Begin curve practice by identifying your normal shot shape. Record start direction and curve separately, using one club and a wide target before experimenting with a different flight.

Use a simple flight vocabulary

For centered contact, face-to-path helps explain which way a shot curves. The ball tends to curve toward the face relative to the path. Off-center contact, especially with a driver, adds another influence. Trackman: Face-to-Path.

Describe direction from the golfer’s view down the target line. “Started left and curved right” is clearer than “bad slice.” Handedness matters when calling a shape a fade or draw.

Golf Curve Observation Plan: Record the start, Record the curve, Include every shot.

A twelve-ball observation session

  1. Choose a mid-iron, a level lie and a target with a wide safe landing area.
  2. Hit four comfortable shots with your usual setup. Record start, curve and contact.
  3. Rebuild alignment for a second four-ball group without adding a new swing feel.
  4. Hit the final four with the same intention. Mark any uncertain observation instead of guessing.
  5. Count the common patterns. Keep straight shots and mishits in the record rather than selecting only the best curves.

Turn the pattern into a decision

If the same small curve repeats, consider aiming for a landing area that allows it. If shots curve strongly both ways, contact and face control deserve attention before deliberate shot shaping. A phone clip may show useful movement clues but cannot reliably measure exact face-to-path degrees.

This is an SLGP practice plan, not a test of playing handicap. Use slice practice or the duck-hook check for a repeated one-sided miss, and ask Stubbs which observation to work on next.