You're Correct!

Every golfer wants to hit that long straight ball flight, landing right in the middle of the fairway and trundling to 300 yards. Realistically, golfers just want to keep the ball on the fairway so they can have a good chance of hitting the par 4s in two shots and the par 5s in three shots. Missing fairways can lead to bogeys or worse which results in you hitting over your handicap or in the professional ranks, missing cuts.

Straight drives are difficult to achieve because the swing path has to be perfectly straight down the line of the target, with the club face pointing the same way.

If a player can learn to set up straight to the target with a neutral grip and alignment and then proceed to make a nice, wide on plane back swing arc, the down swing arc can continue from here.

Once you have reached a good top of the back swing position whereby the shoulders have rotated 90 degrees and the hips have rotated 45 degrees, it is the transition to the down swing that sets up a good swing path and angle of attack.

From the top of the swing, the hips need to initiate the down swing by transferring the weight to the left hip and then the hips rotate to the target. The weight shift will help create lag in the hands and drop the arms towards the players right hip on the down swing. By looking down the line, the club should be parallel to the right arm, the hands close to the body and the hips already turned past the ball. The arms will then push through impact, aiming to point the club at the target. This will give a relatively straight swing path into the ball and providing the hands have done their job and naturally released through impact, the club face will also be pointing at the target.

If a player aims to cut across the ball then they are looking to use an out to in swing path relative to the target line, which depending on the club face at impact, will create a pull or a sliced shot.

During the down swing, it is important that the body creates room for the golf club to approach the ball straight on. However, this is done by transitioning the weight to the left side rather than it going to the right side. The weight moving away from the ball will most likely result in topped shots.

Many golfers aim to create an in to out swing path which gives them a draw shape. It can also lead to a low hooked shot or a ball flight that is straight right of the target with no curvature. When this shot is played correctly, it is a nice shot to have at your disposal.