Whenever someone comes to see me wanting to improve their game, one of the first things I want to do is increase their understanding of what exactly it is they are doing and improve their knowledge of why they are doing it. I think it is very important for everyone to have a good understanding of what causes the ball to do what it does when you strike it. The first key to this is analysing the ball flight correctly. When we analyse a ball flight, we should be looking at FOUR main components:
STARTING DIRECTION
CURVATURE
DISTANCE
TRAJECTORY
From this we can correctly identify the shot that you are hitting and describe the flight. There are 9 main ball flights that you can hit as shown in the diagram. When analysing your own ball flight, pay particular attention to the starting direction (in relation to your target line) and curvature as an incorrect diagnosis could lead to working on the wrong things later on.
Now that we know what your golf ball is doing we need to learn what exactly is the cause. Impact is known as the 'moment of truth' and it is exactly here where all the mishaps can happen. This brings us on
to the Impact Factors and the common consensus among coaches is that there are 5 in total:
CLUB FACE (orientation of the clubface) open, closed, square.
CLUB PATH (direction clubhead is travelling in) left or right of your target line
ANGLE OF ATTACK (whether the club is descending, ascending or level through impact)
STRIKE LOCATION (where on the club you have made contact)
CLUB SPEED (how fast the club is travelling)
Having understanding and control of these 5 factors is crucial if you want to have a correct and repetitive ball flight and play your best golf. This is easier said than done and of course, not even the tour pros get it right all of the time. However, I also feel that there are 2 more elements that play a huge part in the ball flight which I am going to include in my list. These are:
DYNAMIC LOFT (loft of the club at moment of impact)
DYNAMIC LIE (lie of the club at moment of impact)
Over the next few weeks I am going to write an article on each of the 7 Impact Factors that I have listed above and how they will start to influence your ball flight. In the meantime I want you to start really analysing your ball flight in play and practice and get used to correctly identifying what it does.
We have flightscope ball tracking system which helps us identify the ball flight for you and we talk through the information needed for you to make the change to your ball flight, establish feelings and understanding.
Book your session in now and find out where you are going wrong with your game?
