Ball flight is something most golfers, especially beginner level golfers, may find hard to understand. The golf ball reacts based on its impact with the club. To master ball flight and clearly understand the behavior of the ball moving left, right, straight, or curving, you need to know just two things:
- Club Path
- Face to Target
Club Path (Swing Direction) :
Club path is the movement of the club in a specific direction when it hits the ball. An inside-to-out club path travels to the right of the target line. An outside-to-in club path travels to the left of the target line.
Clubface Direction (Face to Target) :
Face to target is where the clubface is pointing when it hits the ball.
If the clubface points right, the ball will start right. If the clubface points left, the ball will start left. If it points straight, the ball starts straight. The ball usually starts where the clubface is pointing.
The Face to Path Relationship
The face to path relationship explains why the golf ball curves in the air. It is the difference between where the clubface is pointing and the direction the club is travelling after the ball impact. The ball usually starts in the direction of the clubface, but the curve happens when the clubface and club path are not aligned. Understanding ball flight is important, which is why visualizing the ball flight helps golfers make better adjustments on the course.
Examples:
Straight Shot: Face points straight, path points straight, and the ball goes straight.
Pull: Face points left, path goes left, and the ball goes left.
Push: Face points right, path points right, and the ball goes right.
Slice: This is the most common mistake among golfers, where the face points slightly right, the path swings more left, and the ball curves a lot to the right.
Hook: Face points slightly left and the path swings more right. This will end up with the ball curving more left.
Fade: Face points slightly right of the target and the path is more left than the face. This way, the ball starts right and curves gently left-to-right.
Draw: Face is slightly left of the target and the path is more right than the face. The ball starts left and curves right-to-left.
To put it in an easy way, if the ball starts left or right, it is impacted by the clubface. If the ball curves too much, the club path vs face is the main reason.
Common mistakes golfers make with face-to-path:
Though golfers are aware of the face-to-path relationship, they tend to make mistakes while trying to implement it. Here are some mistakes you can avoid:
1. Focusing Only on the Swing, Not the Face
Many players think the problem is their swing speed and ignore the fact that most shots start based on the clubface. Even a slightly different face angle will send the ball in the wrong direction. In golf coaching, players are taught to first understand how the clubface controls the starting direction of the ball.
2. Trying to Force the Ball to Curve
Beginners often rotate or flip their hands and force the ball to curve. But the curve should naturally come from the face-to-path relationship. Forcing it usually causes hooks or slices.
3. Ignoring Club Path
Even if your clubface looks straight, the path your club is swinging along can make the ball curve. If the face looks straight at impact, the ball should start straight. But if your path is out-to-in, the club cuts across the ball, causing the ball to curve right, which results in a slice. Even with a square face, swinging along the wrong path can cause unwanted curves.
4. Overcorrecting Between Shots
Many golfers try to fix a bad shot by changing too much too quickly. You hit a slice, and on your next swing, if you close the clubface too much and swing in-to-out, the ball may curve too far left and your game becomes unpredictable. So, make small adjustments to track your progress.
