GOLFTEC coach Brad Thorberg shows a nifty trick that will show you if your clubs are fit for your swing.
GOLFTEC
When golfers start watching their golf ball fly in unwanted directions, they often overlook one of the most important — and easily preventable — reasons why that might be happening. Either it’s something wrong with their golf swing, or something wrong with the golf club itself.
Getting your clubs fit for your unique swing can be one of the key reasons your ball may be going sideways. It doesn’t matter how good you are, it all depends on your swing. Clubs that are too flat will see the heel dig into the ground, which will send the ball left, or right if your clubs are too upright. Even the smallest errors in fitting can send the ball more than 10 yards left or right.
The best solution to this is getting a proper clubfitting from a reputable fitter, of course. But in a pinch, GOLFTEC’s Brad Thorberg offers another clever solution.
First, take a dry erase marker, and mark a straight line down the middle of the golf ball, like this.
Place the line on the golf ball towards the clubface and start hitting balls, so it leaves marks on the clubhead (don’t worry, they’ll come off). If the line points towards the heel of the club, it means your irons are too upright; if it points towards the toe, they’re too flat. Ideally, the line points right down the middle.
Luke Kerr-Dineen is the Game Improvement Editor at GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com. In his role he oversees the brand’s game improvement content spanning instruction, equipment, health and fitness, across all of GOLF’s multimedia platforms.
An alumni of the International Junior Golf Academy and the University of South Carolina–Beaufort golf team, where he helped them to No. 1 in the national NAIA rankings, Luke moved to New York in 2012 to pursue his Masters degree in Journalism from Columbia University. His work has also appeared in USA Today, Golf Digest, Newsweek and The Daily Beast.