Most golfers do not realize they always have access to one of the best teachers in the game.  This teacher is never wrong and will always lead golfers into the right direction if understood properly.  This teacher is a golfer’s divot, ball flight, and contact upon the clubface.  When golfers learn how to interpret and understand their ball flights, divots, and face contact, golfers will understand what is occurring through the most important part of the golf swing, the impact area.   This is one of the first things I often teach students during lessons.  I have students pay great attention to their ball flights, face contact pattern, as well as look at their divot direction and depth.  You would be surprised at the number of golfers who rarely undertake this, even golfers with great ability.

To even begin understanding the golf swing, a player or teacher must understand ball flight and the movement of the club during the downswing and through the impact area.  The flight of the ball, in terms of direction, is a combination between the path of the club, the angle of the clubface through the impact area, and the point where the ball is struck on the clubface.  It is fairly simple and completely based upon the laws of physics.   Another important point I want you to understand is the clubface has more influence upon the direction of the ball than the path of the club.  This means that if your clubface is very open or closed through impact, that the ball may go solely in the direction of that clubface, even if your path is traveling in the opposite direction.  Overtime and after observing numerous shots, you will definitely see a pattern emerge in your ball flight.

The majority of amateur golfers who play the game will have a tendency of being outside-to-in through impact and create the shot pattern of fades, slices, and pulls.  The majority of better players in the game will have a relatively neutral path through impact and have a shot pattern of straight shots, slight fades, and slight draws.  For a better player, including many tour professionals, a bad shot in terms of direction is often caused by the club traveling too much from inside-to-outside, and creating the shot pattern of draws, hooks, and pushes.

I hope you can now begin to understand how analyzing and observing your ball flight, divots, and face contact can tell you a great deal about what is occurring through the impact area.  Once you learn how to analyze and interpret them correctly, they can become the best teacher you have.  They never lie, they always tell the truth, and will always lead you in the right direction if analyzed properly.