What's Left When Everything Is Going Right?

Late winter, early spring is normally the time of year when Larry and I kindly ask our range hitters to aim towards the right side of the driving range towards Hole 1 as the range balls don't plug as much as the rest of the range. We normally get the response, "well, I'll try, but I can't control my golf ball very well!"  And as we giggle at this, we recognize the the deeper issue here.  Right-handed amateur golfers tend to dislike aiming to the right because they fear it makes the golf ball go more to the right.  In similar fashion, left-handed golfers tend to hate aiming left. 

I can totally sympathize with the former.  As a junior golfer, I hated aiming at a target to the right of me.  On the range, I would aim left all day long.  Now, as a more accomplished ball striker, I'll aim at any target. In fact, my practice on the range consists of frequently changing targets, using the same club to hit high shots, low shots, fades and draws.  I get bored quickly if I have to aim at the same target right in front of me for more than 5 shots.

When Larry and I have a student who struggles hitting the golf ball one way or the other, we coerce the student's the brain into "seeing" something different by purposely aiming in the normally errant direction and then ask the student to exaggerate the correction.  For example, if we have a right-handed student who dislikes the shot to the right, we ask them to aim right and hook the ball back to the left.  Now, there are multiple ways to get the ball to go left, but what we are suggesting is that the student tries to release the clubhead really early in the downswing (get the right forearm to rotate over the left).  Now some are asking, " are you telling us to cast the golf club?"  The answer is no, and casting and releasing the clubhead are two different things. If you want to send Larry on a rant, ask him about casting...

If you swing lefty like Phil, and you don't like the shot to the left, do the opposite.  Aim left, and try to hook the ball to the right by rotating your left forearm over your right.

 As Doc Hudson stated so perfectly in the movie CARS, "I'll put it simple: if you're going hard enough left, you'll find yourself turning right." 

"Oh, right. That makes perfect sense. Turn right to go left. Yes, thank you! Or should I say no, thank you, because in Opposite World,  maybe that really means thank you," replied Lightening McQueen.

You'll find that mastering this drill lowers anxiety on the course because you are understanding how to move your golf ball.  It will free your brain and allow your imagination to see a greater variety of possible shots. And that is what makes golf more fun.

Many Birdies,

Melissa