By Tommy O’Brien Jr., PGA Professional
We live in an age of “Do It Yourself,†and that does not exclude your golf game. Here are some simple guidelines to properly self-diagnose your golf swing.
If your contact is not perfect – and we all know what perfect feels like – then your club is either hitting the ground too much (too steep) or not hitting the ground enough (too shallow). If you are hitting the ground too much, then you need to apply something to your swing that helps you hit the ground less. If you are not hitting the ground enough (or not at all!), then you need to apply something to your swing that helps you hit the ground more.
Where people get into trouble is when they take a random tip from The Golf Channel or a golf publication and apply it to their swing without asking themselves this question: Does this information make me hit the ground more or less? You always have to go to the opposite of what you are doing too much of in order make your impact neutral, meaning you’re hitting the ground just the right amount.
Once you have good, consistent contact, what about fixing the direction of your ball flight? Well, the clubface will tell us all we need to know.
When you’re hitting the ball fairly straight, then you are hitting the direct back of the ball. If the ball goes well left (i.e., hook spin), then you are hitting the “outside†of the ball. If the ball is going way right (i.e., slice spin), then you are hitting the “inside†of the ball too much. To straighten it out, simply try to do the opposite of what you’ve been doing.
Throughout my years of teaching golf, I’ve found the secret to fixing your own swing more often than not: Try the opposite!
The other piece of direction (much smaller than the clubface’s part) is the direction of your swing as a whole. To hit the ball very straight, the club will swing in a circle. If the ball is starting well to the right, then you are swinging in too much of a straight line to the right. If the ball starts well to the left, then you are swinging in too much of a straight line to the left.
Diagnosing your own golf swing can be that simple…if you want it to be! “Keeping it Simple†is a key phrase in golf. It works well under the heat of competition!
A teaching professional at historic Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, Tommy O’Brien was the 2018 Southern Texas PGA Eastern Chapter Teacher of the Year. He’s taught the game for 19 years and played collegiately at Sam Houston State University. For more information on Tommy, including how to book a lesson, click here.
