Achieving Proper Alignment at Address

To me teaching alignment is very simple, but after searching the web for articles and videos, I find that I teach it a little differently than anyone else.

The biggest mistake I have seen over the years is the tendency to start out by aligning the body first. Body alignment is secondary to club face alignment. The idea is to learn to hit the ball in the same place every time and adjust the body alignment to where the ball is going. I had a member once that sliced everything he hit, but he didn’t fight it. He just got to the point where he could slice it the same amount every time and adjusted his alignment accordingly. He ended up with a single digit handicap. I will point out that he had a wonderful short game.

The idea is to grip the club and then sit it down behind the ball so that it faces the target squarely. Then align your feet and body to the clubface. This will cause the body to align on a parallel line to the left of the target line. If the shoulder alignment is at the target you are now in your own way. There is no way you can swing freely down the target line unless your body alignment is out of the way.   will point out that it is imperative that you understand that the ball is not the target. The target is where you want the ball to end up.

Just remember that Lee Trevino had his body aimed well left of the target line and he was one of the best ball strikers of all time.

In alignment everything works backward from the club face. The eye line – an imaginary line across the pupils of your eyes – and your shoulders need to be parallel to the target line. If your hips are slightly open, that’s fine. The least important part of the body is the alignment of your feet. This is the main reason I’m not a fan of alignment rods or two golf clubs on the ground. I feel that they encourage you to work on your alignment in reverse order by aiming your body first instead of the club face. Tour Sticks are fine for other applications, but if you are going to use them for aiming purposes place one behind the ball pointed directly at the target.

The next time you are watching a tour event on television watch how the tour players do it. The vast majority stand behind the ball and pick out their target line, then grip the club and step in with their right foot, set the club down square and then place their left foot. They are basically just getting comfortable.

Just remember the next time you are playing golf and hitting everything ten yards right, don’t change your swing, just aim ten yards left.

Please be sure and leave comments and let me know what you would like for me to write about or any questions you may have.

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