Golf can be an easy game - Chapter 16  'The Most Common Faults In Golf'

Some golfing faults are due to erroneous concepts, but most are the direct result of an omission—a failure to do some essential maneuver of part of the swing. As a consequence, the player is forced into a distortion which develops an error that the player neither intended nor is at all conscious of doing. In such a situation, professional guidance and advice can be most helpful.

Failure to shift weight

The most common fault, by far, is the failure to shift one's weight properly. Only one out of ten pupils seems to have any sense of footwork or any understanding of its importance. Carrying out this 10% average to the 200 or 300 golfers who constitute an average country club, you will find 20 or 30 golfers there who possess the quality of footwork that is the basic requisite for good golf.

These 20 or 30 golfers can, as a result of this footwork ability, maneuver themselves into a position where they can utilize their bodies in making golf shots. They will have a natural sense of power and consistency to enable them to score in the 70's or 80's. The remaining 90% of the players in the club will be

(a) plagued with a loss of distance so that they cannot possibly reach the greens in two  shots—they take three shots, sometimes four to get on the green, so their scores automatically go into the 90 and over range.

(b)  players without any sense of club control, a class of golfers who not only lack power but also clubhead control, so the ball goes hither and yon. In this category we have the golfers who score in the high 90's and over 100.

I hope this analysis will explain why certain scores happen. I further hope that it will arouse sufficient interest so that players recognizing these deficiencies will seek advice on correcting them.

Incorrect use of the body

Players are told if they want to get more power into their shots they must turn more. This is harmful because turning more can only lead to a low flat swinging action on the backswing which absolutely prevents the player from coming through correctly.

The only naturally accurate, efficient body action is the two-way diagonal stretch, the gyroscopic pattern of body action described in Chapter Six. Such an action provides power without effort and without danger of doing oneself bodily harm, such as a lame back or a twisted left knee.

Failure to handle one's weight properly forces the player to turn, but the added preponderance of advice telling golfers that they should turn (and the advice telling golfers that they should use their left side to take the club away from the ball on the backswing) are things that throw the player out of position, and off balance.

I hope these comments will alert the players struggling under these erroneous concepts and that the suggestions offered will put them on the right track.

Erroneous motions of grip and hand action

Almost all players are told to hold the club tightly in the last three fingers of the left hand. In fact, special gloves are designed to aid in producing a firmer grip with the left hand. And I must admit that if one wishes to play every shot with a cut, a fade or a slice action, then such a tight lock in the left-hand grip is proper.

However, when it comes to playing a pitch and run shot, or when it comes to playing a hook or even when it comes to playing a perfectly straight shot, then there must be some sense of freedom in the back of the left hand, otherwise it is impossible to set or cock the club into a square or closed position on the backswing. With a tense tight grip in the back of the left hand, there is no way to get the club on the inside on the backswing, so players using this grip are denied the ability to play certain shots in golf.

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