How Do I Hit a Golf Ball Straight Every Time?
One of the hardest things to master in the game of golf is hitting the ball straight. Think about it this way: You swing a club face that has grooves on it. Most amateur golfers swing that club head at a speed of around 80 miles an hour.
In order to hit the ball straight, the club face needs to impact the ball at square every time. Failure to hit the ball with a square club face results in side spin on the ball, which in turns causes you to hit either a fade, a slice or a hook.
Grip the club. This is one of the most important steps to hitting the golf ball straight. You want your lead hand (the hand closest to your target) to have the thumb down and just to the right of center, what is called a neutral grip.
Place your non-lead hand on the club.
To do this, pretend like you are shaking hands with the club so that your non-lead hand goes along the side of the grip. The v between your thumb and pointer finger should point at your non-lead shoulder.
Align your club head and ball with the target. If you want, you can lay a club on the ground just outside the ball running toward the target. This will give you a good visual cue as to whether you have your club face lined up properly or not. The club head should be perpendicular to the club that you laid on the ground.
Set your feet. Since everything works off the club face angle, as long as the club face is properly aligned, you can hit the ball with an open stance (where the feet are opened to the target), a closed stance (where the feet are slightly turned away from the target or a neutral stance (where the feet line up straight with the target).
Start your backswing, keeping your clubhead inside of the ball as you draw back. This will help with problems such as an outside-in swing, a common fault that causes the golfer to correct just before impact or hit off of square on the club face, creating side spin.
Hit through the ball. You've done the grip and alignment work. Provided you don't have major swing faults, your ball should fly straight.
Writer Bio
Patrick Cameron is a freelance writer with 10 years of diverse experience in consumer goods branding, promotions and retail communications. He works out of his home in Denver, Colo. He received his Bachelor of Arts in mass communication from the University of Minnesota.