4 common golf swing mistakes by the amateur.

Dave · **Posts:** 35

Swaying and not turning:
When the player starts his back swing... even though the weight is transferred to your back leg on the back swing, the player needs to make sure he turns around his body and doesn't just sway back. The lowest point in the arc of the swing happpens at the player's center of gravity. Contact with the ball should happen right before this point. If you should sway back away from the ball and move your center too far back, it is difficult to get this center back to where it should be when making contact. This can cause a "fat" shot (hitting the ground before the ball).
De-acelleration and flipping the wrists before impact.:
Pros keep the hands moving through downswing ahead of the blade. At impact the hands and grip will be slightly ahead of the head of the club. Amateurs will sometimes tend to flip their wrists and the head of the club at the bottom of their swing.
"Following through" is also key. Pros will follow through and hold their finish position. Sometimes an amateur like myself will slow down their body and hands at impact. The clubhead will keep moving and this can cause you to hit the ball fat or hit a hook.
Not hitting down on the ball
Have a feeling of hitting down on the ball. Some pros take more of a divot than others, but the divot is always taken after contact with the ball and not before. When an amateur skulls or hits the ball thin, it can be caused by trying to pick the ball up, rather than hitting down on the ball.
Coming over the top
"Coming over the top" is when your club comes down from the outside (in front of you up top and then comes across). This either cuts across the ball causing a "slice"... or sometimes "pulls" the ball. The key is to find the "slot" from the inside and get good extension through your downswing.