Clip the Tee
Why this drill
The fastest cure for topped and fat shots is to stop thinking about the ball and start thinking about the tee under it. Brushing the tee out of the ground trains a shallow, repeating low point — the single contact skill that separates a 25 handicap from an 18.
Setup
A short iron or 7-iron. On grass, press a tee almost flush with the turf; on mats, use the shortest rubber tee or a tee pushed through the mat's seam so only the head shows. No ball for the first half of the drill.
The drill
Ten swings at the empty tee: the only goal is to clip it cleanly out of the ground (or tick the rubber tee) with a smooth, waist-high-to-waist-high swing. Listen for the click. Then put a ball on the low tee and hit ten more, still swinging at the tee, not the ball — the ball simply gets in the way. Finish with five balls off the turf or mat, keeping the identical brushing feel. Count clean strikes out of the last fifteen.
One thought to take with you
Swing at the tee. The ball is just standing where the tee lives.