Instruction
How to eliminate the double cross: Vertical plane, gear effect and impact location
One of the biggest issues teachers see on the lesson tee is an out-to-in golf swing from a player who is trying to fade the ball, only to look up and see the deadly double cross! This gear effect assisted toe hook is one of the most frustrating things about trying to move the ball from left to right for the right-handed golfer. In this article, I want to show you what this looks like with Trackman and give you a few ways in which you can eliminate this from your game.
Below is the address position of a golfer I teach here in Punta Mita; his handicap ranges between scratch and 2, depending on how much he’s playing, but his miss is a double cross when he’s struggling.
Now let’s examine his impact position:
Observations
- You see a pull-hooking ball flight
- The hands are significantly higher at impact than they were at address
- If you look at the clubhead closely you can see it is wide open post impact due to a toe hit (which we’ll see more of in a second)
- The face to path is 0.5 which means with a perfectly centered hit, this ball would have moved very slightly from the left to the right
- However, we see a shot that has a very high negative spin axis -13.7 showing a shot that is moving right to left
Now let’s look at impact location via Trackman:
As we can see here, the impact of the shot above was obviously on the toe and this is the reason why the double-cross occurred. Now the question remains is “why did he hit the ball off of the toe?”
This is what I see from people who swing a touch too much from out-to-in and try to hit fades: a standing up of the body and a lifting of the hands raising the Vertical Swing Plane and Dynamic Lie of the club at impact. From address, let’s assume his lie angle was 45 degrees (for simplicity) and now at impact you can see his Dynamic Lie is 51 degrees. Simply put, he’s standing up the shaft during impact…when this happens you will tend to pull the heel off the ground at impact and this exposes the toe of the club, hence the toe hits and the gear effect toe hook.
Now that we know the problem, what’s the solution? In my opinion it’s a three stage process:
- Don’t swing as much from out-to-in so you won’t stand up as much during impact
- A better swing plane will help you to remain in your posture and lower the hands a touch more through impact
- Move the weights in your driver to promote a slight fade bias
Obviously the key here is to make better swings, but remember to use technology to your advantage and understand why these type of things happen!
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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Bryan
Jun 19, 2018 at 9:00 pm
In general players stand up to compensate for an open club face. They lack control of the face. The movement up is to try and square the face. Love to see the shaft and wrist angles in transition. I’d guess the shaft is very vertical and wrist is cupped. Also guessing hand depth is lacking in transition.
ogo
Jun 19, 2018 at 11:02 am
There are 2 gear effects, a horizontal and a vertical gear effect on drivers with a bulge and roll face. Horizontal gear effect is optimal at the sweet spot and the vertical gear effect optimizes slightly above the geometric center of the face. As for Twist Face???
Eric
Jun 19, 2018 at 8:12 am
Didn’t he hit the toe, just because, you know, he hit the toe? He could make virtually the same swing but his hands are less than an inch in a different position and then hit the sweet spot. Why make such large changes to body movement to correct such slight an error in motion? Seems like a good way to clutter the mind and cause worse contact.
Man
Jun 19, 2018 at 1:56 am
In the two freeze frame videos of the man swinging, it just doesn’t look to me like he’s aimed far enough left with his feet or his hips, and so the plane doesn’t look correct, as he is really didn’t swing enough out-to-in with a slice move to try to fade the ball like Trevino or Nicklaus. He looks like he aimed square and swung down the line, straight on plane, may be slightly over the top if at all, to try to promote a out-to-in from high to low, but definitely not significantly out-to-in slice swing enough down his feet line to the left, even a la TW when he did that swoop with Foley.
This is a bad example of a poor swing executed, but an impact location executed well to demonstrate a properly a gear-effect hook from a square position. Why didn’t he take a giant slice swing like a flop shot or bunker shot with the driver, an extreme slice swing, and still hit that toe area to demonstrate that the extreme slice swing can also offset a toe hit and actually make the ball go mostly straight?
Shank to this one.
Josh
Jun 18, 2018 at 4:26 pm
Good explanation, but not much in the way of instructing anyone how to go about the first two stages of your three stage process. Stage 3 is kind of a no-brainer though anyone struggling with hooks has already pulled out the wrench if their driver allows it, but moving a weight on the bottom of the club isn’t going to stop gear effect if you still hit one out on the toe.
PM
Jun 18, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Moving the weight will shift the CG and will indeed help change/reduce gear effect.
ogo
Jun 18, 2018 at 6:05 pm
No, trying to remedy the problem at the clubhead is insignificant if the wrists rise and the clubhead droops for a toe hit. The problem is in the hands and arms, not the clubhead.
ogo
Jun 18, 2018 at 12:58 pm
This is good stuff! Why do rec golfers instinctively tend to straighten up as they approach impact? How can we overcome our instincts and stay down into the swing going into impact? Why do the hip and knee joints extend as the club comes down? Thanks.
Josh
Jun 18, 2018 at 4:28 pm
You should watch a few Wisdom in Golf videos by Shawn Clement. They are here on the site. Rec golfers stand up and extend early because they are too focused on *hitting the ball* when they should be focused on delivering the energy of a swing through the ball.
ogo
Jun 18, 2018 at 6:02 pm
Okay, but what is the physiological reason to instinctively ‘stand up’ when the clubhead is coming down to impact? “..focusing on delivering the energy of a swing through the ball” is the result of standing up. It’s not an answer to the problem.
Geohogan
Jun 19, 2018 at 7:34 am
Telling a golfer to stop standing up at impact is complete rubbish. The subconscious cannot , Not do something. Golf instructors need to learn how the body maintains balance, subconsciously.
Interpreting Trackman data to correct EE, is BS baffles brains.