Golf tips: Eliminate a miss for wider targets

Hitting a straight shot in golf is the hardest one to achieve. At the crucial point of impact the relationship between clubface and path must be spot on, any difference will result in curvature on the golf ball during flight. This is part of the reason that tour pro's set up to shape the ball one way or the other. It is safer to allow for something to happen to that ball, it also means they can visualise shots and how they need to be shaped in order to tackle doglegs and tight pin positions.

Now, what happens when you head out onto the golf course? Are you hitting a consistent shot or are you heading out onto the course hitting it everywhere but straight, not having a clue whether to aim left or right to allow for your misses? Well it might be about time that you looked at understanding the consistencies you do have in your game and eliminating one of your misses, left or right. The diagrams below explain why.....

Having to aim dead centre on a 40 yard wide fairway due to lack of directional control
means there is only a 20 yard miss on either side for a hook, slice, pull or push

Example (left to right ball flight): if you know you very rarely go left then you can always aim down that side.
If you hit it straight you hit left centre, fade you hit centre fairway & over cook it you may cling on to right half 

Even if you are looking at fixing your slice, if that slice is consistent it may be playable still. You certainly would benefit from reducing its size however a consistent shape is a good thing. Colin Montgomerie played for years at the top of European golf with a consistent fade and to this day plays the same shape. Martin Kaymer played the same shape and looked on course for world dominance in 2010. Yet a decision to change in order to shift the ball in other ways to suit one course, Augusta National, lead to him falling dramatically off of leaderboards worldwide.

My tip is to take a good look at your consistent shape and not necessarily ignore it but sometimes accept you have a natural and comfortable preference. If that's the case then you don't need to fight it as much, play with it and hit more fairways and greens.

Good luck

Dan Gale

Dan is a fully qualified member of the PGA & Certified TPI Instructor

Check out his website at www.dangalegolf.com