David Gil is one of the PGA golf professionals at “Tramores Golf Academy by Michael Campbell” at Villa Padierna Hotels & Resorts. He was 19 when, in 1988, he started working as a golf professional in Almenara (Sotogrande), creating the first CAR academy in Andalucía.

He subsequently travelled to England where he worked at the David Leadbetter Academy. On his return, he created the Sotogrande Junior Golf School, where players who went on to become top professionals have been coached.

Always linked to education, in 2010 he became involved in an international project in Sicily, where he was closely associated with Italy’s national teams and coaches.

With a masters degree in management and golf course management, David worked in golf operations for Andalucía’s leading courses until, in 2018 the Villa Padierna opportunity arose. The “TGA Golf Academy by Michael Campbell” is a vibrant project that is growing day by day, and currently is recognised as among the best golf academies in Spain.

Straighter and More Consistent Shots

For this class we are going to talk about two of the most important factors when hitting the ball straighter and more consistently. We will focus on correcting two of the most common bad shots...

• The Slice: This is when the ball travels out to the left but finishes on the right due to the effect produced, losing a great deal of distance.

• The Pull: This is when the ball travels directly to the left.

I would like to point out that both strokes have a lot in common. In fact, many players alternate the two defects during their round, and both are accentuated much more when we use long clubs, because – with the shorter clubs – the degree of the clubface minimises errors.

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Advice Number 1 to Correct a Slice or Pull

Avoid Placing the Ball Too Far to the Left Side of Your Stance

Many players in their stance, especially using clubs such as the driver, tend to place the ball just in front of their left foot without realising they will begin the swing with their shoulders totally pointing to the left of the target. This position causes the club to start rising outwards.

The error is easy to correct simply by aiming to place the ball in a more central position in the stance.

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Advice Number 2 to Correct a Slice or Pull

Line of the Swing

When we ask students what they think is the most important aspect of the golf swing, they always say impact. However, there is no good impact if we do not swing the club in the right direction.

In our previous point we recommended placing the ball in a more centred position, so the shoulders are aligned to the objective, but above all it is to ensure that the club moves in the correct line.

With both the slice and the pull, the club moves considerably from the outside in. We call this swing line negative, and we have to work on converting it to the positive (from inside out).

Advice Number 3 to Correct a Slice or Pull

Clubface on Impact… and Correction

This is the big difference between the slice and the pull – the position of the clubface on impact. 

With the slice, the clubface points in a different direction to our swing line.

Wit the pull, the clubface points in the same direction as our swing line.

Slice: Players hitting a slice block their hands on impact (on impact, the club is aiming at the target but the swing line is to the left). Swing straight to the left, clubface to the target… slice.

Faults to correct:

• Change shoulder direction (ball more centred)

• Move the club in a more positive line

• Work the hands before impact

Pull: Players hitting a pull (in a high percentage) work their hands well but, like those with a slice, the swing line is negative (the club impact is pointing to the same place as the line). Swing straight to the left, clubface to the left… pull.

Faults to correct:

• Change shoulder direction (ball more centred)

• Move the club in a more positive line