Why You Suck at Golf (Part 1)

I'm a golf pro. Everyday people come to me for lessons on how to hit the ball straight. The problem with that is that the ball doesn't want to fly straight.

Every week if you watch the PGA Tour, the world's best players are hitting real golf shots that curve through the air. With the new technology available, the ball is tracked through the air using TrackMan—a ball flight tracking system. You will very seldom see the ball fly straight. I'm not taking massive curves like Bubba Watson, but small, subtle curves that allow the ball to move towards the target rather than away from it. See, golf is all about ball control, moving the ball from point A to point B in the most efficient way possible. My view is that dead straight isn't the most efficient way to get your ball hitting your target. If you start the ball on your target line and it moves (which it will 99/100 times) you have missed your target.

It's one thing to get it to fly straight but quite another to get it to start on the intended line AND fly straight. By starting your ball offline, one way or the other you give the ball the opportunity to move towards the target rather than away from it.

Think of it like football: If you want to hit your man from 30 yards, you aren't going to kick it directly at him. You will start it away from him and it will move towards him depending on how you kick it. Attempting to hit it dead straight requires too much precision and the ball is likely to deviate one way or another therefore missing the target and it's virtually impossible to predict which way it's going to go.

Learn the basics of controlling the ball left to right and right to left and you will see your consistency skyrocket. If you try to hit the ball straight all the time you will get a mixed bag of shots. If you decide on a plan for the shot and hit it with a clear intention your shots are likely to hit the target more often and the ones you miss will miss in the same place.

To use another football analogy. If you were to take a penalty kick off your toe you would get a mixture of shots ranging from high to low, left to right and some straight, your dispersion would be too great for you to predict and you might as well kick it blindfolded. If you choose to kick it off the inside or outside of your boot with a specific shot in mind you are more likely going to have a successful outcome and your dispersion will be tighter. Of course you are still going to miss shots, but that's the nature of the game. You are far better off going into each shot with a plan and not being able to execute, than going in with no plan at all.

Next time you are at the driving range, practice hitting the ball one way and then the other, choose a favourite shot and then take it to the course. You will be shocked at how well you can control the ball when you actually attempt to do so. Remember that the ball is 100% controllable and all you are trying to do is control spin. Once your get your head around the fact that you can use the club to control the ball, rather than just hitting it, you will start to really be able to play the game rather than just hitting it and going to find it. Try it out next time you are at the course and see if it works for you.

Good luck ✌

@lukeosullivangolf