Undoubtedly, the most embarrassing tee shot in golf is the drive that pops straight up, barely clearing the tee box. The pop-up is an agonizing mis-hit most often caused by an excessive forward weight shift on the downswing and a club that approaches the ball on a very steep angle of attack. The steep descent de-lofts the clubface to such a degree that the topline of the club effectively becomes the leading edge. The result? Not only a humiliating pop-up, but one of the most hated marks in golf: a scuff on the crown of the clubhead. Yuck.

Eliminating the pop-up can be as simple as finetuning your setup. The key is to make sure your address position encourages a longer and bigger backswing arc, which will automatically shallow out your swing plane and reduce the steepness of your downswing. You’ll also find that the correct setup facilitates a solid backswing weight shift. In addition to the plane errors discussed above, a poor weight shift to the right side during the backswing can increase the likelihood of a pop-up.

Most of my students struggle with the slice. Many of these golfers have serious swing issues, but the majority certainly possess enough talent and an understanding of the golf swing to keep slices at bay. The problem is they’re trapped into hitting slices because their setup facilitates swinging on the out-in path to which all slices owe their existence.

If you’re prone to slicing, I’ll bet that you set up to the ball with your shoulders aligned too far to the left. It’s a common malady that’s difficult to self-diagnose. Open shoulders at address force the clubhead to come from outside the target line. This path, combined with a face that’s square to the target, imparts the dreaded left-to-right sidespin.

To help my students better align themselves at address, I have them focus on their shirt buttons. The buttons on your shirt can help line up your shoulders correctly and guard against creating an out-in path. In fact, they’re useful for setting up any type of shot shape.