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i'm having trouble making consistent contact with the ball. i was at the range the other day, and maybe 4/10 balls i could make solid contact. but the other 6 they weren't so solid so either thinned, fat or lost yardage. i had a friend look at my swing to give me some feedback and he said i sway instead of turning my hips and that on the downswing my knees straighten a bit. anybody know any good practice exercises that will help me with this problem? thanks

I suffered with that.
I now concentrate on keeping my legs quite still on the backswing, this allows my torso to rotate rather than my legs. It stops my head dipping or coming up on the ball, allowing me to strike the ball much better.

Works for me, hope this helps.

yeah i was doing that, but whenever i make a mental note not to move my legs, i forget to turn my hips and i start to swing with my arms more

Generally, it is ok for your forward leg to move quite a bit, but your back leg should pretty much stay in place from address to near impact.

Try this ... take your normal address, and point your back knee slightly towards the target. So if you are a righty, your right knee and ankle should rotate slightly towards your left leg. I'm talking maybe between 1/2 and 1". This should put the weight on your right foot on the left side of the foot. Take swings making sure to keep these 2 feelings through the swing ... the knee slightly turned forward, and the weight on the inside of the foot. Keep your weight on the inside of the foot and you won't sway anymore.

take a folding chair and set up so the back of the chair sits/leans right on the back of your right hip. If you sway, you will knock the chair over. If you rotate your hip your body will just slide along the side of the chair not knocking it over.

You can do this with a lot of different things, but I think that a lawn chair is among the best -- light weight enough to fall over when you sway, but heavy enough that it's going to stay in place if you do everything on your backswing correctly.

Something else you could try: If your back foot is flared out now, then turn it in so that it is perpendicular with the target line.

thanks for the tips, Bignose i will definitely try that

also try putting your left foot in front of your right foot(righty), and hit some golf balls like this. If you sway you will lose your balance and have to move your foot or you will fall..

Bignose's advice is a "classic" and should really help. I think Quadrupaleagle's is very good because that is a feeling in the setup that works for me. I find though, that in my case, turning my back foot perpendicular to the target line limits my hip turn severely; so, if it is hip turn you are having problems with you might flare the back foot outwards somewhat. Sways can be caused by failing to turn the hips as fully as your body is comfortably able, in order to generate more width in your swing.

Working on this myself. I actually widened my stance to stop myself from doing it. If you widen your stance its harder to move that knee.

Another drill is to put a beach ball between your knees and keep it there through the swing. That'll teach ya!

It is common and usually will result in a thinned shot as you described. Luckly for me it happens maybe 1 out of 8 shots with my irons, but bugs me enough to lose a stroke to that and as soon as I am coming thru the ball I know I have done it. I feel your pain.

lol yeah i just want to be a consistent ball striker so only way to do that is hit at least 9/10 shots with solid contact.

Stand in front of a large window with your right side toward the window. Watch your reflection and make backswings. Keep your head at one height. Also, do slow motion downswings.

"The old pro" told me to keep most of my weight on my heels instead of balls of feet. I try about 65% to 35%. This gives more feeling for balance and mysteriously causes a centering effect, for your swaying, in both directions.