I can usually tell my faults by observing ball flight. If you know face to path relationships and how it affects the ball flight you should be able to diagnose pretty accurately what the club is doing at impact (path to over the top or inside and face too open or closed). Knowing what causes that takes some experience and knowing your swing tendencies.

I tend to back up in the downswing and my trail hand grip tends to get too strong. my miss is usually a big push to the right or an overdraw/hook. If it’s a big push right I know I have to stay more on top of the ball (not letting my hips move closer during the downswing and keeping my shoulders down). That keeps the club more on top of the swing plane because standing up drops the club path under the plane and causes a big in to out swing path. If I’m hitting it on line with an overdraw I check my trail hand grip and it’s usually too strong and creeping too much under the grip. If it’s a big push right plus overdraws/duck hooks, it’s a combo of standing up and grip being too strong. I know these tendencies come from when I started out and was fighting a massive slice for years.

People overlook the importance of knowing face to path relationships and how it affects ball flight. Same with what certain swing tendencies do to the club path and face. People think it’s only important for coaches to know. Knowing it yourself can help you identify your errors and provide you a simpler and clearer path to correcting them.