There are numerous troubles that we as amateur golfers run into.
The worse of it is that rarely do we know what the cause is or why sometimes they come and go like the seasons and weather.
The good news is there are some concrete items you can work on in your golf swing to help you rid yourself of imperfections in golf shots and become more consistent with the shots you take.
This article is designed to give you a primer for what to implement, for more exact details visit the website at the end of this article.
Analyze your grip Think about the first time you grabbed a golf club.
Someone probably showed you the interlocking or overlapping grip and you were off.
I'm not suggesting you're using an incorrect grip how ever you might not have the correct hand positioning and pressure.
All to often amateur golfers are gripping a club as if they're trying to strangle it.
There's no need to have such an aggressive grip pressure, you want to hold it almost as you would a child.
Not to tight, but firm enough that it isn't going to get away on you.
As for hand positioning, this isn't the case for all golfers but if you slice the golf ball this change will help you.
Grip the club (a long iron or wood) as you normally do.
Now look down at your top hand (left hand for right-handed golfers) and how many knuckles do you see? You should be able to see three knuckles on your top hand.
If you can turn your top hand and grip towards your body.
This will create a stronger grip on the club and help to close the face quicker on your down swing.
If you notice that you're pulling the ball next time out when you try this, consider moving your hands a little further away from you as the club face is closing to much before impact.
Weight Distribution Weight distribution is the key to any successful golf swing.
You should have your feet approximately shoulder width apart and as you take your club up for your back swing your weight should be transferring to the inside of your back foot.
Think of about a 75/25 weight distribution, now as you bring the club down your weight is going to transfer from your rear foot to the front foot.
This is achieved as the club comes through the down swing and you turn your front hip out of the way so you can swing through the ball.
Just a quick note on the front hip, many a golfers make this mistake of moving their front hip forwards when you should be turning it backwards to the left and out of the way.
Just remember when you're done your swing your belt buckle should be facing the target.
Aim This is a simple but great thing to work on.
Let's say you have a 160 yard shot into the green, you can see the pin and everything is pretty much flat and no major trouble around the green.
You're going to go for it, how ever you're having a tough time ensuring your aiming correctly.
Someone showed me this simple tip once and I've used it almost every shot since.
Rather then trying to square your body to something that's 160 yards away pick a point on the fairway a couple of feet in front of you that is aligned with the target.
You might notice people looking at their shot from behind the ball, this is generally what they're doing.
Now square your self up to that position on the ground rather then the target down the fairway.
You'll find your aim will become much more consistent.
Your posture and head movement A big trouble some beginner golfers have is the lifting motion either in their back or head that causes them to continually top the ball.
It's very frustrating, and often the harder they try to correct it the worse it gets.
So an easy thing to work on next time at the driving range is use your spine as an axis for your swing.
With your knees slightly bent bend at the hips so your leaning forwards over the ball ever so slightly.
Through the back swing you should keep this same height, through the down swing the same height, and not until you've made contact with the ball will you begin to straighten out and bring the club through.
Practice this and you'll enjoy more consistency with your shots.
Just a quick note that goes hand and hand with the above tip is to understand that keeping your head down is important when swinging back and making impact with the ball.
How ever as you follow through and straighten out your body your head should come up as well.
Also be sure not to over exaggerate keeping your head down, having your head down to low causes your chin to be in the way of your shoulders rotating and will cause other ill effects in your swing.
Your swing speed Now if you've been golfing for any length of time I am sure you've heard something to the extent of 'let the club do the work', or 'slow it down'.
None of us like to hear that especially after we just duffed a tee shot into the woods trying to murder it down the fairway.
How ever this tip is correct, there's a reason golf clubs are built the way they are, and often times swinging harder causes a worse outcome then keeping a slow back swing and fluid down swing.
Some people even say to stop at the top just for a milli second to ensure you keep it fluid.
Not trying to power your way through any shot and allowing your club to do the work will mean straighter shots, and more consistent shots.
Will the ball go further that one time you make perfect contact with a high speed swing? Yes it probably will but is it worth losing 4 out of 5 balls to make that long shot? Go for consistency and course management you're score card will thank you at the end of the round.