Five tips to improve your game: power draw

Steve North Director of Instruction, St Andrews Links

Fault:

- Your usual fade lacks distance - You struggle with a slice

Fix:

For the vast majority of amateurs I see, their fade comes from an out-to-in swing path. This means that as the club drives through the ball, it comes from outside the ball-to-target line to inside. A slightly open face means the ball starts left and fades (or slices) right. Unless you are generating very impressive clubhead speed through impact, you'll suffer from the lack of distance as a result. So the key to solving the problem is to work on your swing path. Place two balls either side of the object ball at exactly the same angle as I have done here. This creates a gate through which you want the club to pass through impact. The balls act as a clear visual barrier that forces you into finding a better path. Crucially, you'll have to work hard to square the clubface at impact (as you'll have grooved a tendency to leave the face open) so concentrate on committing to a powerful release of the hands through the ball. Get it right and you'll turn that weak fade into a power draw.

How to hit a power draw: