The third Ball Flight Law we examine today is centeredness of contact.  Defined as the exactness which the ball makes contact with the face of the club relative to the center or sweet spot of the club head.  Distance, accuracy, and trajectory are all optimized when we have centeredness of contact.

 Striking the ball on the toe or heel of the club will cause a loss of distance and directional control.  Hitting high or low on the club face will affect the trajectory of the ball.

Here is an example of a problem, the cause and the solution.

Your putting has been very inconsistent and you can’t seem to get the right line or distance.  You think your putting stroke is pretty solid and you read the greens correctly to determine the speed and break.

After placing a piece of impact tape on your putter face I discover you are hitting the ball towards the toe rather than on the sweet spot. On a longer putt this could mean a loss of several feet in distance and also cause the face to open, sending the ball significantly off line. The result is you start to adjust your stroke in an attempt to gain control.

After observing you hit several putts I find you are very inconsistent in lining the ball up with the sweet spot on your putter.  I suggest you place a mark on your golf ball and be sure it matches up with the line on the top of the putter.  This would give you a visual way of checking to see if the ball is centered on the putter at address.

Then I demonstrate your eyes are not over the ball at address by dangling a putter down from the bridge of your nose.  The putter should dangle over the golf ball but it is about 3 inches inside of the ball. 

Because you are standing to far away from the ball you need to move in closer and get your eyes over the ball.  Then it will be easier to see if you are lined up off center.  You can view this drill on my website

Remember your tendencies the next time you start putting inconsistently be sure you have not fallen back into that habit of lining up on the toe of the putter!