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Hello, this is Choi Jong-hwan. When I talk to amateur golfers, I hear them say a lot, "My putts keep going to the left."
It is simpler than you think once you understand the principle. If the club face is closed at impact compared to the direction at address, that directly causes a left-sided miss. There are two main causes that I identify on the course, and today I will explain those two and provide practice methods you can try for each immediately.
01Cause 1 — Losing the hand's sense of the clubface
If you look just above the grip, you will see a flat surface, unlike an iron grip. When you grip the club, your thumb feels this surface; it helps with direction to maintain this sensation without twisting your thumb until impact.
To get a more solid feel for it, place a flat object like a coin or credit card on this spot and press it down with your right thumb. Maintain your address in that position and try making a stroke. If the ball goes to the left of your expectations, you can assume that this face is closed.
If you practice like this, you can significantly reduce left-side misses on the course even without a coin, simply by focusing on maintaining the surface your thumb is feeling.
02Cause Two — The left wrist bending at impact
If the left wrist bends like this at the moment of impact compared to the address position, and the club head strikes ahead of the hand, this also causes the ball to go to the left.
To practice reducing this, all you need is a single golf ball. While addressing the ball, try placing it between your hand and the club. If your wrist attempts to bend during the stroke, the ball will be compressed. The key to this practice is maintaining pressure throughout the stroke to prevent the gap from narrowing.
03How to learn faster
New habits take time to take hold. Therefore, I recommend repeating the process of focusing slowly on the motion without hitting the ball to first feel the sensation, and then applying that feeling while hitting the ball. This leads to much faster improvement than trying to fix the habit by simply hitting the ball.
If your stroke keeps drifting to the left, it is highly likely that it is one of the two reasons I mentioned today. Please check them one by one in order, and if you still cannot find the cause, the fastest way is to record a video of your stroke and show it to a professional.
