder in no time

I recently ran a golf school for a large group of Aronimink members, working alongside their assistant, Tessa Teachman. Tessa, along with fellow Dewsweepers Morgan Hale and Connor Luke, worked together to help a large group of members make dramatic improvements in their communication in less than a day.

The changes didn't require anything drastic from a physical standpoint. They all come down to helping the players get a new feel for what the club can do when you get out of the way and stop working against it. Most newbies don't need a realignment, they just need to get the ground in the right place to get solid contact, and do it with a good pivot. That's all the battle for a large percentage of golfers.

In school (and with my regular students) I find that disability is more important than the design of what you are working on when it comes to development. Give a player something easy to do at home, in the gym or in the parking lot before a round, and almost all of them will commit to doing it — and do it well enough to make a real difference.

Take these five exercises we used in school and incorporate them into your schedule this weekend and I promise you by Sunday afternoon you will be hitting solid shots. None of these exercises require a bucket of balls or a trip to the gym. You can run all five in your living room or backyard. You'll get the ball down your swing more consistently, connect harder, drive it farther, and have more control over how it swings.

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1. Find your balance

Before you can do anything else properly, you need to get the proper hang at your waist so your hips can rotate and load instead of sliding. Establish your posture and check that the base of your spine is packed under the top of your spine – not leaning forward or hanging back. You should feel about a 50/50 distribution of your weight, evenly balanced between your feet. Get that feeling right at address, and everything below becomes easier.

2. Stabilize your lower body

Most golfers move their swing side to side instead of swinging – sliding backwards on the way back and on the way down. When your lower body slides like that, it's almost impossible to get the same bottom position twice. Stand on two small balance discs so that your base is slightly unstable. Hold the stick to your chest and do a slow back and forth. The instability under you will not allow you to eat or slide; your body has no choice but to stay focused while turning.

3. Add a twist to your forward swing

If you always stick to your back foot and never turn your upper body towards the ball, you will never get the low point of your swing in front of it, where it should be. Grab a light resistance band and stretch it so your arms are fully extended at your sides – like you're about to hug someone. Get into your golf stance, then turn your shoulders fully and move fully, all without allowing the band to move slowly. That tension is what teaches your upper body to keep rotating instead of stopping.

4. Keep your spine tilted

This one will feel strange the first time you try it, but the results appear quickly. Hold the bar against your chest as you did in tip 2, and this time watch the angle it makes with the ground as you go back and forth. If you maintain the spine tilt you had at address, that club stays at a constant angle the entire way. It loses its position, and will move along the ground. Come up, and it will go straight. Use the club as your mirror, and keep that angle closed.

5. Push down to rotate the hips

The last piece is learning to use the ground to rotate the hips while standing, instead of standing or leaning into the shot. Use that simple exercise band and have a partner in it. Grasp each end with one hand, and start going backwards as if you were pulling a lawnmower with your right hand (route). Push down, and don't let the band pull you forward! Now start lowering by pulling with your left hand. The pull from the band forces your hips to actually rotate instead of standing up or through contact.