What is your biggest miss?

When I start with a new student that has been playing the game for some time I always ask them one question right away. What is your big miss? With this question I am not really asking about topping or chunking shots. I am asking about hooks and slices and/or pulls and pushes. For a right handed golfer a hook will turn sharply to the left and a slice will turn sharply to the right. A pull will start left of the target and keep going left without any curve. A push will start to the right and keep going right without any curve. The opposite of these examples here and below is true for a left handed golfer.

Two things control where the ball starts and where it finishes. Where the clubface is aimed at impact has the greatest effect on where the ball starts. The swing path combined with where the clubface is aimed at impact determines where the ball will finish.

The most common swing path for amateur golfers is from outside to in or the over the top

move. When this path is combined with the clubface aiming left at impact the main two shot patterns we will see are a straight pull or a slice that starts left of the target. Where the ball ends up depends on how much the club came from the outside and how open the clubface is to the swing path. The straight pull will happen when the clubface is square to the outside swing path.

The hooks and pushes will come from an inside to out swing path. The hook will happen when the clubface is still aiming right of the target but is closing as it strikes the ball. The push will happen when the clubface is aiming right but stays square to the inside out path.

When I ask students what kind of shot they want to hit, most say, I want to hit it straight. If you ask a professional they will tell you they prefer to curve the ball gently one way or the other unless you ask Bubba Watson. He curves the ball massively both ways. It’s fun to watch Bubba on TV when they use the shot tracer. You can definitely see how much more he curves the ball than every other player.

The straightest shots will come from a swing path that is coming very slightly from the inside and exiting impact on a very slight inside path. Imagine half of a hula hoop on your target line set at the same angle as the shaft of your club. If you follow the arc of the hula hoop from your trail side to your lead side you can see it travels from slightly inside to slightly inside.

The summer camps are winding down at Vista but if you have a child that wants to learn the game, we have a Junior Academy that runs all year long.

For information on the Junior Academy or any of the programs we offer at Vista Valencia please contact Brad Gallagher, Director of Instruction, at vistadoi@ gmail.com or (661)253-1870 ext. 2