Nick's top tip of the week

Try a yellow ball

Not so long ago, yellow balls were the preserve of driving ranges and rock-hard budget balls. But now the likes of Titleist, Srixon, Bridgestone and Wilson offer some of their premium models in yellow. Serious golfers tend to stay away from yellow golf balls, but they perform just the same as white ones and are easier to spot among leaves or frost. 

Dean Cracknell, Srixon Golf's Custom-Fit Manager, told us: "Science has proven that yellow is the most visible colour in the spectrum allowing it to be seen extremely easily even at long distances." 

Srixon's designers conducted extensive visibility testing to determine how much easier it is for players to see the Tour Yellow golf ball compared to the Pure White version, and at 225 yards the Tour Yellow golf ball was twice as easy to see as white.

Sam's top tip of the week

How to avoid slicing the ball

The ball starts to the left of the target line and then curves right to finish to the right of the target.

Check this list of possibilities to see where you are going wrong:

- Aim: Your clubface could be too open.

- Grip: Your hands may be twisted too far round to the left of the grip, known as a weak grip. As you swing through the ball the blade is naturally opening. -

- Ball Position: The ball could be too far forward in your stance causing your shoulders to open.

- Stance: Your stance may be too narrow causing you to be unstable and rely too much on your arms through the forward swing rather than your hips.

- Body alignment: Your feet, hips and shoulders are probably aiming too far left of the target causing you to swing your club on an 'out to in' swing path.

- Posture: You may be standing too far from the ball.

- Swing: In the first part of the backswing the club goes too much to the inside. The left arm goes too much across the chest. The arms have got nowhere to go so they lift and go over the top, like a figure of eight almost.

- Golf coach tip: Hit shots from a side hill lie with the ball above your feet. This will get you swinging along the correct target line rather than in, up and over. 

If you have any questions or would like to book a lesson please click here to get in touch.