23. You must understand shot patterns and ball spin aerodynamics before you even think about self analysis

Many players it seems believe that to crack the game requires a “Grooved” swing. By this it is meant a swing that repeats without deviation. Well I have some “Good news,” some “Bad news” and also some “Different news” for you. The Good news is that every golfer already has a grooved swing. The bad news is that they are all grooved with bad faults to a greater or lesser degree. The different news is,.... you do not need“A grooved swing” (as in one single swing), but rather, you need as many swings as shots there are to hit.

A better player normally has a variety of shots he or she can play with one club. Extend this through every club in the bag and the number increases greatly. Obviously, it is impossible to hit all these shots with one swing. Each shot is unique in its own way and requires a slightly different action to produce it.

Below is a list of the basics shots that any Good player worth his salt will be called upon to use at any given time. If grooving a swing is as important as people are lead to believe, then a “would be” top player has, according to the following list got 145 swings to groove. It is a logistical impossibility to do this by technical analysis of all the different subtle components.

All a top player does in order to achieve mastery of these shots is to learn a simple basic movement and then learn to express his imagination through the hands and club-face. To do this requires a clear understanding of ball spin and aerodynamics. It is worth mentioning here that you must understand shot patterns and ball spin aerodynamics before you even think about self analysis.

1/4

1/3

1/2

2/3

3/4

full

fade

low fade

high fade

draw

low draw

high draw

high

low

straight

Driver

n

n

n

n

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

3wd

n

n

n

n

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

5wd

n

n

n

n

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

2 iron

n

n

n

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

3 iron

n

n

n

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

4 iron

n

n

n

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

5 iron

n

n

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

6 iron

n

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

7 iron

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

8 iron

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

n

n

y

y

y

y

y

y

9 iron

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

n

n

y

y

y

y

y

y

PW

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

n

n

n

y

n

y

y

y

SW

y

y

y

y

y

y

n

n

n

n

n

n

y

y

y

Sound technical? Well you can make it so but it need not be. To put it in perspective, hitting a tennis ball is a far more technically difficult action than a golf swing but who taught you how to hit a tennis ball and furthermore, put spin on it as well? The answer is no one. You just instinctively did it. When you see the best players in the world shaping shots round trees and into the greens, they also are instinctively just doing it.