Poor Golf shots

There are several possible causes of poor shots, such as poor alignment of the club, wrong direction of swing, and off-center hits where the clubhead rotates around the ball at impact. Many of these troubles are aggravated with the "longer" clubs and higher speed of swing. Furthermore, the absolute effect of a deviation will increase with a longer shot compared with a short one.

Some of the more common Poor shots are explained below:

Hook : The ball flight curves sharply to the left for a right-handed player (to the right for left-handed players). A severe hook is commonly called a Duck-Hook or a Snap hook.

Slice : The ball curves sharply to the right for a right-handed player (to the left for left-handed players). For beginning golfers this is the typical outcome of most shots. A severe slice is commonly referred to as a Banana-Slice or a Banana-Ball.

Pull : For a right-handed player the ball is 'pulled' across the body and flies to the left of the intended target without curvature (the ball flies to the right for left-handed players). A Pull-Hook indicates that the ball started out left of target and curved even further to the left. A Pull-Slice means the ball starts out left then curves back to the right.

Push : The opposite of a Pull, where the ball is 'pushed' away from the body. The ball flies to the right of the intended target for right-handed players (to the left for left-handed players). A Push-Slice indicates that the ball started out right of target and curved even further to the right. A Push-Hook means the ball starts out right then curves back to the left.

Shank : The ball is struck by the hosel or the outer edge of the club rather than the clubface and shoots sharply to the right for a right-handed player.

Thin or Blade or Skull : The ball is struck with the bottom edge of the club and not its face. This may damage the surface of a golf ball with a soft cover material, and may result in a stinging sensation in one's hands on a cold day.

Fat : A fat shot occurs when the club strikes the ground before the ball. A large divot is usually produced along with a clubface covered in the divot.

Top : The topside of the ball is struck with the blade of the club. The result usually consists of the ball rolling forward on the ground with much topspin.

Sky Ball : The opposite of a Top. This occurs most frequently when teeing the ball up too high, though sometimes a Sky Ball will occur when the ball is sitting on top of long blades of grass and the club has space to pass under the ball. The top side of the club strikes the bottom side of the ball and forces the ball higher into the air than desired. A true sky ball occurs when the ball travels farther vertically than it does horizontally.

Flyer : This type of shot usually occurs when playing from deep rough. Grass blades come between the club face and the ball, preventing the grooves of the club from imparting maximum backspin on the ball. This loss of lift from backspin will typically cause a lower, longer shot than a cleanly contacted shot. The resulting flight of the ball is that the target is overshot by 10 or more yards and the ball does not stop as quickly on the green.

Hood : Somewhere during the swing the clubface becomes more perpendicular to the ground, or angled more toward the golfer. The clubface may strike the ground first or get caught up in heavy rough. This results in the ball flying lower to the ground than intended and usually resulting in a Pull as well.

Worm burner : The ball is hit extremely low to the ground, or bounces rapidly across the ground, essentially "burning up worms" as it speeds along.

Chili Dip : A common miscue while chipping where the ball is flubbed only a few feet forward. Sometimes referred to as a Chunk.

Fried Egg: This situation occurs when the ball lands in a sand bunker and does not move from its landing spot. A small crater, or frying pan, encircles the "egg" (golf ball), and makes the next shot a difficult one.

Foot Wedge : An illegal act of literally kicking one's ball to a better location. The character Judge Smails uses this technique In the movie Caddyshack.