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

One of the most common faults I see with golfers is a lack of body rotation through impact. When this happens, players often rely too much on their hands and arms to hit the ball, which can lead to inconsistent contact and poor ball striking. A simple way to check if you're rotating enough is to look at your finish position. Ideally, your chest, hips, and belt buckle should all be facing the target. If they're not, there's a good chance you're not rotating effectively through

One of the most common faults I see in amateur golfers is the slice. For most players, this comes from an overly steep downswing and a swing path that cuts across the ball from outside to in. A simple and highly effective way to fix this is by using the baseball swing drill. The idea is to change your feeling of how the club moves through space by taking it away from the golf ball and exaggerating a more rounded motion. Start by holding the club out in front of you, roughly p

One of the most important movements in the golf swing happens during the transition from the backswing into the downswing. If you watch the best players in the world, you'll notice that their lower body starts the downswing before their upper body. This sequence helps create power, improves consistency, and allows the club to approach the ball from a much better position. One of the most common faults I see is golfers spinning their upper body too early from the top of the ba

One of the quickest and easiest ways to cure a slice in golf is by changing your setup and learning how to create a more “in to out” swing path. A very simple drill that works extremely well for this is placing your right foot slightly behind your left foot at address. This small adjustment can instantly help golfers who struggle with coming over the top and slicing the golf ball. The reason this drill works so well is because it naturally changes the direction your body want

If you ask any elite golfer about the position of their trail arm in the backswing, very rarely will you see the right elbow (Opposite for a left hander) lifting excessively away from the body. One of the most common faults that leads to a steep downswing and ultimately a slice is the right elbow getting too high and disconnected early in the backswing. This often causes the club to travel too far “out” and sets the shaft into a very steep position at the top. When the right

One of the biggest misconceptions in golf is that there is only one way to play a bunker shot. The reality is that the type of sand you are playing from will determine the technique you should use. Some bunkers have very soft, fluffy sand whereas others can be quite firm and compact. Understanding the difference between the two is extremely important because the amount the club digs into the sand will completely change depending on the conditions. Many golfers struggle in

When reading a putt, many golfers naturally try to start the ball on a direct line to the hole. It feels more accurate, more “honest,” and more controlled. But in reality, that approach leaves very little room for error—especially once the ball starts to break. That’s why better players often favour aiming on the high side of the hole, also known as the pro side. What does “high side” mean? On any breaking putt, there are two key reference points: Low side: the downhill side

Pitching is one of the most important parts of your golf game, especially when you’re trying to lower your scores. Most golfers understand the basics of pitching, however many beginner and intermediate players struggle with consistency. This usually comes down to a few key fundamentals that are often overlooked, particularly body movement, grip pressure, and swing length. The first thing to understand when working on your pitching is the importance of turning your body correc

One of the most important fundamentals when trying to become a consistent ball striker is maintaining your spine angle throughout the golf swing. Many golfers, especially beginners, struggle with this without even realising it. When the spine angle changes during the swing, it becomes very difficult to return the club back to the ball consistently, which leads to poor contact and inconsistent shots. The main cause of losing your spine angle is what we call “early extension.”

Many golfers would have been on the edge of their seat watching Rory McIlroy’s final hole in a major championship, wondering whether he could finish the round successfully and secure another major victory. On the last hole, Rory’s tee shot drifted well to the right, forcing him to make an important decision for his second shot. From a coaching perspective — and something we regularly teach in golf lessons on the Gold Coast — this is a perfect example of course management unde

When you first play golf, it might feel overwhelming trying to understand which clubs to use in what scenario. If you have a full set and you head to the first tee, you may also feel pressure using clubs that seem intimidating to swing. This is definitely the case particularly if you're playing with someone who is quite experienced. One of the most important things to remember when you are beginning to play, is only uses clubs that you feel confident with swinging. Theref

Once you understand that you need to turn in the swing, the next question is 'how do you turn'? Most golfers do in fact turn in their swing, however most beginner and intermediate golfers find it hard to turn correctly. This is for two reasons: firstly a misunderstanding of what makes a good turn and secondly once you understand how to turn, being able to have your body make the movement seamlessly. Now the first aspect to understand when trying to turn correctly is that th

Bunker shots can appear to be one of the hardest shots in golf as a beginner. However, once you understand the set-up differences, it becomes like any other shot. I would though, before placing a lot of practice time in the bunkers, ensure your basic swing is reasonably competent. This is why when receiving lessons, the coach will tend to save hitting bunker shots after the student has had a few lessons. The reason being is that when adding the sand element, you want to m

When beginning golf, it can be sometimes hard to know what clubs to use when the ball is close to the green. What most people do if not given professional advice, is grab the PW. This of course is fine if you have plenty of green to work with or you're particularly confident with this club. However, most people use the PW far too often (particularly when they're just off the green) where if they chose a simpler club such as a Putter, they would yield better results. One of

If you ask any elite golfer what kind of shot shape they hit, very rarely will they say straight. Nearly every golfer will always say they play a little fade or a little draw. The reason for this, is that hitting it straight is the hardest shot in golf. Most beginner golfers will struggle with the slice and therefore will have the goal of playing a draw whereas the advanced player typically wants to play a fade in fear of becoming 'stuck' (too inside on the downswing). Whe

When first commencing golf, it can be quite overwhelming when trying to learn the fundamentals. One of the big keys is learning how far to stand from the ball. Standing at the correct distance from the ball is one of the most understated components of the set-up as it can have a great influence over your ball striking. Once you learn the correct distance along with the ideal spine tilt, you will find that your ball striking will dramatically improve. One of the biggest iss

When a student first learns how to play golf, I will often have them pause at the end of their swing. I do this as I want them to analyse where they are at the completion of the swing so they can learn whether they've finished correctly. Installing the correct finish position is an important first step when learning golf as how you finish will often tell the story of the shot. The correct finish position is defined as having 100% of weight on the front as well having the b