Did you watch the Masters? Did you think that most of the players had exquisite shot control? They didn’t, did they! Only a very few players were able to control their shots to put them high up on the leaderboard. Even the best players broke down from time to time. One key to playing good golf is shot control.
Over the past 10 years, technology has actually allowed us to measure shot control. The top launch monitors can measure both path and face angle. Every time we hit a shot with the launch monitor, we can look at these two numbers. If we tried to solve the math equation “x+y=7,” there would be multiple answers. If we look at shot control, path + face equals shot. In order to have shot control, we must then have a consistent path so that we don’t have two variables. You cannot determine what face angle to create if your body does not know what the path is going to be. So, we must first develop a consistent path in our golf swing. The path is almost entirely dependent on the body. I suggest that you create a consistent path by watching two of my videos: “No More Wild Shots: How The Body Turns” and “In Search of Distance.”
In these videos, you will learn how to exquisitely control the club face. It is not as hard as you think. I have taught several people how to hit nine different shots in less than one hour, including a 12-year-old girl. All it takes after that is practice, and I recommend that you do this every time you hit golf balls on the practice range, just like Tiger Woods did. One last thing: what I will teach you is how to hit baby fades and baby draws. If you want to hit big fades and big hooks, simply open the clubface more or close the clubface more at address and use the same technique. Please practice a lot using the half swing drill. Then, it will be easy for you to do it in the full swing. I don’t give you much hope if you try to do the full swing right away. Most of my students have really enjoyed the session in which they learn to hit nine different shots in less than one hour. I hope you have fun too!