When you're first learning to play golf, one of the most important habits I recommend developing from your very first golf lesson is learning how to hold your finish. While getting your fundamentals right is always the starting point, learning to finish your swing in a balanced position can help improve many other aspects of your golf swing at the same time. 1. Learn to Hold Your Finish One of the first things I want beginner golfers to focus on during a coaching session is h

One of the most common frustrations in golf is being able to hit the ball well on the driving range, only to struggle when you take that same swing out onto the golf course. There are several reasons why this happens, but two of the biggest factors are alignment and your pre-shot routine. 1. Your Alignment Could Be the Problem When you practise at the driving range, you're often standing on a square mat that naturally encourages you to hit in a particular direction. As a resu

One of the most important parts of striking a golf ball consistently is understanding how your ball position can influence your weight transfer throughout the swing. A common mistake I see is golfers who start struggling with their ball striking and gradually move the ball further back in their stance. This can seem logical because having the ball further back can make it easier to strike the ball before the ground, helping to avoid fat shots. The problem is that when you con

One of the biggest reasons golfers can start hitting the heel of the golf club is an incorrect takeaway. A lot of golfers focus on what they are doing at impact, but in many cases, the problem can actually start much earlier in the backswing. When I analyse a golfer who is struggling with shanking the ball, one of the first things I look at is how they start their backswing and, more importantly, what their hands and club head are doing during the takeaway. How the Takeaway C

If you want to become a great ball striker, one of the most important things you need to learn is how to sequence your body correctly during the golf swing. A lot of golfers focus heavily on what their arms and hands are doing, but good ball striking is not just about the position of the club. It is also about how your body moves and, importantly, the order in which it moves. One of the biggest things I look at when analysing a golf swing is how a golfer starts their downswin

One of the first things I look at when a golfer is battling the shanks is their basic fundamentals. This applies to almost every part of your golf game. Before making major changes to your swing, you need to make sure your setup and fundamentals are correct. In many cases, your fundamentals can account for a large percentage of what is causing the problem. One of the most common things I see with golfers who are struggling with the shanks is their ball position being too far

One of the most common things I see when I video golfers through impact is the bottom hand slipping down the golf club. While this might seem like a small movement, it can have a significant effect on the quality of your impact. When the bottom hand starts to separate from the top hand during the downswing, the hands can become disconnected as they approach the ball. This can make it much more difficult to control the clubface and can often lead to the golfer flipping the clu

One of the most common things I see with beginner golfers is their head lifting during the backswing. While many golfers think the problem is simply that they are trying to lift their head, the real cause can often be found in their setup. If you stand too far away from the ball and your arms become too straight, you can end up standing too tall over the golf ball. This creates too much distance between your body and your hands at address. When this happens, your arms can bec

One of the key differences I see when golfers start progressing from a beginner to an intermediate level is the relationship between the left arm and the club shaft at the top of the swing. When you look at more advanced golfers, you'll often notice that their left arm and the club shaft form approximately a 90-degree angle or 'L' Shape at the top of the backswing. This is an important position because it helps create a strong and powerful position from which to start the dow

One of the simplest ways I help golfers who struggle with a slice is to get them to focus on one thing — swinging the club on the same path during the backswing and downswing. A lot of golfers who slice the ball can become confused when they start talking about different swing planes and positions. Instead of trying to think about too many different things, sometimes it is much easier to give the golfer a simple feeling and a clear target to swing towards. One of my favourite

One of the first things I look at when a golfer comes in for a lesson struggling with a slice is their setup. A lot of golfers immediately think they need to change their swing, but sometimes the problem can begin before they even start the takeaway. If your setup is incorrect, it can make it much more difficult to return the club correctly through impact. One of the biggest setup issues I see with golfers who slice is having the left shoulder positioned too far forward of th

One of the most important parts of hitting consistent golf shots is understanding how your grip can influence what happens through impact. You have to be very careful with your grip because, if it is positioned incorrectly, it can have a significant effect on how you strike the golf ball. One example I see regularly is golfers who tend to flip their hands through impact, often resulting in thin shots or tops. In many cases, the grip can be contributing to this movement. A com

One of the most important parts of hitting consistent golf shots is understanding how the clubface rotates through impact. Many golfers focus heavily on their swing path, but even with a good path, the clubface still needs to rotate correctly through the ball to give you the best chance of hitting the ball straight. One of the best cues I use to help golfers understand clubface rotation is looking at where the club is at hip height after impact. If you video yourself from the

One of the most overlooked fundamentals when trying to improve your golf swing is understanding how the pressure in your feet can affect your movement. Many golfers focus on their hands, arms, and club path, but the way your pressure moves throughout your feet can have a huge impact on how you swing the golf club. One of the biggest issues I see, particularly with golfers who struggle with a slice or a pull, is that their pressure moves too much into their toes during the bac

One of the most common problems I see with beginner and intermediate golfers is the slice. While there are a number of reasons why a slice can occur, one of the biggest causes is an over-the-top downswing. This is when the club travels too far from outside the target line on the way down, producing pull shots, slices and inconsistent ball striking. One of the best drills I use to help golfers correct this movement is the alignment stick drill. To set it up, place an alignment

One of the biggest challenges golfers face is understanding how the club face should rotate throughout the golf swing. Many players struggle with topping, thinning, slicing, or inconsistent contact without realising that the position of the club face during the backswing can have a major influence on their swing. The golf swing is not just about moving the club back and through. The way the club face rotates affects how your arms, shoulders, body, and head move throughout the

One of the biggest challenges golfers face is knowing how to start the downswing correctly. Many players understand they need to rotate their body through the ball, but the timing and sequence of that movement are often misunderstood. The downswing is not simply about turning your body as hard as you can towards the target. Instead, it is about creating the correct sequence, which allows the club to approach the ball on a consistent path and produce solid, accurate shots. For

Alignment is one of the most important fundamentals in the golf swing, yet it is also one of the most commonly overlooked. At its simplest, alignment is your ability to aim your body correctly at your intended target. This includes your feet, knees, hips, and shoulders all working together to form a parallel line left of the target for a right-handed golfer, or right of the target for a left-hander. When this is done correctly, it gives you the best possible chance of swingin

One of the most common and frustrating faults in golf is the shank. The biggest reason golfers shank the ball is that the arms move away from the body on the backswing. When this happens, the hands are forced to push outward, and the clubhead gets working too far behind the body. From there, on the way down, this often leads to an over-the-top movement, which pushes the hands even further out towards the ball, resulting in contact off the heel of the club. The key thing to un

The shank is one of the most frustrating shots in golf. One minute you're striking the ball well, and the next the ball is shooting sharply off the heel of the club and travelling sideways. The good news is that in most cases, the shank can be fixed with a simple drill that helps improve your strike location. One of the best drills to overcome the shank is the two-ball drill. To set this up, place the golf ball you're going to hit in its normal position. Then place a second b