I’d love to know everyone’s approach to aiming/alignment. On the days I struggle, I think this is the most out of whack for me. Improper aim and setup causing compensations in other areas of my swing. Nailing this would raise my floor on the bad days.
How do you go about picking a line and aligning yourself to it properly?
Not to promote a particular YouTube instructor, but showing this video is much easier than trying to write out the technique I’ve adopted:
I stand behind the ball and hold the driver up in the air in line with my target. I bring my hands down to a blade of grass 2 foot in front of the ball then step around to address the ball lining up on the blade of grass.
I do the same, but then go one step further, I put the club down along my thighs to make sure my body is lined up too.
I use the Nicklaus approach. I start behind the ball, find an intermediate target some 8-10’ in front of my ball BUT directly in line with my target, and then take my address - lining my shoulders, thighs, and club to that line. I commit to that target and pull the trigger.
Alignment is HUGE! Something you have to work on your whole golfing life. I stand behind ball, envision the shot, pick out an intermediate target on that line, then keep my eyes on that intermediate target as I approach the ball, then carefully and intentionally line up my club face to the intermediate target (very important to do that with club face first), then set up my body to the line of the club face. Take a last look at the target to make sure I know where I’m going, follow the target line back to my ball and then let ‘we fly!
But overall, yes, alignment is so crucial tans something we should always be conscious of!
This may be overly obvious but on the tee you’re allowed to touch the ball … after picking out my target I stand behind the ball and set the alignment line of the ball along my target line.
Intermediate shots … I do as others have explained, pick out something visible in front of your ball on your intended target line.
On the green … I almost always line up the ball and/or (usually “and”) pick out something right in front of my ball on my target line.
One good tip I got is stand steady, turn your head to look over your lead shoulder and see where it’s pointing - open? closed? or parallel?
Also know your predominant tendency; eg. mine was to set up a little open to my target line.
And… not sure on the rules, but… wondering if holding your club up to your body as an alignment aid is legal during a round…?
It is legal to check your alignment with your club as long as it remains in your hand. You wouldn’t be able to set it on the ground and align that way.
Ah, good to know … thx. In practice I’ll occasionally use the club to check my body alignment - feet, legs, hips, then shoulders. Maybe I’ll start checking myself on the course … where it counts!
No matter what method you use to align yourself on the course, its really helpful to have practiced aligning yourself properly on the practice range, using some type of alignment devise. That can be cheap garden stakes, fancy alignment sticks, or just one or more golf clubs. Set the alignment devices on the ground aligned the way you want to be, and make yourself set up properly. A lot of times good alignment can feel “wrong”, especially of you’re making some kind of change, you need to practice it until it feels “right”. Just as you should practice your swing, you should practice getting ready for your swing.
Good point. At the range I always put down a re-purposed old windsurf sail batten - a flat fiberglass stick - on the mat aimed towards my current target.
I find it especially helpful at ranges with curved aprons where the mat is pointing in a random direction different from my intended target line; ie. I’m not hitting straight off the front of the mat.
Great point, Davep. I’m always practicing alignment on the range. I’ll start off with alignment sticks down to make sure I’m aligned properly, then later I’ll take them away so I’m not becoming overly reliant on them.
As for the laying the club across your knees or waist or what have you, I say definitely do whatever works. However, I’ve never really understood how you can know where the club on your thighs is pointing from your vantage point of being directly above the club, and not behind it, where you’d need to be to know where it was pointing. Also would point out that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pro or elite golfer do this on the course, and there must be some reason they don’t do it. Not saying you shouldn’t do it or that it can’t work for you, but I find generally it’s a good idea to try and emulate the pros, at least in terms of preshot routine and alignment, which don’t take elite levels of fitness and athleticism to do well. Just my .02!
Except we rarely get to see the 10k balls they hit between tourneys or time they spend with their coaches.
I’m in the camp that aligns my hips; everything else seems to follow.
I tend to agree with @Adamyounggolf that alignment can get overrated; focus on the target and let your swing ‘self-organize’. (Apologies if I’m mis-stating!)
On the range, totally agree, I start with alignment rods to “feel” the alignment but quickly remove them, spot on!
The idea for me is - after I’ve picked out my target line and set myself to what I think is square to it - then check if my body is “parallel left” with my target line.
No, may not make sense to everyone but that’s one of the funny things about golf, how we all look at any part of it very differently!
When I see tour pros on the range, the huge majority of them use some type of alignment guide most of the time. If you’ve practiced properly, your natural alignment on the course will be pretty good.
Alignment is important, but I also think that people tend to box themselves into “model alignment” unnecessarily.
We have to remember that alignment is a man-made construct. There are certain reasons (achieving decent impact factors while at the same time creating speed) why you don’t want your body positions all out of whack, but we have more room for individuality than the textbook would say.
Besides, by the time you make your backswing and downswing, most of the orientations of your body are dramatically changed. Pro’s hips and torsos are 60-20 deg open at impact.
I think what is important is;
I personally align relatively square to my target with most iron shots. However, with a driver, I align up to 30 yards right. the reasons for this are
I like to play a draw - it suits my eye
I tend to miss more left
I hit up on it significantly. This shifts my path left of my swing direction, so if I want to maintain a draw shot I am going to have to aim significantly right.
You’d be foolish to say that my alignment needs to be at my target with my driver, or that I would be better off lining up the same way for all shots.
Interestingly, one of my favorite drills to do is to actively encourage incorrect alignment, then see how well the player can re-route everything to get the shot back on target.
I understand that most people won’t “get this” drill, but I have many reasons for doing it. It’s a great drill for a player who has become so paralyzed by analysis and “the textbook” that they have lost all feel and target awareness. It also helps build mind-target connection, and shows players that they can actually get away with quite a bit if their mind is in the right place.
Align me +/- 15 degrees left/right and let me see the target, I’ll show you a good outcome.
Line me up just +/-3 degrees without knowing where the target is, and I’ll show you a less than desirable outcome.
The mental component is huge, underrated, can be trained, or can be worsened by the wrong foci