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The ball flight tells a very significant story if the player understands what to look for. Understanding the ball flight laws can prove important whilst on the course whether in competition, practise or just on the driving range because this knowledge will help the player make any necessary adjustments rather than make the wrong ones and cause even more issues.

Two things a golfer should know about the ball flight is that 85% of the time the ball will start where the club face is pointing at impact, and the shape on the ball after that is caused by the swing paths relationship to the club face angle at impact. This can help a player focus on the club face or swing path rather than the wrong one!

The next stage is for a player to understand why the ball will shape the way it does and what swing path has caused that shape.

For example:

• An out to in swing path can create a pull, slice, pull hook or a fade depending on the club face angle at impact.
• An in to out swing path can create a push, hook, push slice, or draw shape depending on the club faces angle.
• For a hooked shot, the club path will be in to out relative to the target with the club face closed to the swing path and the target line
• A pull shot will occur when the club face and the swing path are both pointing in the same direction, so the swing path would be out to in with the club face left of the target line but square to the swing path.

To familiarize yourself further with these types of ball flights and why they happen, a player should write down the flight of 10 shots in a row, determine how each shot occurred, and without video technology, he/she can determine how consistent their swing path is in relation to the club face at impact. This is a great drill in preparation for a round of golf so that the wrong parts of the swing arent adjusted causing more swing faults.

The balls flight can only do what it is told to do by the player who is swinging the golf club and therefore the ball is the best possible feedback for a golfer, especially one who is on the golf course struggling with a particular shot and needs to improve it to rescue a good day!

The ball tends to go high when the club face manages to produce extra loft at impact. This is called the clubs dynamic loft. When a club face is closed, the ball will come out lower and to the left of the target or swing path.

When learning about the ball flights, it is important to be able to relate them to the golf swing rather than the club. Custom fitting is a huge aspect of golf, however, if the ball slices it is due to the swing path and its relationship to the club face at impact rather than the length of the club.