Archive for the ‘Faults and Fixes’ Category
Keep a Check on Your Alignment
Keep a Check on Your Alignment
A common problem amongst golfers in general!
The amount of golfers who align themselves completely wrong at the address position will have a major influence on how they swing the golf club. You will compensate for this during the golf swing. I have helped golfers tremendously to stop shanking with this just one fault alone.
Most golfers from my experience align their bodies too far to the right of their intended target, in a closed position. At some point during the golf swing you are going to compensate for this and it usually happens in the downswing. You are fully aware of where the target is but due to the closed off stance you are going to swing over plane in the downswing to get the club back to the ball.
This moves the club much further out in front of you in the downswing leading to the hosel contacting the ball first. Some golfers even lose their balance: falling forwards in the through swing.
Great ways to improve your sense of alignment is to pick a point just in front of the ball (2ft approx.) which is directly on line to your intended target.
Align the club face square to that point.
From there build your stance keeping as square as possible to that point.
Practise your alignment on the range by picking random targets and working through your pre shot routine of the above.
Another great way is to place down 3 alignment canes on the range, one aligning to a target on the left side of the range, another aligning to a target in the middle of the range and the last one aligning to a target on the right side of the range.
Practising in this manner will most certainly make you more self-aware of how you are lining up correctly. You will instantly be aware if you have aligned correctly or not.
From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy
PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent
Aim your Body Correctly
Poor body alignment
A common problem amongst golfers in general!
The amount of golfers who align themselves completely wrong at the address position will have a major influence on how they swing the golf club. You will compensate for this during the golf swing. I have helped golfers tremendously to stop shanking with this just one fault alone. Most golfers from my experience align their bodies too far to the right of their intended target, in a closed position. At some point during the golf swing you are going to compensate for this and it usually happens in the downswing. You are fully aware of where the target is but due to the closed off stance you are going to swing over plane in the downswing to get the club back to the ball. This moves the club much further out in front of you in the downswing leading to the hosel contacting the ball first. Some golfers even lose their balance: falling forwards in the through swing.
Great ways to improve your sense of alignment is to pick a point just in front of the ball (2ft approx.) which is directly on line to your intended target and align the club face square to that point. From here build in your stance keeping as square as possible to that point.
Practise your alignment on the range by picking random targets and working through your pre shot routine of the above.
Another great way is to place down 3 alignment canes on the range, one aligning to a target on the left side of the range, another aligning to a target in the middle of the range and the last one aligning to a target on the right side of the range.
Practising in this manner will most certainly make you more self-aware of how you are lining up correctly. You will instantly be aware if you have aligned correctly or not.
From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy
PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent
Instant replay
Instant replay
“I always achieve my most productive practice right after a round. Then, the mistakes are fresh in my mind, and I can go to the practice tee and work specifically on those mistakes.”
Jack Nicklaus
It is a trait of champions to employ the “instant reply mode” after every round.
What shots were executed well and what shots were executed badly?
What were the physical errors and the mental errors?
How and where could improvements be made?
Spend five minutes each and every day reflecting on your performance. Pat yourself on the back for your accomplishments but don’t fail to clearly analyze your mistakes and mentally rectify them before you start the next day. Decide what strategies you can use tomorrow that will be more effective. Commit to more preparation.
Tony Lema
I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..
Until next time I wish you all the golfing success
From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy
PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent
Cure your Swing Plane and Slice
Curing an over the top swing plane leading to an in to out swing path and a SLICE!!
The “Reverse the loop” swing drill
I have a 5 iron in my hands for this drill but you could use any club, the most important thing is to angle the cane in the ground at the correct angle for this drill to work.
- Place an alignment cane on the ground parallel to your target line. This ensures that you stand parallel to your target line.
- Take another cane and push it into the ground slightly inside the target line and a club length behind the ball, the cane should be on an angle on roughly 60 degrees for a 5 iron (see above picture).
- The top of the cane should be running through your pelvis as you look at it.
- As you start your take away keep the club outside your hands and outside of the cane (see the above picture).
- Swing up to your normal full backswing position, ensuring you have a good full 90 degree shoulder turn.
I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below.
Download my free ebook packed with drills to stop your slice CLICK HERE
Until next time I wish you all the golfing success.
Mark
Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex
Tee Peg Drill – Improve Your Ball Striking
The “Tee Peg” Drill
This drill is a very popular amongst the top professionals to improve the path and ball striking purity. You can do this drill using any club, but start with a 6 iron.
- Place a row of four tee pegs just outside the toe end of the club about an inch apart. Then place one tee peg just outside the heel of the club and running up parallel to the shaft.
- Tee a ball up in between the front two tee pegs, see below picture.
Hit some shots with a full swing but half the pace of your normal swing so you can get a feel of the club going through the gap, not hitting the outside tee pegs. Once your confidence and swing path improves you can then get your swing back up to the normal tempo and rhythm.
Keep your arms and hands as relaxed as possible as tension is a big “feel” killer in a golf swing.
I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..
Until next time I wish you all the golfing success
Mark
Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex
Cupped Wrist, Across the Line, Flying Elbow
Cupped Wrist, Across the Line, Flying Elbow, Open Clubface
Hooks, Blocks, Push Cuts, Duffs etc….
A lot of golfers are searching for a great top of the backswing position and really struggle to find it and here is why.
The Picture above is a classic example of a flying elbow, cupped wrist and across the line position that I see amongst many golfers at my facility. These lead to poor shaped shots (blocks, hooks, push cuts etc…) and most certainly miss – hit shots from all over the clubface with a mixture of heavy and thinned golf shots. Sometimes there is a physical element that causes this position at the top, in which we do a quick flexibility test to see how mobile the arms and shoulders are, as the range of motion can be limited through injury or lack of flexibility. Some golfers can just have too much flexibility and just be completely unaware of where they are swinging up to in the backswing. Once we have established the clients ROM we can then proceed in the below exercise on making them aware of the feelings the correct position for them at the top of the backswing should feel like.
Grip the golf club with the Left Hand below the right for right handed golfers and the opposite for left handed golfers (right below left). Picture above.
Good position at the Top
Swinging up to the top of the backswing will feel very different, it will feel more restricted, the left wrist (for right handed golfers) will be much flatter the right elbow will be much more down and in more in front of the body. This will lead to the shaft being much more “in the slot” and the clubface will be square (leading edge matched up to the left arm). Your body will be much more in balance and engaged with the movements you are making. To start with, you will feel that you are doing less as there are fewer moving parts. Try to use a mirror when doing this exercise to link up the feel with the visual.
Your shot shape and distance will improve dramatically and so will the ball striking with the centred strikes off the clubface.
I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..
Until next time I wish you all the golfing success
Mark
Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex
MIND OVER MECHANICS
MIND OVER MECHANICS
THE FAULT
Many golfers struggle on the greens because they often make what is in reality a fairly simple physical action, much more difficult, mainly through thinking too much about the mechanical action of their putting stroke.
When the physical aspects of putting take over it can often lead to a loss of feel for your putts and good feel is essential, both for your stroke and also when it comes to judgement of distance.
So if you are experiencing problems with this aspect of your game try this simple drill that will help get that essential feel back into your putting stroke.
THE CURE
Next time you have a few minutes to spare prior to a round of golf or even during a practise session, find a quiet spot on the putting green and try this simple drill. Take up your normal putting stance, but before you actually hit the ball, take several practice strokes looking directly towards the hole instead of down at the ball.
Try to visualise the length and pace of stroke that would be required to roll the ball the required distance. And if possible, try also to picture the ball rolling towards the target on the given line and into the hole in your mind’s eye.
As you swing the putter gently back and through, you should start to become much more aware of the weight of the putter head and the pace of your stroke. You will soon discover that your natural feel for distance and pace will become the dominant factors in your putting stroke, rather than the physical mechanics of the stroke.
Then when you get out onto the golf course, try to introduce the same “feel” drill into your pre – shot putting routine.
I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..
Until next time I wish you all the golfing success
Mark
Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex
How to Cure that Topped/Thinned shot in golf
THE TOPPED/THINNED SHOT
The thin appears when the golfer fails to get the leading edge of the club to the bottom of the ball. Instead it makes contact halfway up the back of the ball, which results in the ball running along the ground. This particular shot pattern is common to the beginner. The one thing they want to do is to get the ball up into the air. Ironically, it’s the scooping action this desire generates that causes the ball to bumble along the ground.
THE PROBLEM
Contrary to what most people believe, a top shot is rarely caused by the old adage of “you lifted your head”. The main reason for this particular shot is that the golfer tries to lift the ball into the air, the club rising as it meets the ball. This tends to make their left arm buckle as the club approaches the ball, narrowing the swing radius. The club swings upward, shortening the swing arc that was established at set up.
THE CURE
A great practise drill is to hit balls on the range with an object 12 inches behind the ball (fig 1). It could be anything, a tee peg or a pencil for example.
With an object behind the ball, your attention switches to making a sharper and steeper angle of attack – you don’t want the club to smash into the pencil. This creates a more downward blow, the club striking ball then turf (fig 2). This is the ideal contact for pure, well-struck iron shots – and for ditching that top/thinned shot.
I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..
Until next time I wish you all the golfing success
Mark
Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex
Ready, Steady, Go
READY, STEADY, GO
Improve your golf with a great Pre – Shot Routine
Many golfers on the Worldwide Tours all have one thing in common – A PRE SHOT ROUTINE….
A Pre – Shot Routine is very important as it helps get you set up and ready for the shot, a lot of mistakes I see golfers make each and every day is poor alignment and poor stances…. You may ask well how will a pre – shot routine help me??
Well by having a great pre shot routine, it will get you ready for the shot, it will switch you on with the shot you are about to play, get you fully engaged with the purpose of what you WANT to ACHIEVE and it will give you a much higher percentage of achieving the good outcome, the one that you set out to do…
Have a read below of an article I wrote back in 2003, and you will see how a good routine will help your golf.
THE FAULT
One of the first things I look for when I take a pupil on the course for a playing lesson is how they set up to hit the ball. In most cases of many beginners they simply walk up on the tee, stand to the ball, and then let it fly. Furthermore, the way in which they prepare to make their swing can often change from shot to shot and as a result, produce some pretty erratic results, mainly because they don’t use a repetitive pre shot routine.
Watch the top pro’s on every main worldwide tour and you will see one thing in common amongst the players, they all have a pre shot routine, in which they follow the same step by step process prior to hitting every shot.
THE DRILL
This routine has two key functions. Firstly, it ensures that you always remember to check the key aspects of your set up, such as alignment, ball position, grip etc.
Secondly, having a pre shot routine, helps to create a repetitive sequence of actions that have a continuous flow, which should start as you step up to each and every shot and finish as you start the club back from the ball.
I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..
Until next time I wish you all the golfing success
Mark
Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex
The Duffed Shot
THE DUFFED SHOT
A duff is when the club strikes the ground before the ball. It’s one of golf’s most infuriating shots, as you can follow a screaming drive 280 yards with a 20-yard fluff.
THE PROBLEM
The reason for a case of the duffs lies in not getting your weight forward during the downswing. It leaves the majority of your weight on the back foot at impact. Instead of moving subtly towards the target, your head moves away from it. Often, your front heel lifts up off the ground leaving the hands to get very active and trying to scoop the ball up into the air. It creates a horrible turf-first, ball second contact.
THE CURE
What you need here is a more positive move through the ball. You want to feel a slight lateral movement towards the target as you unwind on the downswing. With this move your right heel should be lifted up off the ground at impact, with the majority of the body weight on the front foot.
Here’s a great drill to make this happen. Hit shots with your back heel lifted up off the floor during the entire swing. If you don’t fancy simply lifting the heel off the ground, place a ball underneath it. This sets your spine angle more forward at address, with the majority of the body weight forward. It makes for a much more positive move through the ball, with your weight moving forwards. Don’t worry too much about where the ball goes – just get used to feeling of moving forward through the ball, and note how this drill promotes a ball-turf-contact.
I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..
Until next time I wish you all the golfing success
Mark
Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex