Golf Made Simple Blog

Do You Have A Consistent Ball Flight?

Slicers and Hookers – get ready to be happy!

What is consistency? Consistency doesn’t mean that your golf swing has to be so perfect that you hit the golf ball straight every time you swing. Here’s a better way to understand what a consistent golf swing is really about — a consistent golf swing allows you to hit the golf ball in one direction about nine times out of ten swings. It’s being able to take one side of the golf course out of play (either the right side or the left side).

A consistent golf swing doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re hitting the golf ball straight. There isn’t a Player in the world that hits the golf ball straight. Yet, there’s a misconception by millions of Golfers that that’s what the PGA Tour Players are doing. They’re not. Each Pro hits the golf ball with a curved ball flight – many with a draw, many with a fade, and some actually play a hook or a slice.

The key is that they know what direction it will go nine out of 10 swings. Which allows them to aim for it. For example: a consistent PGA Tour Player that fades the golf ball knows that their golf ball will most likely curve to the right. So they aim to the left because they know the golf ball will go anywhere from a 1 yard curve to as much as curving 25 yards to the right. On-the-other-hand, Pros that hit a draw will do the same by aiming to the right.

The key is that they know it’s going that way. So now they can aim towards one side of the golf course and play their predominant ball flight to drift back towards their target. Yes, you read that correctly – most Players do not align themselves directly at their target. Whereas most struggling Golfers aim directly at their target hoping (and often times praying) for a straight shot – the best Players don’t even expect to hit a straight shot!

And that’s what we help our Golfers accomplish — finding your predominant ball flight so that you can make a PLAN on the golf course based on it. Which means that you’re becoming more consistent.
Take a guy like Fred Couples: Couples has what amounts to as about a 20 yard slice when he hits his Driver. Seriously, when he hits his Driver (or least in the late 1980’s and 90’s) – his ball sliced tremendously. Yet, he knew the golf ball would either slice or fade. …. so he aimed for it. Thus, he took the entire left side of the golf course out of play.

Meaning he would most likely aim left of the center of the fairway, take a fluid Freddie Couples golf swing …. and the ball would end up either on the right side of the fairway or right rough.

Yet, if most Golfers were presented with a Couples ball flight (a big slice), you would be rushing to the nearest Teaching Pro to help you get rid of that slice. Now, I’m not advocating a slice – however, I am advocating for you to find what your natural ball flight is – and then grooving your golf swing so that you become consistent with that ball flight.

Once you become consistent with a ball flight, you’ll be amazed how much simpler the game gets and how much more fun it is to stand on the tee holding your driver.

Now the $1,000,000 question is – “How do I become more consistent so that I know the direction of my golf ball?’

The answer is – learn to understand how to be in control of your clubhead. If you’re in control of your clubhead – then you’ll have better control of the direction the golf ball flies.

At GMS, we call this: controlling your ‘Length of Swing’. And what this means is that you heighten your sense of ‘Feel’ in your golf swing. Understanding the ‘Feel’ of your golf swing will enable you to be in control of your golf club through impact of the golf ball. Whereas most Golfers that aren’t consistent – loose control of their golf club with the very first movement of their back swing. So that by the time your clubhead gets to about knee high … you don’t actually know where your clubhead is.

And if you don’t know where your clubhead is … you have very little control over it.
Which means that the rest of your golf swing (about ¾’s of it) is spent making compensations as you try to regain control of your clubhead and golf swing. What are these compensations? They run the gamut of keeping too much of your weight back on the way down, casting, coming over the top, swinging outside to in, hitting behind the golf ball, topping the golf ball, decelerating, swinging too hard, lifting up, etc.

And all those compensations listed above (often misdiagnosed as being the ‘Cause’ of the bad shot – yet they really are an ‘Effect’) have you hitting errant, inconsistent golf shots that go in one direction on one swing and another direction on the next swing. Or in-other-words: your golf swing is inconsistent.

Now please don’t misinterpret what I’m saying by thinking this means you have to grip tight and swing slow. It doesn’t have anything to do with that. It’s about understanding and ‘Feeling’ your clubhead so that you’re in control of your golf swing.

Why do the Tour Pros look like they’re swing so slow and smooth, yet they hit it a mile? Because they’re in complete control of their clubhead from the very start of the golf swing. Why do most Golfers you play with seem to be swinging too fast, yet don’t hit it very far or in a consistent direction? Because they aren’t in control of their clubhead (even from the first movement), so the rest of their golf swing isn’t about hitting a solid shot as much as it is about trying to regain control of their golf club.

Most Golfers are overwhelmed with turning their shoulders, turning their hips, keeping behind the golf ball, shifting their weight, blah, blah, blah. Yet, they place very little emphasis on understanding how to be in complete control of their golf club from the very first movement in the backswing. Which ironically would help you to effectively do all the above without having to think about it as much as you presently do.

I guess that’s why many Golfers lack ‘Feel’ in their golf swing. And when you lack ‘Feel’ – you lack consistency. So during a 3 day GMS Program, we help Golfers to learn to ‘Feel’ their way to a more consistent golf swing!

The Monkey is so overwhelmed with what they “need” to be doing with their hips, shoulders, head, etc — that they have very little control of their clubhead and thus little control over the golf ball

The Player is focused on ‘Feeling’ their clubhead and thus – is in control of their golf swing and the golf ball

Go ahead, be a Player!


Marc Solomon

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