Try to do the opposite when struggling with ball flight

• By Ed Oldham, SwingFix Instructor
• Feb 27, 2013 10:00 AM ET

The great Sam Snead used to say if he was having trouble hooking the ball, he would play the hook on the course and then go to the range and work on hitting fades.

If he was having trouble fading the ball, he would play the fade on the course and then go to the range after the round and work on hitting draws.

The reason why this works so well is that errors that cause a hook and errors that cause a slice are the opposite.

Slicers tend to have an open clubface and a swing path that is too much outside to inside. Hookers, meanwhile, tend to have a closed face and a path that is too much inside to outside.

In golf, to make changes, you sometimes need to exaggerate the opposite.

• Ed Oldham

In golf, to make changes, you sometimes need to exaggerate the opposite.

If you are a slicer, try to create the hooker’s errors. Try to close your clubface and swing too much in-to-out. Most likely, you will only change things a small amount and be able correct your normal ball-flight error.

So, if you’re struggling with too much curve in your golf ball, go to the range and practice the opposite, and this approach will help you improve your ball flight.

Take an online lesson with Ed Oldham.