How to Shape Your Golf Ball Right and Left
If you were asking practically any golfer “how to spin a golf ball”, they would almost certainly think you were talking about backspin. Grasping how to put adequate Backspin on your Ball will minimally manipulate your golf ball as it hits the green, and when you are extremely skillful at it it is possible to make the golf ball reverse its direction and come back to you. This skill is going to come in handy for a tight pin placement, as you are going to be in a position to get the golf ball closer to the pin while your shot will have greater margin for error.
But more often we might visualize spin to shape the ball in the direction we would like it to go. This definitely was a life-saver for Bubba Watson in the 2012 Masters, when on the sudden death hole he was required to hit the golf ball through trees, then suddenly hook it so it had a chance to get on the green. As we know he produced a great shot under pressure, putting it on the green and winning the competition on that hole.
Lacking the ability for shaping the golf ball left-to-right (Watson is left-handed) and hook it just the right amount, he probably would’ve lost the play-off on that hole. The explanation why he and any person can shape the golf ball in either direction is, of course, the ability to spin the golf ball. And a lot like putting backspin to a golf ball, it mostly calls for technique and practice. Of course whenever we observe our ball hook or slice out of bounds, we have either put excessive spin with the golf ball or spun it inadvertently. Then we have to figure on the way to Correct a Golf Slice.
A small number of golfers can hit the golf ball a good distance and hit it absolutely straight consistently, but very few. With the majority of golfers the natural swing is likely to be somewhat inside-out, creating a draw, or outside-in, generating a fade. If you are attempting to become too perfect and attempt hitting the golf ball straight, most of the time you’ll not achieve perfection and it will shape, or spin one way or the other. One of the greatest disconcerting things that may happen for a golfer is not knowing the direction the golf ball is going to spin. This provides him small margin for error when lining the shot up.
So on the practice range; settle on if you would like your golf ball to draw or to fade. Then go through the subsequent checklist:
1. Grip. Provided you would like to spin the golf ball to create a draw, use a strong grip to help maintain the clubface somewhat closed through impact.
2. Alignment with the feet. To generate a draw of the golf ball, close the stance slightly. This would maintain a swing path that goes starting inside the golf ball to outer throughout impact.
3. Shoulder position. For creating a draw, keep the lead shoulder from opening up, keeping the clubface progressing through your golf ball longer through impact.
Obviously, to create spin that will trigger the golf ball to fade, do the exact opposite of the above. Shaping your ball left or right simply means spinning it clockwise or counterclockwise and just a small quantity of spin will be needed to successfully shape the golf ball left or right.