Faults
Five swing faults a launch monitor shows in the first ten balls
These are the misses that walk into the bay all year. None of them need a new swing theory. They need the number that proves which one you have.
· Chase Toomey
1. A grip that is squeezing the club
Tension shows up as smash that will not settle and a face that jumps open and shut from ball to ball. The fix is not a speech about "soft hands." It is a grip pressure you can repeat while the smash number stops bouncing. If the face calms down and the speed stays the same, the grip was the leak.
2. Path that cuts across the ball
Out-to-in, face open to the path: the ball starts left and curves right. Golfers describe this as a slice and then get a tip about the shoulder turn. The screen says the path is the problem. Change the path, recheck the face, and only then talk about turn.
3. Early extension
The hips move toward the ball and the hands have nowhere to go. Contact gets thin or the face flips. Swing Catalyst pressure shows the move even when the video looks "athletic" at full speed. The drill is smaller than the feeling. You are trying to stay the same distance from the ball you started with, not to pose at the finish.
4. Feet aimed one way, face aimed another
Alignment is free to fix and expensive to ignore. If the feet point at the right tree and the face points at the left tree, every path number after that is measured against a lie. Set the face at the target first, then set the feet parallel. Recheck before you decide the swing is broken.
5. Swinging harder to fix a contact problem
Club speed up, smash down, carry flat. That is the signature of effort used as a cure. The useful swing is the fastest one that keeps smash. Chase would rather see 92 mph at 1.45 than 101 mph at 1.31. The second number feels better and travels worse.