Your swing feels fine.Trackman says otherwise.

The data-driven truth about the hidden flaws holding your game back — and what to do about them.

Kevin Delaney Advanced PGA Professional · Project Golf London 8 min read

Most golfers I work with arrive at a lesson believing one thing and leaving knowing another. Not because they were doing anything dramatically wrong — but because the human body is remarkably good at disguising inefficiency. You've grooved something over thousands of repetitions, it feels normal, and your brain has long since stopped flagging it as a problem.

That's where Trackman changes everything. It doesn't care how your swing feels. It measures what actually happened: the club, the ball, the physics. And in 15 years of coaching, I've never once plugged someone in and found a perfectly clean picture.

Here are the five swing flaws Trackman exposes most consistently — and why most golfers have absolutely no idea they're doing them.

9°

Average club path error golfers don't feel

68%

Of amateur shots have face angle mismatch

3–5°

Attack angle change that unlocks 20+ yards

1. You think you're swinging straight. You're not.

The flaw: Club path vs. face angle mismatch

Trackman measures your club path (the direction the club is travelling) and your face angle (where the face is pointing at impact) independently. Most amateurs have a significant gap between the two — often 8–12 degrees — which is the true cause of that persistent left-to-right ball flight they've spent years "fixing" with their grip.

The fix isn't always what you'd expect. Sometimes the path is fine and the face is open. Sometimes both are off but in a way that cancels out — until you're under pressure and it doesn't. A data-driven lesson shows you exactly which variable is causing your shape, so you stop working on the wrong thing.

2. Your attack angle is killing your distance.

The flaw: Negative angle of attack with the driver

The optimal driver attack angle is +3° to +5° (hitting up on the ball). Most club golfers are hitting down at -2° to -4°. That 5–9 degree difference alone accounts for 15–25 yards of lost distance before you've even touched spin rate or ball speed.

This is one of those flaws that feels completely invisible. Hitting down actually feels more controlled, more "solid." But the numbers don't lie, and once you see your Trackman screen showing a negative AoA alongside a 2,800 RPM spin rate, the picture becomes very clear.

"The numbers give golfers something their instincts can't — an honest picture of what's actually happening at impact."

3. Your tempo is fine. Your timing isn't.

The flaw: Inconsistent dynamic loft at impact

Dynamic loft — the actual loft on the club at the moment of impact — should be consistent across your irons. Trackman shows most amateurs vary by 6–10 degrees shot to shot, which means the same 7-iron produces wildly different trajectories depending on when they reach the bottom of their arc.

This is the number one cause of those "I hit it perfect on the range, then shanked it on the course" conversations. The feel is identical. The data is not. Fixing this changes the game — especially for beginners looking at their Trackman numbers for the first time.

4. You're generating spin you don't need.

The flaw: Excessive backspin on long irons

High spin rates feel like control. A ball that rises steeply and lands softly looks like a good shot. But with a 4 or 5-iron, spin above 5,500 RPM is working against you — the ball balloons into the wind, distance drops, and any crosswind turns a straight ball flight into a drama.

5. You're losing clubhead speed at the wrong moment.

The flaw: Early peak speed before impact

Trackman can show where in the swing your speed peaks. Many golfers reach maximum clubhead speed a few inches before the ball — meaning by the time club meets ball, they're already decelerating. The result is lower ball speed, lower smash factor, and a shot that never quite matches how hard it felt to hit.

This is the hardest flaw to self-diagnose, because swinging hard and swinging fast are not the same thing. A well-sequenced swing that peaks at impact will always outperform effort. This is where working with a Trackman-certified coach makes the difference — you're not guessing at the fix, you're targeting the exact moment it breaks down.

Ready to find out what your swing is hiding?

Kevin works with golfers online via Skillest and in person at Project Golf London. Choose the option that suits you.

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