Left Handed Golf Drills: 12 Practice Drills to Lower Your Score

Every left-handed golfer has been there: you find a promising drill online, start reading through the steps, and then hit a wall. "Keep your left arm straight through impact." "Rotate your hips to the left." "The club should move from inside to out on the downswing." The instructions are written for right-handers, and mentally reversing every cue mid-swing is a recipe for frustration — and bad shots.

The problem is not that the drills themselves are wrong. Many of them are genuinely effective. The problem is translation. Lefty golfers make up roughly 8% of all players, yet close to 100% of instructional content defaults to the right-handed perspective. You end up spending mental energy decoding directions instead of actually grooving the correct movement patterns.

This article fixes that. Below are 12 left handed golf drills written natively for lefties — no translation required. Every direction, every body cue, every step-by-step instruction is framed as if you are standing at address with the ball to your right and swinging through to the left. Whether you are working on your driver, your irons, your short game, or your putting, these drills will give you something concrete and immediately usable to take to the range or the practice green.

How to Use These Drills

Structured practice beats mindless repetition every time. Before you start working through these drills, keep a few principles in mind. First, quality over quantity: 20 focused, intentional repetitions of a drill will do more for your game than 200 lazy swings. Pick one or two drills per session and commit to them fully rather than rushing through all 12 in one go.

Second, give each drill time to work. New movement patterns take repetition to stick. If a drill feels awkward on day one, that is normal — it means your body is being asked to do something different. Stick with it for at least three or four sessions before judging whether it is helping. Finally, always warm up before drilling. Spend five minutes with easy, smooth swings before working on anything technical. See the section at the bottom of this article for a suggested 30-minute practice routine that pulls these drills together.

Driving Drills for Left Handed Golfers

Drill 1: The Alignment Stick Path Drill

What it fixes: An out-to-in swing path — the most common cause of the lefty slice. This drill trains your club to approach the ball from the correct inside path.

What you need: Two alignment sticks (or two clubs laid on the ground), a driver or 5-iron.

How to do it:

1. Place one alignment stick on the ground pointing at your target, running just outside the ball.
2. Place a second stick angled inward, pointing roughly 15 degrees to the right of your target line — this creates a channel for your club to travel through on the downswing.
3. At address, the gap between the two sticks should frame the ideal path from inside to out.
4. Make slow, deliberate swings, focusing on swinging the club through the channel without hitting either stick.
5. Gradually build to full speed once you can consistently swing through the channel.

Reps: 15 slow swings, then 10 at full speed.

Drill 2: The Headcover Under the Right Arm Drill

What it fixes: A disconnected swing where the right arm (your trail arm as a lefty) lifts away from the body, causing inconsistency and loss of power.

What you need: A headcover or small towel, a mid-iron or driver.

How to do it:

1. Tuck a headcover under your right armpit at address.
2. Make your backswing, keeping the headcover in place by keeping your right arm connected to your body.
3. Swing through to impact, maintaining that connection until well past the ball.
4. If the headcover drops before impact, your right arm has disconnected too early.

Reps: 20 swings at 70% speed, focusing purely on keeping the headcover in place through impact.

Drill 3: The Slow Motion Finish Drill

What it fixes: Poor balance and an incomplete follow-through, both of which rob you of distance and consistency. Read more about the fundamentals behind a solid finish in our left handed swing fundamentals guide.

What you need: A driver, open space.

How to do it:

1. Take your normal address position.
2. Make a full swing at roughly 25% of your normal speed.
3. At the finish position, hold completely still for a full three seconds. Your weight should be entirely on your right foot, your hips and chest should face the target, and the club should be behind your head.
4. If you wobble or struggle to hold the finish, your balance throughout the swing broke down somewhere.
5. Gradually increase swing speed while still holding the finish for three seconds.

Reps: 15 swings, with a mandatory three-second hold at the finish on every single one.

Iron Drills for Left Handed Golfers

Drill 4: The Divot Direction Drill

What it fixes: Swing path errors with irons. Divots are one of the most honest feedback tools in the game — they tell you exactly where your club was heading at impact.

What you need: A 7-iron, a patch of turf or a mat that leaves marks.

How to do it:

1. Draw a line in the turf (or use a chalk line on a mat) pointing directly at your target.
2. Hit 10 iron shots, then examine your divots.
3. A divot pointing left of target indicates an out-to-in path (a slice path). A divot pointing right of target indicates an in-to-out path (a draw path). A divot pointing straight is ideal.
4. Use your divot feedback to make small adjustments — slightly more inside approach if divots are pointing left, a little more out-to-in if they are pointing right.

Reps: 10 shots, check divots, adjust, repeat for three rounds.

Drill 5: The Towel Under the Arms Drill

What it fixes: A wide, arms-only swing that leads to thin strikes and inconsistent contact. This drill builds a compact, body-driven iron swing.

What you need: A small towel, a 7-iron.

How to do it:

1. Fold a small towel and place it across your chest, trapping both arms against your body.
2. Make half-swings keeping both arms pinned to the towel throughout the swing.
3. Focus on rotating your torso to power the swing rather than lifting your arms.
4. Progress to three-quarter swings once you can keep the towel in place consistently.

Reps: 20 half-swings, then 15 three-quarter swings.

Drill 6: The Impact Bag Drill

What it fixes: A weak, scooping impact position. Left-handed golfers who scoop at the ball — flipping the wrists upward through impact — lose both distance and accuracy.

What you need: An impact bag (or a heavy duffel bag stuffed with towels), a 7-iron.

How to do it:

1. Place the impact bag where the ball would normally sit.
2. Take your address position and make your backswing.
3. Drive through into the bag, focusing on leading with your hands — your hands should be ahead of the bag at the moment of contact, not level with it or behind it.
4. Feel the compression of the bag. A strong impact position feels firm and forward; a scooping impact feels soft and powerless.

Reps: 25 strikes, pausing after each one to check your hand position relative to the bag at impact.

Drill 7: The One-Arm Iron Drill

What it fixes: Right arm (trail arm) weakness and passive through-swing. As a left-handed golfer, your right arm is your trail arm — it needs to be active and powerful through the ball.

What you need: A 7-iron, tee or ball.

How to do it:

1. Grip the club with your right hand only, placing your left hand behind your back.
2. Make controlled, three-quarter swings, hitting balls or tees off the ground.
3. Focus on keeping the right arm extended through impact and following through completely.
4. This builds awareness of how much your trail arm should be contributing to each shot.

Reps: 10 right-arm-only shots, then 10 two-handed shots to transfer the feeling.

Chipping Drills for Left Handed Golfers

The short game is where scores are made or broken. These three chipping drills for lefties cover the three most important elements: path, lead hand control, and trajectory management.

Drill 8: The Gate Drill

What it fixes: A wandering chip path that sends the ball offline. Consistent chipping requires a straight, repeatable swing path through the ball.

What you need: Two tees, a wedge or 9-iron, several balls.

How to do it:

1. Push two tees into the ground just wider than the width of your clubhead — one on each side of where the ball sits.
2. The tees form a "gate" that your clubhead must pass through cleanly both before and after impact.
3. Make chip shots through the gate. If you clip either tee, your path has deviated.
4. Focus on keeping the clubhead low to the ground and moving straight through the gate on every chip.

Reps: 20 chips through the gate, aiming at a specific target 10-20 yards away.

Drill 9: The Right-Hand-Only Chipping Drill

What it fixes: An overactive left hand (the trail hand for a lefty) that breaks down through impact, causing inconsistent chips. Your right hand (lead hand) should control the entire chipping motion.

What you need: A wedge, several balls, a target.

How to do it:

1. Grip the club with your right hand only. Place your left hand in your pocket or behind your back.
2. Chip 10 balls to a target, focusing on keeping the right wrist firm and flat through impact — no flipping or scooping.
3. The club should feel like it is being guided by your right hand and right forearm, not just the wrist.
4. After 10 right-hand-only chips, add your left hand back and try to replicate the same sensation.

Reps: 10 right-hand-only, then 15 two-handed chips while maintaining the same lead hand feel.

Drill 10: The Landing Spot Drill

What it fixes: Poor trajectory control and a lack of intentionality around where the ball lands. Most amateur lefty golfers chip to the hole rather than to a landing spot — this drill rewires that habit.

What you need: A wedge and a higher-lofted club (60-degree), several balls, a towel or coin.

How to do it:

1. Place a towel or coin on the green about one-third of the way between your ball and the hole — this is your landing spot.
2. Chip with the goal of landing the ball on or within one foot of the towel, not at the hole.
3. Repeat with different clubs to learn how far each club runs out after landing at the same spot.
4. Experiment with a 9-iron versus a 56-degree wedge landing in the same spot to see how run-out distance changes.

Reps: 15 chips with at least two different clubs, always aiming at the landing spot, not the hole.

Putting Drills for Left Handed Golfers

Putting is the great equalizer — left-handed and right-handed golfers stand on equal ground on the green. These two drills from our lefty putting tips guide target the two most fundamental putting skills: consistent strike and accurate path.

Drill 11: The Coin Under the Putter Face Drill

What it fixes: An inconsistent strike pattern on the putter face. Most missed putts are caused not by misread lines but by off-center contact that changes the ball's starting direction.

What you need: A putter, a coin (or small sticker), several balls.

How to do it:

1. Place a coin flat on the ground and position your ball directly on top of it, so the coin is centered beneath the ball.
2. Make your putting stroke. If you strike the ball from the sweet spot of the putter, the coin will stay in place or barely move.
3. If you strike from the toe or heel, the putter will catch the coin and spin it away — giving you instant feedback on your contact point.
4. Focus on keeping the putter face square through impact and contacting the ball at the center of the face every time.

Reps: 30 putts from 6 feet, aiming for zero coin movement on every stroke.

Drill 12: The Mirror Drill

What it fixes: Putting stroke path errors and alignment issues that you cannot see while you are putting. Most golfers have no idea how crooked their stroke path actually is until they see it in a mirror.

What you need: A putting mirror (a flat reflective training aid), a putter.

How to do it:

1. Place the putting mirror on the ground along your target line and set up to address with your eyes directly over it.
2. The mirror will reflect your eye position and putter path. Your eyes should be directly over the target line — not inside or outside it.
3. Make slow strokes, watching the mirror to check that the putter head moves straight back and straight through along the line.
4. Pay attention to whether your shoulders are open or closed at address — the mirror makes misalignment obvious.
5. Once your path and alignment are dialed in on the mirror, move to regular putting and try to replicate the same feel.

Reps: 5 minutes of mirror work before every putting practice session.

Building a Practice Routine

Now that you have 12 drills in your toolkit, the question is how to use them together. Here is a suggested 30-minute practice session that covers every part of the game without overwhelming you:

• Minutes 1-5 — Warm-up: Easy, smooth full swings at 50% speed. No drills, no targets. Just get the body moving.
• Minutes 5-12 — Driving drill: Pick one of the three driving drills and run through the full rep count. Rotate which drill you use each session.
• Minutes 12-20 — Iron drill: Choose one iron drill per session. The Impact Bag Drill and Divot Direction Drill are ideal for alternating sessions, as they give you both feel and feedback.
• Minutes 20-25 — Chipping drill: Run through the Landing Spot Drill on most days — it is the highest-value short game drill in this list. Rotate in the Gate Drill once a week.
• Minutes 25-30 — Putting drill: Five minutes with the Mirror Drill at the start of every putting session, followed by the Coin Drill for strike consistency.

Stick to this 30-minute structure two or three times per week and you will see measurable improvement within four to six weeks. The key is consistency — showing up regularly with focused intent beats occasional marathon sessions at the range. Pick your drills, commit to the reps, and trust the process. Left-handed golfers who practice smart do not just compete with right-handers — they beat them.