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

1. 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
2. players without any sense of club control, a class of golfers who not only lack power but also clubhead con trol, 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.

Earlier I commented on statements by Bobby Jones and by Bobby Locke, where both of them stressed an extremely light grip on the club so that it could be maneuvered into the proper hitting position at the top of the swing. On the other hand, I can name many more star players who insist that there must be a solid, firm grip with the left hand. It just happens that several of our star golfers happen to be double-jointed, and it is this condition that enables them to perform under difficult and tight situations where the individual with average muscles cannot respond. At any rate, a golfer who is double-jointed is going to have a naturally full free swing which will give him a great deal of speed in swinging the club. It is easy to understand that such a golfer could readily feel he must hold the club firmly or it might get away from him.

However, in the case of the ordinary person, tightness and tenseness in the left hand prohibits such players from ever improving beyond a certain point.

Any person who has read this book will readily know the importance that I attach to hand action and its ultimate club positioning technique. I could not complete this book without commenting again in regard to this one matter that stifles the game for so many

In closing this subject, let me urge using the overlapping grip to make golf a lot more fun.

Shanking

I don't think any golf book would be complete without some comment about shanking. This dreaded fault, when the ball literally squirts off the club at a 90 angle, petrifies many golfers. Shanking generally occurs on short approach shots of 90 yards or less. On such shots a player will very often determine there is no need for any body action, and this concept plus an extra tight grip with the left hand will cause shanking.

If the player decides he is not going to use his body in the shot, he will invariably force the club to the outside of the line of the shot on the backswing. Add a tight grip with the left hand and the club will automatically roll into an open face position. With this open face position and an outside of the line of flight movement of the club, there is an added tendency for the weight to sink heavily onto the left foot. This combination-(a) club in an open position, (b) club to the outside of the line of flight, (c) weight heavily sunk onto the left foot-is a sure way to shank. As the downswing starts, the club will naturally swing even more to the outside of the line of flight, forcing the player to pull the club sharply across the ball from the outside in. The player will then meet the ball with the heel of the club and away it squirts.

The shot just described-club face open, club to the outside of the line of flight, weight sunk onto the left foot -is nothing more or less than an extremely exaggerated slice shot technique. And that is what shanking is, an exaggerated slice action.

There are many short cut tips on how to cure shanking, but the simplest way to cure it is to reverse the form and apply the hook shot technique. Here is how that is done: assume a closed stance position of the feet and when gripping the club, place the left hand well on top so that three knuckles are definitely showing. Place the right hand well under the shaft. Then do Step 1, a forward press, Step 2, a reverse press which will shift the weight to the right foot, and then as Step 3 is started, cock the club into an exaggerated closed position (face turned down towards the ground and club shaft tilted to the inside of the line towards the right toe). Maintain the club in that position as it is raised to the top of the swing and then bring it down and through on Step 4. The shanking will disappear.

A continued exaggeration of this technique may produce some hook shots and in that case there will have to be a modification of the form.