Top Speed Golf

The Only 5 Golf Swing Pieces That Really Matter

Navigation

Welcome to Clay Ballard's Top Speed Golf Instruction

I founded Top Speed Golf in 2015.

Here's what it's all about...

When you analyze the swings of any top player in the world -- whether it's Jim Furyk, Adam Scott, or anyone else -- there are 5 aspects they all have roughly in common:

1. Stable & Fluid Spine

2. Power Turn

3. Top Speed Lag

4. Compression Line

5. Straight-Line Release

I've found that these 5 pieces will give you 95% of your results.

My Top Speed Golf system teaches you those 5 aspects in a step-by-step, course-based fashion.

"Does it work?" you may be wondering...

Click here to get started with the 5 components of the Top Speed Golf System!

Or check out all my latest content below...

clay 11111 smallerSome of My Highlights...
Handicap: -4
Top Swing Speed: 126.8
Lowest Round: 61
Given Over 6000 Golf Lessons
Instructed Many Professional Golfers
Played Division 1 College Golf and Mini Tours
Most Consecutive Birdies: 6
Certified FlightScope Professional
Swing Catalyst Certified
T.P.I. Certified
Named by Golf Digest as a top instructor in Florida
FS_Pro_logo-03
Level-1-CleanHorizontalDark

SS002. How to Hit from a Downhill Lie

In this video, you’ll learn how to hit from a downhill lie.

Downhill lies can be incredibly frustrating…

Come in at a bad angle and top it 10 feet in front of you.

Another common mishit is not adjusting for the downhill angle and drilling the shot into the ground.

Don’t let these tricky downhill lies ruin your round!

In this video, you’ll learn how to make pure contact with the ball…

And get the direction and distance you need.

Here are some crucial tips for hitting from a downhill lie…

  • Widen your stance for added stability,
  • Match your shoulders to the slope of the hill,
  • Line up with the ball more towards the middle of your stance,
  • Club up a bit to increase your loft.

One more thing…

Be cautious hitting longer clubs like your 3 iron because the lower loft…

…combined with the down slope…

…may cause the ball to jam into the ground and ruin your distance.

Watch this video now to avoid costly mishits from a downhill lie…

And start crushing your shots from this tricky lie!

SH012. Wedge Distance Game | Towel Drill

In this video, you’ll learn a fun and effective wedge distance game to make more birdies…

And lower your scores dramatically.

Most of your birdies will come on par 5s where you’re close to the green after hitting your second shot.

But let’s get greedy…

I want you to make tons more birdies on par 4s where your second shot is within 120 yards or so.

To get better control with these shots…

…I have a fun “Towel Drill” for you.

This drill will help you get a better feel for your longer wedges.

Start off by laying a towel about 20 yards away and see how many shots it takes you to hit the towel on the fly.

As you get better with this drill, move the towel back in 10 yard increments.

This will really help you with your distance control.

But what about the actual swing?

Here are a few tips for your wedge shots…

  1. Keep your body moving through contact but avoid getting tons of lag and whip that you would need for a full swing.
  2. Make sure your hips, shoulders, and arms all work together.
  3. Get minimal wrist set in the backswing.
  4. Adjust your backswing by the distance you need to hit (longer distances require a longer backswing)
  5. Hold your finish to focus on where your ball lands so you can get a good feel for distance control.

Watch the video now to use this wedge distance game for developing precise distance control…

And make more birdies with your short game!

D011. Golf Acceleration Drill

In this video, you’ll discover a great golf acceleration drill.

First, here’s a quick question for you…

How long of a backswing would you need to get tons of distance with your irons?

You’re probably thinking that to get crazy distance, you need a super long backswing.

Well, that’s not necessarily true…

Sure, a big Power Turn, as I call it, does help you get more distance…

But most of your acceleration isn’t due to a super long backswing.

The drill in this video will help you focus on the moves that create the lion’s share of your acceleration.

You’ll improve your timing and rhythm and get more distance.

There are 3 steps to this drill…

First, take a half backswing.

Make sure you get a big shoulder turn going back.

Second, open your hips at at the start of the downswing.

Really let your hips fire and push into the ground up and away as you make contact with the ball.

Third, finish with a full follow through.

Feel like your right shoulder is nice and high…

And let your arms extend fully.

Put in around 100 half swing reps then ease into a fuller backswing.

Watch this video now to discover this great golf acceleration drill…

And pick up crazy speed in your swing!

SS001. Golf Tip | How to Hit a Ball Below Your Feet

In this video, you’ll discover how to hit a ball below your feet.

Hitting the ball solidly when it’s below your feet can be a tricky shot.

With a severe lie, you’re ball will slice off to the right.

And if you aim way left, it’s common to over-adjust and pull the sucker.

Well, I have some good news for you…

Hitting a ball that’s below your feet is simpler than you think.

In the first part of the video, you’ll learn what’s happening with the overall trajectory of your shot.

For a well hit shot that’s flat with the ground, the ball trajectory is straight (or at least land straight to your target).

For a sidehill lie with the ball below your feet, your club will tilt and your ball will shoot off to the right.

There are 2 main issues you need to address when the ball is below your feet…

  1. reaching down to make contact, and
  2. making sure you know where your ball will end up.

Since the ball is below your feet, it can be difficult to reach the ball.

Here are a few quick tips…

Widen your stance to improve your balance.

Next, bend down with your chest and squat down a bit to get your club head to the ball.

Where do you need to aim?

For beginners to intermediate players, I recommend aiming slightly to the left (perhaps the left side of the fairway or left side of the green).

Now, if you’re a more advanced player, aim at the target and hit a draw shot.

What about distance?

If you’re aiming a bit left of the target and letting the ball fade in, make sure you realize that you’re likely going to lose some distance.

So, if your shot would normally require an 8 iron, use a 7 iron to make up the distance loss.

And one more tip…

Your club plane will be more vertical for hitting balls below your feet.

That’s natural.

As a quick visual lesson…

Imagine the ball was well above your feet, let’s say waist high.

In that case, you’d need to swing with a way flatter plane to make contact with the ball.

The opposite is happening when the ball is below your feet.

Watch this video now to take the mystery out of how to hit a ball below your feet…

And confidently strike solid shots from this tricky lie!

G023. Stop Rushing the Downswing Trick

In this video, you’ll learn a trick to stop rushing the downswing.

Rushing the downswing is, after all, one of them most common pitfalls in all of golf.

At the top of the swing, it’s tempting to swing out of your shoes and try to crush the ball.

But will that help you smoke your drives?

Well, what often happens when you try to swing at light speed is that your fundamentals break down causing worse contact and a loss of distance.

In this video, you’ll discover how to smooth out your transition… yet still get tons of distance.

You’ll get tips for a smooth and powerful swing.

Tip #1: Load up

This is referred to as a “Power Turn” in the Top Speed Golf System.

In the backswing, your hips need to turn about 45 degrees…

And get your shoulders to turn at least 90 degrees.

This position allows plenty of space for you to make a smooth downswing through impact.

Tip #2: Shallow out your club in the downswing

A common problem with golfers is rushing into the downswing.

This makes it difficult to get your club on the correct path, causing you to come over the top.

To shallow out your club in the downswing, allow your left wrist to bow.

This will put your club on plane so you can whip your club through impact.

Summary…

Avoid falling into the distance trap of hurrying up your downswing.

Instead, focus on getting a full turn in the backswing…

And shallow out your club at the start of the downswing to get on a more powerful swing plane.

Watch this video now to stop rushing the downswing and still produce plenty of distance!

SA009. Stop Casting and Start Crushing the Ball! | Student Review

In this video, you’ll discover how to stop casting and start crushing the ball.

The video takes a close look at Top Speed Golf student Cliff’s swing…

…to demonstrate what’s happening when you cast.

You’ll also get some great tips to get rid of casting once and for all…

And to get more lag and hit with more distance.

First, you’ll notice how Cliff is coming out of his posture a bit.

To combat this, feel like your left shoulder is going down while your right shoulder is going up.

Also, in the backswing, make sure you get the weight on the inside of your right foot.

This will help you load up for more power in the downswing.

In the video, you’ll see a great clip of Rory McIlroy’s swing to demonstrate the shoulder steepness…

And how I want you to properly shift your weight.

Next, make sure you don’t push out your right hand at the start of the downswing.

In Rory’s swing, you’ll see how his club flattens out a bit which allows him to whip his club through impact with tons of speed.

In summary,

  1. Backswing: make sure you maintain your posture, keeping your shoulders at a steep angle and transfer your weight to the inside of your right foot.
  2. Downswing: let your club flatten out a bit and get your right elbow closer to your side.

For All Access Members, make sure you check out the following videos…

1.2 Easy Golf Lag Drill: Stick Behind the Ball

2.2 How to Increase Club Head Speed | Whip the Club Like a Clothes Hanger!

Watch this video now to stop casting and start crushing the ball!

C007. How to Shape Golf Shots Trick

In this video, you’ll discover a trick for how to shape golf shots.

Shaping your shots is incredibly important…

But what happens when your nice fade fails you and turns into a huge banana slice?

Well, the best way to combat an out-of-control slice is to understand exactly what to do to hit a draw.

This will allow you to quickly adjust your swing and avoid having one bad shot snowball into a disastrous round.

Knowing how to draw and fade your shots will put you in a much better position to adjust your swing during a round.

If you’re anything like me, you probably want a solid swing that behaves perfectly every time.

But here’s the rub…

In reality, that never happens.

Even top pros don’t hit it perfectly every shot.

The key is that they can quickly adjust and straighten out their shots on command.

In this video, you’ll get 2 key tricks to help you hit draw and fade shots…

So the next time your swing goes wayward, you can quickly make the necessary adjustments to fix the issues.

The first trick is for a draw…

Close the face of your club about 45 degrees.

If you were to take your normal swing, the ball would shoot way left with a hook.

However, the goal of this drill is to get you to swing your club on a more in-to-out path…

So to hit it with draw, you’ll need to open up your hips and get a lot of forward shaft lean.

Practice hitting these shots and focus on hitting with an in-to-out path.

Next, practice hitting some shots with your club face in its normal position, but remember to swing with the in-to-out path that you hit with earlier.

This trick will help you develop the feel for hitting a draw.

My second trick will help you hit a fade.

This time, you’ll do the opposite of what you did for hitting a draw.

Open your club face and hit with an out-to-in club path.

This extreme practice drill will help you get the feeling of hitting a fade.

Once you nail this out-to-in club path, adjust your club face back to neutral and practice hitting shots with the out-to-in path.

Watch this video now to discover how to shape golf shots…

So you can fine tune your swing and get the ball flight you want on the course!

C006. Golf Tip for Forward Shaft Lean

In this video, you’ll learn a great golf tip for forward shaft lean.

Why is that important?

You need to get more forward shaft lean in order to hit the ball solidly like the pros.

PGA Tour players are delofting their clubs.

For a pitching wedge with about 45 degrees of loft, at impact they’re taking off around 15% of the loft.

This delofting of the club allows for more solid ball striking.

However, many amateur golfers are flipping the club and not hitting with any shaft lean.

You can make contact with the ball, but you’re not going to get much compression on the ball.

Here’s my tip that’ll help you get more shaft lean at impact…

First, make sure your hips and shoulders are open at impact.

Your hips should be open by around 45 degrees…

And your shoulders by around 20 to 30 degrees.

Being open at impact makes it easier to hit with forward shaft lean.

If your hips and shoulders are closed, it’s really difficult to get any forward shaft lean.

Practice this feeling by pausing your swing near impact and checking your hips and shoulders.

Also, make sure your left wrist is protracted out for forward shaft lean.

Do about 30 reps to ingrain this feeling.

Now you’ll be in a good position to compress your shots.

Next, practice full swings.

Watch this video now for a brilliant golf tip for forward shaft lean…

And compress the heck out of your shots!

NSA05. Golf Draw Tip | Bowling Ball Release

In this video, you’ll discover a fantastic golf draw tip.

This tip is great if you’re sick and tired of slicing the ball…

And you’ve tried everything to get the ball to turn over from right to left.

In the video, you’ll learn how to fix your slice…

…with a bowling ball drill!

That’s right…

The bowling ball drill will help you release the club with the help of a bowling visual.

First, imagine you’re in a bowling alley getting ready to roll.

As you lay down the ball, you release your right wrist twisting to the left.

This creates the right to left spin on the ball.

See where I’m going with this?

Yep.

This motion with your right hand is similar to your right hand in the golf release.

As you swing a golf club, let your right hand roll over similar to when you’re bowling.

Throw your hands toward the right of the fairway to correct your out-to-in club path…

And roll your right wrist over as if you were releasing a bowling ball.

Watch this video and practice the bowling ball drill.

You’ll fix your slice…

And you’ll draw the ball every time!

D010. Increase Swing Speed | Left Hand Drill

In this video, you’ll get a great drill to increase swing speed.

First, you’ll see what you absolutely don’t want to do…

Gripping the club way too tight with your right hand destroys your swing speed…

And it causes you to cast the club and push it through contact.

To increase your swing speed, relax the right hand grip a bit…

And let the club accelerate so fast that your right hand will have trouble hanging on.

Grabbing on tight with the right hand is common for most of us…

So it’s going to take some work to train yourself not grip the club too hard.

I have a great drill to help you get the correct feeling and increase swing speed.

I want you to practice with your left arm only.

This may seem extreme, but it’s a great way to break the habit of squeezing too hard with your right hand.

Start the drill by gripping up on the club about five inches with your left hand…

And feel like you’re holding on with your bottom three fingers.

Get a little bend in your legs during the downswing and rise up as your club releases.

Here’s an extra tip…

As you begin the downswing, bow your left wrist a bit.

This will help square up your clubface for more consistent ball striking.

Now, start hitting some balls with the one arm drill, letting the club accelerate through contact.

Put in a hundred reps…

Then add your right hand on the club.

As you make a normal swing, you should start to rely less on your right hand.

Watch this video now to discover a great drill for increasing your swing speed!