Absolute basics on the drive

My biggest fear right now is stepping up to that tee. I was with two seasoned veterans during my first 18 holes a few days back, and they watched me. I am left handed, so try to picture this please. I stand in line with the ball, my swing is still very new, so its a bit sloppy, but standing straight on, I always hit the ball to the left....its very obvious. So they told me to stand into the ball, as if I was a baseball player trying to pull it into right field. My stance went offset then. It worked once but then I went right back to going "opposite field". Should I stay in line with the ball, and address something else? Was their advice abnormal?

Thanks

Tim
Chicago

Greetings Tim,

Seasoned veterans know better than to give advice to a beginner on the course, it's not the time or the place for it.

I don't understand how you stand in line with the ball. In line with what?

Perhaps you mean parallel to the target line but nevermind that for a moment.

You aim at a target, swing the club, strike the ball, send the ball to the target. Is that what you're trying to do? But, instead of going to the target, the ball curves to the left. The more you try to correct it, the more left the ball goes, right? You are frustrated because you don't understand how that works, that's normal.

Just like in ping pong, tennis or soccer, spinning the ball sideways in golf with produce a curve to the opposite side. Spin it left, it goes right. Spin it right, it goes left.

If you've never taken a lesson, here's your first:

The course is where you do things that work. The practice range is where you experiment with things that don't and practice things that do.

Now, you can apply this first lesson immediately. You know you send the ball left all the time, deal with it by aiming accordingly and don't take advice from anybody. Say thank you but no thank you.

Second lesson. There's nothing more important than proper contact with the ball. Golf is a game of accuracy and proper contact with the ball will only give you more accuracy, not less. If there's one thing in golf you can never have too much of, it's accuracy.

Third and last lesson you'll get from me. This is an actual exercise I do when I forget lessons one and two just so I can burn it back in my mind. Address the ball, bring the arms not more than horizontal on the backswing, bring the club back to the ball to strike it. Maintain the head as immobile as I can, maintain focus on the ball with the eyes throughout even as I strike it and as it flies. Repeat.

Next time you play, bring a 7 iron and a putter only.

Have fun


Martin Levac

Hi Tim,

What you are probably doing is slicing or pushing the ball, don't feel isolated in this, most beginners and a lot of long term players do it.

Does the ball: 1) bend to the left or 2) go left in a straight line?

If the problem is 1)

Slice

It's caused by hitting the ball on an out to in swing path by throwing the club over the top at the start of the down swing. If you look through many of the other threads on this site you will see it mentioned many times with various tips to stop it.

The attached URL has a good video lesson that may help.
http://www.ritson-sole.com/golftips/2005/sept05.htm


If the problem is 2)

Push
The ball starts to the right of target line (left for left handers) and continues to fly straight along that line.

Checklist

• Aim: Clubface not normally a factor
• Hold: Hold a little weak but not usually a factor
• Ball position: Ball likely to be too far back causing you to take the clubface back inside the target line
• Stance: It may be too wide restricting the weight transference on the forward swing
• Body alignment: The feet, hips and shoulders may be aiming too far to the right
• Posture: You may be sitting too far back on your heels. Put your weight on to your toes more.
• Swing: You are likely to be taking the club away too much on the inside of the target line.
  This means you are unlikely to be turning your hips as you should. As you swing back at the ball, your club will naturally move back outside the target line, resulting in you pushing the ball out to the right.

Finally, get some lessons with a good PGA Pro so that you can create good repeatable swing mechanics.

Best regards
Brian

Hello All:

Just to clarify the physics lesson posted earlier...a ball (soccer, golf, baseball and even ping pong ...) spinning to the left is going to travel to the left and the same priciple applies to the ball spinning right. By the way, this has no bearing on whether you are playing golf right or left handed. Only the point of view would be changed.

I believe that the earlier post was trying to express that in golf sometimes things react the opposite of what you think they will do. However the basic principles of gravity, direction of rotation on axis etc..do apply.

As a beginner, please get with a good professional and learn the fundamentals as soon as possible. Ask around and find the best instructor you can afford as this will speed up your learning and enjoyment of the game. Balance the amount of time you play and practice. If you found us, you obviously are interested in the game so have fun.

What a refreshing message board. Thanks everyone.

Timothy,

Instead of clarification, your explanation brings confusion.

Spin it left, it goes right. Spin it right, it goes left. It's correct, you understand it, I understand it, we all understand it. We don't need any more explanation. If you do this, you will produce that. If you do that, you will produce this. Simple enough, let's go to the range and try it. I'll be damned, it works. I will not let anybody tell me that what I saw isn't correct.

A ball spinning to the left is going to travel to the left. Completely correct and utterly confusing. Spinning to the left of what, travelling to the left of what? The ball is spherical and it's spinning on its own axis, its axis is oscillating around another axis and this one is rotating towards the direction of the curve, the ball's position is changing because it's travelling in this direction, what do we use as a reference? The direction of flight? The point of origin? The direction of gravity? Alright, let's go to the range and try, hum, lemme see, how does this go again? Do I really have to read all these physics textbooks to play golf properly?


Martin Levac

Tim,

I expect you are now confused about what to do next?

Take some lessons and practice what you have been taught, you will soon see some improvement and be standing on the tee with more confidence.

Best regards
Brian

Hello All:

My point on the effect of spin on a golf ball (or any of the other balls used in sport) is very important and certainly quite relevant in the game of golf. I assume that one of the writers in this post is not exactly enamored with the detail or introspect that takes place on this website. Perhaps their view is that we are overthinking this whole subject matter. They could be right.

This is fine and it is great that we have a forum for all to state their opinions. Frankly I embrace the difficult and analytical nature of the game of golf. The reality is that with the billions of dollars spent annually on equipment, lessons, videos, DVD's, websites, training aids ( do you watch the golf channel!!!) it is a worldwide obsession with getting better at this great game. Why?...because golf is a great challenge and this I believe is what makes the game so wildly popular. So popular that our cultures paid respect for the greatest golfer in the world will probably net him in the billion $ figure when it's all said and done. That's $billion for one man playing a game. That mastery of an extremely difficult skill must be kind of important to at least a few people. By the way, I believe that particular guy is aware that a ball spinning to the left of his target line reference point will move left and in golf vernacular is called a draw when performed with the correct amount of spin and intitial direction of velocity. Sorry if I complicated things with that sentence but it really is just a basic fundamental. Now if you want to talk about swing plane versus swing path we can really get out the text books....... seriously, have fun with whatever approach you take........

I agree with the physics of how a golf ball spins and how that spin affects the way it travels, how could you not agree with this?

The original posting was from a guy that is new to golf and is nervous standing on the tee, he is hitting the ball left and wants some help!

As stated we all have our opinions on these things and that's healthy for discussion. I feel that the best way to improve the situation is by him taking some lessons with a good Pro and by us guys pointing out what what may normally cause this problem. The physics lessons are very interesting as well but maybe a little academic in helping this guy with what he needs to do.

Anyway, lets hope he has learned enough to help with his problem?

Regards
Brian