Fault Fixer

Learn from your strike pattern

By Top 25 Coach John Jacobs

1Poor set-up and posture can affect your swing plane and distance from the ball. Find out where you’re making contact by putting a dot or line on the back of the ball just before you hit it. The more upright your swing, the more likely you are to hit it off the toe; the flatter your swing, the more likely you are to hit it out of the neck. But there are many potential causes for toe or heel strikes, so the best course of action is to see your pro.

Shot on location at La Cala Resort

2Striking the ball low on the face is often caused by standing up through the ball in an attempt to create power by changing the spine angle. This pulls the chest away from the ball via an early extension of the hips and the club follows, moving it higher from the ground. To work on this, place an alignment stick behind you and concentrate on keeping your backside against it as you swing, rather than allowing a gap to emerge as the hips move forward.

3Skied drives generally come from too steep an approach and too descending a blow. The ball is likely to be too far back in the stance too. Set four balls up on tees at different heights and then try hitting them so you can work out how to adjust. Check ball position too. The swing’s low point with a driver is normally in the middle of the stance, which is why the ball needs to go towards your front heel. Caution: If you’re skying it, the temptation is to tee the ball lower to resolve the issue. It won’t –it will actually exacerbate the problem by encouraging you to get steeper on it.