We hear a lot about ‘forgiveness’ in golf, but what does it actually mean? In this video below, I show you what we're talking about. It's a topic closely related to strike location, and I also have some tips for how to find the center of the clubface on a more consistent basis.
If you look at my strike points below (I’ve applied some foot spray), you can see that I’ve used pretty much all of the clubface, yet all but one or two landed on the fairway – and they went a good distance, too. That, in a nutshell, is forgiveness. I’ve found the heel, the toe, and one was a little high in the face, but I’ve got the ball off the tee and, in most cases, safely on the short grass.
If I’d struck the ball so inconsistently 20 or so years ago, I might have missed the clubface with some of these shots. However, the best drivers in the modern game (I play the TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver) have a much bigger sweetspot, a lot of which is due to the weight positioning in the back of the clubhead.
We’d love to hit it out of the middle every time, but not even the best players in the world do that. It’s important to be realistic. Technology is a great help and can help those mis hits to go a lot further than they used to.
Still, those strikes that find the center of the face are what we’re aiming for. There’s only so much technology can help and if you are getting really off with your strike, I’d recommend trying this simple drill.
Pop three tees down (see below). This acts as a gateway to hit through and give you feedback on heel and toe strikes. The idea is to sweep the ball away without hitting either the left (toe strike) and right (heel) tees.
This leads onto the subject of strike location, as well as how to avoid slicing the ball and how to stop hooking the ball, both of which I can offer a few must try tips and drills for, as well as how to drive the ball long and straight. Forgiveness in golf has come a long way, but finding the center of the face is something we should all still strive for.
