Mastery

Since taking up golf, I've wanted to master it. I've wanted to be able to shape the ball, have it do what I want, play fades and draws where appropriate, and also playing knockdown shots (very handy on a links course). Until very recently, I'd have been too shy to mention this, even on here, as it would have seemed almost delusional.

Enter Instinctive Golf, Kendal McWade and Scott Dixon. Their clear explanations and demonstrations really made it feasible for me to resurrect this secret desire.

The counter intuitive nature of golf applies strongly to the physics of shot shaping. Kendal discussed how a curling free kick would be struck- foot swinging to the right for a draw, to the left for a fade, and the necessary club face adjustments. They also used a golf club with a mallet head, to show how best to position the club to deliver force in the desired direction (hands well ahead for a draw). Finally, we took a number of swings with a variety of arcs to the right, looking closely at where the club made contact with the ground. The more right you swing, the further back the ball has to go, with the reverse true for a fade. Either way, as you move away from the centre of your swing with the ball, the ball has to move slightly closer to you.

I found this quite easy to do as I instinctively picked up a little trick to help swinging in the desired direction. All I did, after picking my target and setting up, was to pick a secondary "swing" target 10-20 yards to the right or left depending on whether I wanted a draw or fade respectively and focused on releasing energy to this target. This is a simple wee trick that seems to work well (I've used it to get things back on track on the course when my shot shaping has been a bit less than I would like). Have a try- swing to the right with an ever so slightly stronger than usual grip with the ball back in your stance and your hands well forward for a nice draw. Guaranteed to impress your playing partners!