A Combination of Faults

by Matt
(Glasgow)

I usually play off a handicap of 18, at the moment Im a 10. I am currently top of our winter league with one week to go, but the last two weeks have been hell.

I have started blocking, pulling, topping, and hitting fat shots. I also have had a tendency to over swing.

Do you have any good tips for me? Help?

Louis Reply

Hi Matt,

You have one heck of a lot of problems to sort out in a week pal! Not sure if it is possible to do, anyway, here are some areas you can look at to help you out.

Whatever you work on try to keep it simple and to a maximum of one thought. The last thing you want to do now is go out and play with all of these thoughts in your head. Filter through them and find what will help you out in this short space of time.

There are some faults that are common in all of those shots you are describing. They are, poor posture, poor weight transfer, grip, and a steep swing plane.

Take a look at your posture in a mirror. You could be too crouched with your chin in your chest.

Stand as tall as possible with your chin out of your chest. This will help you to swing on a better, flatter swing plane.

See that you are transferring weight to your right instep on the back swing and back again to your left foot on the down swing.

Check your grip, it may have changed or be moving around while your swinging.

Regarding your over swing, slow down the whole swing and feel yourself finish the swing each time. Try to have a feeling of swinging slower than you normally do, (especially when the club changes direction at the top) this will improve your timing, tempo and rhythm and help you to release the club later in the down swing.(and help you to hit the ball straighter)

A more in depth explanation on how to fix all of these faults can be found on my golf help page here.

Perhaps you can work through each one in depth once your league is over.

Good Luck!