Are you hitting the center of your club face on every shot? Most likely not. Most really good golfers even struggle to hit the center of the club face on many shots. It is important to have the self awareness to know when you do not hit the sweet spot, as something called gear effect changes the trajectory and shape of your shot. Drivers and woods are more effected by gear effect than irons are, due to the center of gravity of the club being farther away from the face. Martin Chuck, @tourstriker, explains gear effect in the video below.
A great way to build awareness of what hitting a shot off the toe or heel, or thin is to spray Dr. Scholl’s foot spray on your clubface at the driving range. The spray does a great job of showing the dimple pattern on your driver, woods, and irons.
Soon you will have the self awareness of when you are hitting the sweet spot and when you are either hitting it off the toe or the heel.
While on the range, you can also put tees in the ground on the inside of your ball if you are hitting to much off the toe, or on the outside of your ball if you are hitting on the heel. You’ll adjust to not hit the tees, thus moving your strike more into the center of the club face.
Believe it or not, some golfers do even realize they are not consistently hitting near the center of the clubface. Train yourself to feel when you are not and you will improve your golf game.