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Casting the golf club means that as you are beginning your down swing, you allow your left arm (if you are a right handed golfer) and the shaft of the golf club to create a straight line between them, at the start of your down swing. One of the main issues that this casting action creates for golfers is a loss of power and therefore a loss of distance on full golf shots.

If you maintain the angle that you create between your left arm and the shaft of the golf club during your back swing as you swing the club back down towards the golf ball, the longer you can maintain this angle for, the further you will be able to hit the golf ball. This is because when you release this angle it creates a great deal of speed in the club head.

If you create the speed in the club head at the beginning of your down swing, then the club head is moving at its fastest before it reaches the golf ball. In fact, if the fastest point for the club head is at the beginning of the down swing, then the golf head will be decelerating and getting slower as it strikes through the golf ball and this will mean that you will never hit the ball as far as you potentially could.

The second issue with casting is that it makes it very difficult to strike the ball cleanly. By creating a straight line between your left arm and the shaft of the golf club before you get to the golf ball, results in the club head being at its maximum length away from you before you have reached the golf ball. This now means that you will possibly strike the ground with the club head before the golf ball. Striking the ground first means that the speed that the club head is travelling at now transfers into the turf rather than the ball and results in a shorter hit shot, or a fat shot, that falls short of the intended target.

If you do not strike the ground with the club head, you will instead catch the ball with the club head on the up swing, as you try to guide the club head towards the ball. This now produces a very low, or thin, golf shot. Striking the ball well if you cast the golf club is extremely difficult to do consistently.

A great drill to work on to improve your down swing and help you to maintain the angle between your left arm and the shaft of the golf club is as follows. Stand next to a wall, so that the wall is on your right hand side. Stand just over an arms length away from the wall. Put the club in position at the top of your back swing – you will not be able to actually swing back into this position because of the wall. Work on starting your down swing, without letting the club hit the wall. Pull your left arm downwards towards the ball as you turn your lower body towards the target and keep the club shaft in a vertical position as you do this so that the club does not touch the wall. Work on this to learn the feeling. When you now go to the range, practise this movement, as though you are stood next to a wall, three times before you hit each golf ball.

At the top of your back swing as you begin your down swing, your wrists should be very passive. You need to instigate your down swing with the rotation of your lower body towards the target which will then move the golf club down towards the golf ball, rather than flicking your wrists to move the club downwards

If you set your wrists late as you swing away from the ball, this means you are towards the end of your back swing when you set your wrists into an angle. This encourages the use of your wrists at the end of your back swing, start of your down swing and will encourage you to cast the club. Set your wrists earlier in your back swing to prevent casting.

If you swing the golf club faster you will simply make the same action just quicker. You actually need to alter your swing movement, rather than the speed of the movement. Change your movement rather than the speed.