Hitting it straight is the subject of my blog this week. Firstly I congratulate Rory McIlroy who stepped back into the winners circle with a fine win at The Players this year. He certainly displayed shot shaping mastery over 72 holes to rein supreme at TPC Sawgrass. Now back in control of his golf ball from tee to green will Rory complete the career grand slam at Augusta next month?
Ball flight control leads me onto my tip for this edition of Better Golf Fortnightly. When I meet a golfer coming for a lesson for the first time I ask “what would like to achieve from lessons?” The answer more often than not is “I would just like to hit it straight”. Now let’s discuss that ball flight… Firstly I’d like you to watch this pro tracer video taken from season footage of professional players on the European Tour. I would like you to count how many straight ball flights you see.
TOUR PROFESSIONAL SHOT TRACER VIDEO
Now how many did you spot? Some from slightly skewed camera angles I know but I counted 2. So 2 out of 29 shots by pros were hit straight, less than 7%. Let me tell you a secret…. The vast majority of pros don’t try to hit it straight!!
Why?
(1) You can easily miss either side of straight, creating a two way miss problem.
(2) Golf holes aren’t all straight!
(3) Flags are often cut into corners of greens, some in very tricky locations.
So how do the pros make their curve work? Well firstly and most importantly they REPEAT it. If you can repeat a certain ball flight you can then manage it very easily by aiming it in the correct direction. I explained in previous editions of Better Golf Fortnightly: The Art of Scoring.
In my most recent YouTube video I explain and demonstrate how to practice shaping shots and manage your ball’s starting line.
SHOT SHAPING DRILL FOR PRACTICE VIDEO
The good news is you don’t have to fix your curving golf ball just learn to repeat it and manage it.
Don’t forget I am always hand to help and advise, just reach out and ask. If you are not local did you know I also offer online lessons via Whatsapp, the process is explained here – Online lessons with Steve Furlonger
If you enjoy YouTube, why not visit my channel and check out more of my instructional videos, subscribe for your chance to when a Shot Scope V1 – Steve Furlonger Golf Performance.
