Tom Tucker is a World Golf Teachers and United States Golf Teacher Federation-certified golf instructor. He may be contacted via his website or at the Plum Creek driving range in Batavia, NY.

Last week’s newsletter prompted a few questions on hitting the ball straight.

Here are the three ways you can intentionally or accidentally hit the ball straight with your driver:

  1. The Traditional method is  clubpath – down the line  face angle – square  centerdness – center
  2. Method 2 (usually accidental)  clubpath – inside out  face angle – closed  centerdness – heel
  3. Method 3 (usually accidental)  clubpath – outside in  face angle – open  centerdness – toe

Hitting any shot of center will detract from distance.

Method 2 and 3 swings above self correct when all three factors exist to produce a straight shot with your driver. This is due to the “bulge” and “roll” characteristics built into the driver face to help correct off center strikes.

The same elements of method 2 and 3 swings with an iron will not produce exactly the same results.

Iron clubfaces do not possess bulge and roll characteristics. The flat face of an iron, combined with more loft, can skew the spin axis and direction to add curvature and to produce some directional variation from straight.

Hope this helps you understand your misses, indluding those shots that go straight but not as far as expected.

Love your practice, enjoy your golf,

Tom