David Smiley

This week, we will look at how to be a detective when analyzing your game. By using a little common sense and some good observation, you can decipher some of the reasons why you might be struggling with certain aspects.

Let's begin with your grip of the club. Take a look at your grips. Are they worn and slick and do they need replacing? Is this contributing to you losing control of the club occasionally? Do you see any areas that are especially worn, like a perfect thumb rest on your driver? This might be an indicator of someone who is gripping it too tight.

Now let's look at your glove. Do you see any worn areas on it? Is there a worn spot in the pad of your glove? If so, this could be an indication that you are letting go of the club at the top of the back swing and re-gripping it on the way down. Do you wear out the fingers of your gloves? This might be an indication that you're gripping the club too tight.

Here are some thoughts to consider when hitting shots on the practice range.

After hitting some balls with one particular club, do you see where the ball is being contacted on the clubface? Is it a consistent pattern, or is it all over the face? Is it consistently in one area but not near the center?

This could be on the toe or the heel. If so, this could be an indication of a problem with an incorrect lie angle, which has a great influence on the direction of your shots.

Now let's pull out a driver and hit a few shots off a tee. Hit about six or seven shots and then look at the tee marks on the bottom of the driver. Are they in the center or near the heel or toe? Look at the line they make. Is it straight or is it curved one way or the other? This would be an indication of some swing-path problems, either inside out or outside in.

Like any good detective, gathering clues is just one part of the equation. The trick is to put all of this information together and solve the case of your golf maladies. While these exercises won't give you all of the answers, they should help you to begin to understand why you hit the ball a certain way.

While it is fun to analyze your own swing, don't underestimate the value of having a professional with a trained eye look at all facets of your swing. After all, if your house was robbed and you wanted to recover your possessions, who would you want on the case, you or a skilled detective?

Good luck and good golfing.