High shots
Drills to Improve High Shots
Use focused drills to build launch, clean contact, and distance control for shots that need to land softly.
Drill 1: the high-finish ladder
Hit three wedges with the same club: waist-high finish, chest-high finish, then full high finish. Notice how the ball flight changes. The goal is not to force height with your hands; it’s to match swing length and finish to trajectory.
Repeat the ladder with a pitching wedge, then a 9-iron. You’ll learn which clubs naturally give you the window you want.
Drill 2: towel carry
Put a towel, alignment stick cover, or safe marker several yards in front of the ball. Your task is to fly the ball over it and land it near a target. Start close, then move the obstacle farther away.
Key checkpoints:
- Ball launches cleanly, not bladed.
- Finish stays balanced.
- Divot, if any, is shallow and after the ball.
Drill 3: three-window practice
Pick a target and hit low, medium, and high versions with the same wedge. This teaches control instead of one-dimensional height. The high shot should feel like more loft and finish, not panic.
Coach’s tip: If the high version only works one out of five times, make the window less ambitious until contact improves.
Putting it in focus
When you’re training a higher flight, FocusGolf can help separate a real pattern from a pretty finish. The app runs on Wear OS, Apple Watch, and Garmin, records swings automatically from the watch, and reports tempo, speed, consistency, transition, and motion data. Compare the swings that launch softly with the ones that skid low, and you’ll start to recognize the motion that sends the ball up without flipping at it.
Quick recap
Good high-shot drills give you a launch window and a measurable task. Work from short swings to fuller swings, keep the finish tall, and track which feels actually produce height.