Drills to make certain things automatic

Question
Ironically, my short game in the past six weeks has gotten much better (including the ability to get out of sandtraps and I did pretty good Friday at the practice green).  When I got to the golf course Friday all hell broke loose (fortunately I was playing by myself).  I teed off with a hybrid one iron for the first shot and hit it pretty straight but got only about 180 yards out of it (20 years ago when I played a lot of golf I could get 260 yards out .  Then I seemed to develop a nasty hook with the short irons (including the wedge).  The one iron I pretty much was able to hit consistently but it felt like hitting cement.  Later on in the day I tried my 1/4 swing maneuver and that seemed to straighten my short irons out and I actually hit the back of the green on a 137 yard par 3 with an 8 iron.

Slowly but surely on Sunday I did some practice (using the nerf ball) with the short irons and straightened them out.  I found the culprit was my follow-through.  I also started hitting the six iron hybrid and I got to the point where (with a short backswing) I could launch the ball pretty good and it felt effortless. Even the one iron started feeling effortless.

This morning I took the Cobra driver over to the schoolyard.  Initially I was topping the ball but after awhile I was able to launch it from a plush lie STRAIGHT.  

This afternoon I took the Nitro Blaster driver (with a 460CC head) and eventually was able to launch the ball after finding out I had to tee it up about 1 1/2 inches to get it to launch.  The only thing that felt uncomfortable with this one is it seems like my wrists wanted to break too early on the followthrough.

I'll try the drill with the tee.  

I also need a good drill to slow my backswing down.  It has been pointed out about 11 years ago that my backswing was too fast.



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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
I emailed you quite some time ago about a problem where I was hitting the short irons pretty consistent but hooking the middle irons and topping the woods.

Hitting it straight nowadays comes under the heading of minor stuff.  Ball position is a non-issue (I pretty much play the short irons and hybrids at the center or close to center) and sometimes even can do a hard pan lie with the 3 iron slightly right of center. I can even hit a hybrid one iron off the ground.  Still a bit uncomfortable with the woods, although I have a King Cobra stainless steel driver that I can launch from the ground off a plush lie (when things are going right).

I did have a problem with a real nasty hook in general but I attributed that to follow through (whipping the club around as I came through the ball).  

There are a few things I have to consciously think about.  I'd like to know if you have any drills I could try so that correcting the below is more or less automatic.

First is being "on plane" during the backswing. Once in a while I will go "over the top" (upright backswing path). I find it easier to stay on plane with short and middle irons, but the woods are the issue (it feels a bit uncomfortable).

The second is lifting the body or the club during follow through, as opposed to sweeping through the ball.  This results in topped shots.

The third: once in a while I will strike the ground too hard and lose a lot of power. This will happen with the woods and occasionally the long irons The ball will have a pretty high trajectory (but straight). It feels like I am hitting cement and my hands will sting a bit.

I have to think about shifting the weight off the right foot on the downswing.

When I was at the driving range a couple weeks ago, someone pointed out I was too fast on the backswing.

I also have a training aid: a Nerf golf ball. They fly like a regular golf ball but with 1/4 the distance.  What I find out is that if I do a modified chip shot with any club (I take about 1/4 of a backswing using a body turn) everything seems to fall in place and I launch the ball effortlessly. I can even do this with my feet together. If I take a regular swing right off the bat without doing this maneuver, I get all these little anomalies I mentioned.  When I hit the ball properly, you could probably describe my swing similar to that of Arnold Palmer (short backswing). Obviously it is not convenient to do this thing at the golf course.

Is there a such thing as too much practice? I think maybe the culprit was that certain bad habits could have been ingrained at the driving range about 6 weeks ago. What happened when I came away is that my right arm would be sore at the elbow.  I'm sort of shying away from the driving range at this time.

A good six iron for me is about 170 yards.  I also found out recently that I hit a hybrid six iron pretty consistently. I've hit the driver close to 300 yards on occasion (I did hit it consistently and I sliced it)and was pretty close to 250 yards with a 3 wood up until about 6 weeks ago.  


-----Answer-----
Lou:
On plane during the backswing.  Simply swing your hands over the right shoulder.  The swing plane with a driver will be more rounded than it is with a wedge.  If you swing the driver upright in the backswing, you're in trouble.  A good rule of thumb is to swing the club back with your arms and hands and make sure your hands are opposite your right shoulder at the top.  That is the correct swing plane.  As far as lifting the club through impact, place a tee 3 inches in front of your ball and make sure you hit that tee as well.  The golf club (head) must be moving lower or level as it goes through the impact area.  If it is coming up, you top it or hit it thin.  Picture hitting the ball as low as you can.  The high trajectory with hitting the ground too hard sometimes in poor hand action.  The bottom of your club (trailing edge) is thumping the ground and if grass allows the clubface to slip under the ball, too much loft is added and you hit it real high.  It sounds Lou like you need to work alot on the follow through.  Concentrate on working past the ball to a better finish.  As far as too much practice.  Absolutely not.  You can never practice too much.  What you can do is practice bad habits, and then practicing too much is a one way ticket to quitting.  Make sure you are working on the right stuff, then keep working as hard as you can.  Sounds like you are doing well Lou.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member

Answer
Lou:
Let's not worry what someone said about your backswing 11 years ago.  By the way, very seldom in my teaching career have I seen someone swing too fast.  It feels that way and it feels like nothing is timed very well, just make sure to work on your transition.........the transition from the top of the backswing to the start of the forward swing (some call it the downswing).  I like to feel as though gravity is what starts the club down.  We want to make that transition smooth.  If you swing the club back real fast, it will feel real jerky starting forward.  I like to encourage one's tempo and swing speed, I don't like to mess with the way they do things.  But, if you can be aware of making that smoother, it really seems to aid in developing good timing and balance.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member