3 Expert Tips To Improve Your Ball Flight
Improve your ball flight and find your target more consistently, with three top tips from Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Steve Robinson...
Controlling your ball flight is crucial for any amateur golfer looking to lower their handicap, and with the right golf tips it's not that hard to achieve. Whether you change something in your swing and set-up, or you opt for alternate gear, perfecting this crucial aspect of your on-course performance will help you to shoot lower scores.
With that in mind, we asked Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Steve Robinson to share three expert tips to improve your ball flight...
1. Ball Position
Common causes of too low a flight would be ball position, as the ball too far back or hands too far forward will de-loft the club. An average handicap golfer might hit down by three or four degrees with an iron, so the low point will be four to five inches after the ball.
To hit it higher, shallow out your angle of attack by having the ball further up in your stance, stay behind it at impact, and swing through to a high finish, rather than curtailing the follow-through.
2. Attack Angle
Placing a tee four inches target-side of your ball is a good way to learn how to hit the ball higher. Typically with an iron, you should find you hit both ball and then tee as your arc bottoms out after the ball with a descending blow.
To hit it higher, you must reduce your angle of attack so you hit the ball but miss the tee. Putting the ball a little further forward in your stance will encourage the shallower angle of attack needed.
3. Opt For A Hybrid
Rather than tweaking set-up or technique, many golfers will find the best change they can make to help them flight it better is to put their long-irons away and get a hybrid.
Get the Golf Monthly Newsletter
Subscribe to the Golf Monthly newsletter to stay up to date with all the latest tour news, equipment news, reviews, head-to-heads and buyer’s guides from our team of experienced experts.
The hybrid’s clubhead is specifically designed to make it easier to hit better-flighted shots from long range, and a simple club swap alone will give many players a lot more elevation, especially if they don’t generate a lot of clubhead speed.
How Do You Hit A Golf Ball Consistently Straight?
To hit the golf ball consistently straight, start by checking you are adopting the perfect golf grip. A great visual checkpoint is the 'v' shape that you should create between your thumb and forefinger on your right hand, as this should point towards your right shoulder.
A push shot is often caused by that 'v' pointing towards your chin, leaving the clubface open at impact. Conversely, if the 'v' is pointing at past your right shoulder, this will likely result in a pull shot.
The Golf Monthly archive is a gold mine of brilliant reads, documenting a journey through the history of golf dating back to our first issue in 1911. Take advantage of over 100 years of invaluable tips from the best tour professionals and coaches in world golf, by subscribing to the online Golf Monthly Archive.
Barry Plummer joined Golf Monthly as a staff writer in January 2024, and now oversees the instruction section across both print and digital. Working closely with the Golf Monthly Top 50 Coaches, he endeavours to provide hints and tips about all aspects of the game - helping amateur golfers to shoot lower scores. A member at Sand Moor Golf Club in Leeds, he also looks forward to getting out on the course at least once a week.
Barry is currently playing:
Driver: Benross Delta XT Driver
Hybrid: TaylorMade Stealth 4 Hybrid
Irons: Benross Delta XT 5-PW
Wedges: TaylorMade RAC 60, Callaway Jaws MD5 54
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour
-
How Much Are TGL Tickets?
Interest in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's TGL has been significant early on, with the first few weeks of action completely sold out...
By Jonny Leighfield Published
-
Which Players Are Sitting Out In TGL Week 2?
The TGL consists of six teams of four players but, for the matches themselves, just three from each team feature, as one player is forced to sit out
By Matt Cradock Published
-
I'm Confident These 5 Tips Will Transform Your Golf Game In Time For The 2025 Season... Because They Come Straight From The French Open Champion!
Golf tips from a two-time DP World tour winner don't come around everyday, but Dan Bradbury's expert advice will help you to shoot better scores in 2025...
By Barry Plummer Published
-
Short Putts... Dead-Weight Or Firm? Our Experts Debate This Common Conundrum
Standing over a short putt with the match on the line is enough to make even the best putter feel a little uneasy. But, is it best to hit dead-weight or firm?
By Barry Plummer Published
-
Bunker Play... The Lowry Way! 3 Simple Tips To Sharpen Up Your Short Game From The Sand
Shane Lowry is a short game wizard, consistently producing magical shots around the green, so we asked Top 50 Coach Tom Motley To Analyse His Majestic Technique
By Barry Plummer Published
-
12 Practical Winter Golf Hacks To Help You Shoot Lower Scores In 2025
Getting ready for the 2025 golf season this winter couldn't be easier thanks to these expert winter golf hacks from Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Adam Harnett...
By Barry Plummer Published
-
'I Grew Up Missing Every Green On The Planet... So It Became A Necessity To Become Good At Chipping' – 5 Expert Short Game Tips From The 2018 Masters Champion
Patrick Reed is renowned for being one of the best short game players of his era, with his silky touch around the green helping him to win a first Green Jacket
By Garrett Johnston Published
-
6 Superstar Golf Swings To Study: Learn To Bomb It Like Bryson, Rip it Like Rory And Save Par Like Scheffler
Most amateur golfers would benefit from studying the golf swing of a top player in the game, so to make it simpler we asked our expert to help you get started
By Michael Weston Published
-
What To Work On This Winter: Golf Fitness Or Technical Tuning?
We ask two of our esteemed experts, Jeremy Ellwood and Fergus Bisset, how they will be investing their time over the winter in their pursuit of golf improvement
By Barry Plummer Published
-
Jack Nicklaus Golf Tips: 5 Timeless Lessons From The Golden Bear
As one of the greatest players in golf's history, Jack Nicklaus possesses a wealth of experience and wisdom. Here, we share five of his invaluable golf lessons
By Barry Plummer Published