Golf World: Learn from your ball flight

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By JIM SUTTIE
Scripps Howard News Service
Friday, May 04, 2007

So many golfers are looking for that secret move that will make their golf ball go long and straight. There is no secret move. There are only fundamentals to work on. Although all swings are different you can learn quite a bit from your ball's flight.

Golf in many ways is a game of opposites. For example, if you swing left, your ball goes to the right. If you swing to the right, your ball goes left. Or, if you swing up, the ball tops or goes along the ground. If a person swings down too steeply the ball goes up. What a game!

If you understand the physics of impact you can often correct yourself. But, remember the face angle at impact has the biggest influence on your ball's flight. Wherever your face is pointed at impact is where the ball will go. Impact is a result of the interaction of the swing path and the face angle at impact.

Let me give you an example. If you are a slicer your swing path moves left across the target line, but the face angle is open to the path or aimed to the right at impact. Golfers who have this pattern hit slices, pulls and tops. A good correction for you would be to strengthen your grip, (turn it to the right) lower or flatten your swing, hit inside out on the downswing and release the club. Just swing from 7 to 1 and allow the club to release or turn over will do wonders for your slice. In any event, the face angle must be fixed first before the swing path will get better.

My advice for a slicer is try to get the toe of the club to the ball first. The slicer should hook the ball as much as possible. This will subconsciously make you swing out to the right (e.g. 1 o'clock) to get rid of the hook.

Another example might be what a hooker's golf club looks like at impact. A hooker's clubface is lined up left of the swing path as the swing path is moving to the right. An inveterate hooker might weaken his grip, (turn it to the left) swing more upright, swing to the left, through impact and hold off the release.

Or, what if you hit the ball too high? A highball hitter's club is laid back at impact. This is a result of a long and high swing and a casting right-handed motion from the top of the swing. This leaves the weight on the right leg at impact. This makes the club head pass the hands at impact. Good corrections for the high ball flight would be to lower and shorten your swing, move your weight to the left side coming down and feel like the hands are ahead of the club head at impact.

The next time you are on the range study your ball flight. Let your ball flight lead to some changes you can make at impact.

(Dr. Jim Suttie, the 2000 PGA Teacher of the Year, is director of instruction at The Club at TwinEagles in North Naples, Fla. and at Cog Hill Golf Club in Lemont, Ill. Dr. Suttie is a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and coaches the Florida Gulf Coast University men's golf team. E-mail him at jmsuttie@aol.com or go online to www.jimsuttie.com.)

(Golf World is a feature of the Naples Daily News in Florida at www.naplesnews.com.)