Can You Check My Alignment?

Imagine this, you stripe a drive down the middle of the fairway and you have the perfect angle to the pin which is tucked in the left corner of the green. The wind is blowing from right to left and the shot sets up perfectly for your draw. Water lines the left side of the green, so obviously you don’t want to miss too far left or you will be taking a drop.

However, a bunker guards the right side of the green which makes for a daunting sand shot with the water teasing you behind the tucked pin (hey, we’re not on tour here!).

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You decide that it’s best to play about 5 to 7 yards right of the pin leaving some room to work with. If you hit the normal baby draw the wind will guide it to the hole, but if you push it a little to the right then the wind will still help lead the ball back towards the hole.

You feel confident in your plan and your ability to manage the course. Stepping up to the ball, you give one last look at your target and swing back feeling the sensation of a flush hit in the center of the face. That’s the one, you think as you look up to see your ball soaring left of the pin with the aforementioned right to left wind pushing it straight into the water.

Your buddy drives by and says, “That’s tough. But you were aimed right there.”

What is it about golf that makes the seemingly simplest things so difficult? The golf swing is arguably one of the most complex rotational movements, and yet it can all be ruined by poor alignment.

Flushed shots are sometimes hard to come by, and finally hitting the perfect shot only to see it heading in the wrong direction is not a great feeling. Consequently, doing this too often will lead to your body overcompensating in an effort to direct your ball in the desired landing area which can lead to some pretty crazy swing flaws.

Nelly Korda recently spoke about the importance of alignment for amateurs trying to lower their scores. She said,

“A lot of am’s never have an [alignment] stick down on the range. If you don’t know where you’re aiming on the range, then there’s a good chance you don’t know where you’re aiming on the course.”

She went on to talk about playing a lot and being creative. Let me tell you, it’s awfully hard to be creative when you don’t know where you’re aiming.

As Korda mentioned, using alignment sticks is the easiest way to train on the range. There are many different ways to use the sticks according to the feel you desire.

• Train Tracks

This is good to use when trying to gain a feel for where the clubface is aimed relative to the foot line. The player’s feet should always be parallel left of the target line and club face.

• Foot Line

This is most common for players on the range. Have one single stick down on the foot line parallel left of the target.

• Club Face Line

 Some players, however, rather the stick on the club face line. To achieve this, simply take away the bottom stick of the train tracks.

• Ball Position

To check ball position, lay a stick down on the foot line first. Next, place a stick perpendicular to the foot line stick and directly behind the ball.

It’s also a good idea to mix the above four methods. Placing a stick on the foot line for some shots, and then moving to the club face line, and maybe rounding out the range practice by checking ball position. It’s important to have the training from the range to properly feel what correct alignment actually is, that way on the course it will be easier to identify by the instinct you have developed if the alignment is off.

So, you have trained your alignment to perfection on the range, now how do you take it to the course? As always, there are several different ways to line up properly on the golf course.

• Pick a Small Target

 The tour players (more specifically, Jordan Spieth) often talk about picking small targets. The brief psychology behind this notion is based on the principle, ‘aim small, miss small.’

Aiming at a smaller target forces the brain to engage more precise motor control to hit the target. In addition, picking small and distinct targets reduces ambiguity. Instead of just aiming “at the house” try aiming “at the chimney on the right side of the roof of the house right center of the fairway.” The latter fully engages your brain and eliminates room for distraction and narrows the margin of error.

• Pick an Intermediate Target

 Another popular approach is picking an intermediate target, and this can be combined with the above method. First, pick your distant small target, essentially the destination of the ball. Next, pick a small target about 1-3 feet in front of the ball such as a divot, or a leaf. If you find that is too close, then feel free to pick a target 3-5 yards in front of the ball.

Picking an intermediate target helps narrow the focus even more and is, quite frankly, sometimes just easier to see. It’s also easier to align the club face and body position to a target that is closer than a very distant one.

• Club Face

In order to use the club face to line up, you must set your club face behind the ball before setting the feet. Once the club face is aimed correctly at the target, you may then step into the ball and adjust your feet parallel left relative to the club face.

• Foot Line

 On the other hand, to align according to the foot line requires you to step into the ball first and line up your feet parallel left to your intended target and then adjusting the club face relative to your feet.

• Shoulders

 Finally, if you would like to use your shoulders to align on the course, then you must set your club face down first and then look down your shoulder line and see where your left shoulder is pointing (if you’re a right-handed player. Left-handers would be looking down their right shoulder). The left shoulder should be parallel left to the target and you can easily move the shoulders open or closed depending on the shot shape you desire to hit.

Combining these methods is not only popular but recommended!

Try it out and see which ones work best for you. You may find that you like to line your club face up to an intermediate target and then check to see if your shoulders are lined up to a distant small target. Or perhaps you like picking a small target and then setting up to it parallel left with your feet. In addition, feel free to build your pre-shot routine around the methods of alignment you choose.

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