BALANCE, rhythm and timing are all key elements often over looked for hitting great golf shots.

All golfers have hit shots after which they feel they have rushed their swings or have felt off balance during the shot or couldn’t feel the club head at impact.

A great way to improve your balance during your swing is to hold your finish at the end of the shot – as if you were waiting for your photo to be taken.

Practice next time you are at the range or even try this on the course.

Hit the shot and hold your finish until the ball has landed. You will be surprised on how well you hit the ball and how well you will keep your balance.

In the golf swing we are looking to produce an accelerating hit to the golf ball, to help you achieve this think ‘one, two, three’.

Take a few practice swings while counting ‘one, two’ in the backswing and ‘three’ in the through swing.

This 2:1 acceleration will give you the required rhythm to hit great shots.

Finally to improve your timing, turn the club upside down.

Hold the club on the shaft with the grip pointing down to the ground and make a few swings.

The idea behind this drill is to create a swishing noise with the club around the area you would hit a golf ball at the bottom of the swing.

This swishing noise is the club accelerating.

That is the feeling you want in your swing so turn the club the correct way and try to get the same feeling on the ball.

Review all of Simon’s tips at gazetteandherald.co.uk/sport/ golf_general/golf_tips