How to improve your golf swing: simple tips that actually work

Updated October 2026 for DeepSwing 3.3 on iPhone and 1.4 on Android.

You do not need more golf tips. You probably have a hundred saved already, and half of them contradict the other half. If you want to improve your golf swing, the part that works is less exciting: find the one change that matches your miss, practice it with one drill, and check on video whether the change really happened.

Most golfers skip that last step, and a change that feels huge is often invisible on camera. Below you get a table that links each miss to its likely cause, twelve tips, and a ten-minute routine we call the Two-Swing Proof.

The routine uses DeepSwing because it closes the loop fastest. You can run the same loop with any camera and a notebook. It just takes longer. If you want to follow along on the range, install DeepSwing from the App Store or Google Play now; the yearly plan starts with a 7-day free trial.

Start with your miss, not with a tip

Every tip online fixes somebody's swing; your ball tells you whether it fixes yours. Two facts from launch monitor data make reading it simpler. The ball starts close to where the clubface points at impact, and it curves away from the club path whenever face and path do not match. TrackMan explains both in its guides to face angle and face to path.

So the classic slice, starting left and bending right for a right-hander, is a face open to a path that cuts across the ball from out to in. The two feed each other. A golfer who keeps leaving the face open learns to swing further left to keep the ball in play, and the further left the path goes, the more the ball curves.

The table is for a right-handed golfer. Left-handers swap left and right; in the app you don't have to, because the feedback uses the handedness in your profile.

Pick the row that describes your most common bad shot, not your worst one, and stay with it for at least a week. Path, face, posture and weight shift in one bucket of balls is how golfers end up changing everything and fixing nothing.

12 golf swing tips that hold up on the course

1. Lay down two sticks: one for aim, one for ball position

One stick on the target line just outside the ball, the second across it, pointing at the ball. A lot of swing problems are aim problems. Lay a club across your shoulders at address and check that it runs parallel to the stick, because feet can be square while the shoulders point 10 yards left (the alignment stick basics are worth two minutes). If your feet and shoulders point right of the target, the swing learns to come over the top to get the ball back on line, and you have built a slice without changing anything else.

For ball position: wedges and short irons in the middle of your stance, mid irons about a ball forward of center, driver opposite the inside of your lead heel. This ball position chart shows the same progression club by club. Test changes one ball-width at a time.

2. Check your grip before you rebuild your swing

The grip mostly controls the clubface. With a neutral lead hand you see two to three knuckles at address, and the V between thumb and index finger of each hand points somewhere between your chin and your trail shoulder. Slicers usually benefit from turning both hands a little away from the target, hookers from the opposite. Golf Monthly has a clear explanation of what a neutral grip looks like.

None of DeepSwing's checks grade the grip, so do this one by eye or with a photo. Change it in small steps and expect it to feel strange for a few sessions.

3. Get your posture inside the band

Start too upright or too bent over and you have to change posture mid-swing to find the ball, which rarely happens the same way twice. From down-the-line, DeepSwing measures your forward bend from the hips at address (default band 20 to 40 degrees) and the hang of your arms (80 to 100 degrees). Both shift a little with the club. If you are outside them, fix that before you touch the backswing.

A down-the-line setup check in DeepSwing: 40 degrees of forward bend with an iron, inside the default band, so the cue reads "Great address tilt".

4. Practice at 70 to 80 percent until contact is boring

Full speed hides faults for a few swings, then makes them bigger. Practice at a speed where you can hold your finish every time.

Worried that smooth means short? Measure it. Filmed face-on, DeepSwing reads clubhead and ball speed at impact from the video, no radar needed, so you can compare three smooth drivers with three hard ones. On Android this needs Record with the rear camera (the Speed button starts and stops on its own); on iPhone every capture mode works. Details on our golf swing speed page.

5. Count your tempo

Rush the transition and the club gets thrown out over the top, the face stays open and the strike wanders. DeepSwing's tempo ratio compares the time from setup to the top with the time from the top to impact. The default band is 2:1 to 4:1, and around 3:1 is typical. Below 2:1 the backswing is usually hurried, above 4:1 it tends to stall at the top. The 3:1 idea goes back to John Novosel's Tour Tempo measurements of tour players, and PGA.com explains how to find a rhythm and tempo that fits your game.

A slow "one, two" on the way back and "three" at the ball makes the backswing clearly longer than the downswing. Say it out loud on the range. Nobody is listening.

6. Keep the takeaway wide

For the first two feet or so, chest, arms and club move away together. When the shaft is parallel to the ground, the clubhead should be roughly in line with your hands or slightly outside them, seen from down-the-line. Snatching the hands inside early is where many over-the-top swings begin, because the club has to be rerouted at the top.

7. Control the sway, but don't freeze your head

Some head movement is normal. A big slide away from the target is not, because it moves the low point and you need a perfect slide back to hit the ball first. From face-on, DeepSwing flags a backswing sway of more than 0.40 times your shoulder width and head movement above 14 percent. Drill: push an alignment stick into the ground just outside your trail foot and turn back without bumping it with your hip.

8. Pause at the top (in practice only)

Swing to the top, hold for one full second, then start down with your lower body. The pause takes away the rushed transition that starts so many over-the-top moves. Golf Monthly shows a similar transition drill if you want a second variation. Ten pause swings, five normal ones, film the last.

9. Use a towel to find your low point

Lay a small towel about a hand's width (4 inches, 10 cm) behind the ball and hit irons without touching it, starting with hip-high to hip-high swings. Clip the towel and your low point is behind the ball. DeepSwing's hanging back check looks at the same problem from face-on: by impact your hips should have moved at least 0.06 times your shoulder width toward the target.

10. Hold your finish for a count of three

Weight on the lead foot, belt buckle facing the target, trail heel up, still standing three seconds later. If you can't hold it, you swung at the ball instead of through it, or faster than you can control.

11. Keep your hip depth through impact

Early extension means the hips move toward the ball in the downswing and the chest stands up with them. If you block one and hook the next, check this first. The Titleist Performance Institute found it in 67 percent of the more than 90,000 golfers it has screened, links it to blocks, hooks and poor contact, and names trouble with a full deep squat as a frequent cause in its article on early extension.

From down-the-line, DeepSwing measures the hip depth you lose by the time the shaft is parallel to the ground in the downswing (default limit 0.18 times shoulder width) and how much your posture changes (at most 4 degrees). Drill: set up with your backside just touching a wall. Swing slowly so your trail glute touches it at the top and your lead glute through impact. If that feels impossible, it may be mobility, and the golf fitness section in the app is a better start than the range.

12. Film one swing before and one after

"Feels better" and "is better" are not the same thing. Film the same club from the same spot before and after the drill, and compare only the thing you worked on.

The Two-Swing Proof: ten minutes with DeepSwing

This loop runs the same way in the iPhone app from the App Store and the Android app on Google Play. You need a phone, a tripod or a bag to lean it on, and a club you hit reasonably well, usually a 7-iron. The full results, the training and compare are part of DeepSwing Pro (prices in the FAQ).

1. Set up the camera. Phone upright at hip height, 2 to 3 meters (7 to 10 feet) away, zoom between 0.5x and 1x, your whole body and the club in the frame. Mark the tripod spot with a tee so the second swing is filmed from the same place.
2. Record the before swing with 1 Swing. Pick your club in Record first, because 1 Swing uses the last club you chose. Tap 1 Swing and walk to the ball. When you stand still at address it arms itself, records without a countdown, stops after the swing, trims the clip and analyzes it. On iPhone you can also start it from the Apple Watch.
3. Read three things, in this order. The Swing Score (red below 60, yellow 60 to 79, green from 80), the score breakdown, which shows where the points were lost, and the most important fix. That fix is your job for today. Ignore the other checks for now.
4. Train that one fix. Open that check on the swing and choose its training, or tap "Train this fix" on the Most Important Fix card on Home. You get the matching drill with a video and step-by-step instructions. Make five to ten slow rehearsals without a ball, then hit three balls at 70 percent.
5. Record the after swing. Same spot, same club, same view, 1 Swing again.
6. Compare the two side by side. Star the before swing first; the compare picker has a Favorites filter, so it is one tap away. Look at the check you trained, not at the total score.

If the check moved the right way, hit ten more balls with the same feel and film the last one. If it did not move after three attempts, don't grind: slow down, shorten the swing to hip height, or pick another drill for that check from the Training Library.

About the score: a new move often looks worse before it looks better, and the total can drop a few points while the check you care about improves. In the first week, trust that check more than the number.

Which view for which fault

DeepSwing detects the view on its own. Your job is to film the one that can see your fault.

• Down-the-line (camera behind you, on your target line) shows swing plane, over the top, the takeaway, posture at address, early extension, posture loss, a flying elbow and hand depth at the top. More on down-the-line analysis.
• Face-on (camera opposite your chest) shows sway, head movement, weight shift, hanging back, casting, shaft lean and a chicken wing at impact. It is also the only view that measures speed. More on face-on analysis.

Tempo is measured in both. If you don't know your fault yet, start with down-the-line, where path and posture problems show up first.

How to read the clubhead trail

DeepSwing finds the clubhead in the video and draws its path: blue for the backswing, yellow for the downswing, violet for the follow-through, red for the ball flight. Swing plane, over the top, shaft lean and casting are measured from that path, not only from your body.

From down-the-line, over the top shows as a downswing line that starts above and outside the backswing and cuts across it. Stuck inside is the opposite: the downswing drops well below the backswing and comes in under your hands. The trail explorer in the in-app guide draws these and other patterns next to the neutral shape.

The trail screen itself warns that blur, low light, glare or a dark background can make it miss the clubhead. Believe it, and film in daylight or a bright bay.

The clubhead trail screen: the path of the clubhead through the whole swing, drawn over the video.

A weekly practice plan

In our view, two structured 40-minute sessions a week do more than five sessions of beating balls. PGA.com's five keys to practicing with a purpose make the same point, and GOLF.com collected the research on range practice that sticks. Here is how we would split one session.

Rather not plan it yourself? The Training Coach asks three questions (goal, equipment, level) and builds a weekly plan with drills. Our golf swing drills article has more drills for each fault.

Then check it on the course

A range swing does not always survive the first tee. With DeepSwing Pro you can record a 9- or 18-hole round: find the course by GPS or name, set how many practice swings to skip (0 to 5), and the next swing is saved as the shot, analyzed in the background and assigned to the hole. On iPhone one tap on the Lock Screen opens the camera; on Android a notification has a "Record shot" button. You get a Swing Score per hole and per round, kept apart from your practice stats. It rates the swing, not your strokes.

Worked example: "My driver slices"

Film down-the-line. If the over the top check fails and the yellow downswing line sits above the blue backswing, the path is your first job. Sticks down to rule out aim, then pause-at-the-top drives at 70 percent with a headcover about 6 inches (15 cm) outside the ball and slightly behind it. An over-the-top swing hits the headcover. A swing from the inside misses it.

Film one swing before the 15 balls and one after. If the path improves but the ball still curves right, the face is next, so go back to tip 2. More on our fix a slice page and in the driver swing article.

Your next range session is the best time to try this. Get DeepSwing for iPhone or Android, start the free trial, film one 1 Swing before your first drill and one after, and look only at the check you trained.

FAQ

Do I still need a golf coach if I film my swing?

A good coach is still the fastest route to the right change, especially for beginners or a big rebuild. Video makes the days between lessons count: you see whether the move your coach asked for really happens, and you can send them a slow-motion overlay video with lines and remarks.

How long does a swing change take?

Longer than anyone wants. We would give one change two to three weeks of regular practice before judging it on the course, and change the drill before giving up on the change.

Does DeepSwing work on Android?

Yes. The Android app (1.4.1, October 2026) records, analyzes, runs 1 Swing and Multi Swing, compares swings and has the Training Coach. Clubhead speed on Android needs Record or its hands-free Speed button with the rear camera, because 1 Swing, Multi Swing and Live Coach film at 60 fps there. Moving phase markers by hand and the Apple Watch app are iPhone only.

What does DeepSwing cost?

Downloading, recording, importing and the analysis itself are free, and so are the swing library and the interactive guide. The full results, compare, Live Coach, golf rounds, export and the training tools need DeepSwing Pro. Reference prices in the eurozone in October 2026: about EUR 59.99 a year with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers, EUR 9.99 a month, or EUR 149.99 once for lifetime access. Prices vary by country and store, and the paywall shows the binding price.