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Common Golf Shot Errors And How To Fix Them

By: Patrick Attlee Click author's name for more of his/her articles

This article looks at some of the common problems that cause the golf ball to deviate from its intended target and how you can go about fixing the problem.

Let's start with the Push shot. A shot falls into the push category when the shot veers to the right of the intended target. The problem is immediate as the ball does not just fade to the right after you hit it but is immediately traveling to the right on contact. If, when playing your shot, your body does not rotate far enough left during the downswing you will probably "push" the ball. If your arm swings to the right, this can also happen. To fix the problem, it is important to keep the body rotation going all the way through the swing.

A pull shot is the direct opposite of the push. In a pull, the ball travels to the left on contact. This is caused by an inaccurate downswing that pulls across your body. The shoulders are opening too quickly during your down swing; you must keep the shoulders parallel to the target line as you make contact with the ball. One reason the pull can occur is if your grip is not firm enough, so try a harder grip on the club. Another reason is poor alignment; make sure you keep your weight on the left side as you perform the downswing.

Having the ball not travel far enough is another common problem faced by golfers. The rotation of the shoulders is one of the main drivers in creating club head speed. You want to uncoil like a spring on the downswing, this is where the power comes from so make sure you rotate you shoulder fully during the backswing. You should aim to have your left shoulder over your right foot at the apex of the backswing. Flexibility is also very important and if your hands are gripping the club too tightly, it wall cause tension across your upper body in general and you will lose valuable club head speed. Try to relax your grip and you will see definite increased yardage.

If you are suffering from poor direction and the ball is flying in random directions on every shot you should look carefully at two things, alignment of your body and the position of the ball. Your shoulders, feet and knees must be aligned in a parallel line with your target. You should be fastidious in checking this alignment before every shot. Once you have your alignment sorted you can look at the position of the ball relative to your stance. If your stance is too close to the ball you will hit a lot of pull shots. If your stance is too far away you will hit a lot of push shots.

These are just a few of the most common problems that can impact the direction the ball travels after you hit it. Hopefully this has given you some tips to rectify the problems. We will be looking at some more common directional problems in later articles.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: Patrick is a journalist who writes mainly about golf. His other interest is in storm door hardware and antique door hardware