Aiming, tee box and fairways

I feel like one of my biggest shortcomings is aiming. I can not aim to save my life! Are there any drills/thoughts you can share to help me to aim better?

Thanks in advance!

My wife was having problem with her aim and asked the pro for advice during her lesson today. He told her to put her club down on the ground and line it up towards the target (get behind it and find the line). Then she was to take her stance using the club to line her feet. Once she was lined up, she could pick up the club and address the ball. She hit the ball on target every time she used this technique afterwards.

but is this efficient on the course? or this merely as a training aid to find the line.

Some folks have a problem with gripping the club so that it will be square to the ball target line when they take their stance. To make sure this is not a problem, grip the club as you normally would. Then find a straight, vertical right angle such as a fence post, or the corner of a building. While gripping the club, hold the club out at arms length, with the toe of the club sticking straight up in the air. Then align the grooves of the club with the straight, right angle. Couple of things to not do. Don't use the leading edge of the club face, as they are sometimes rounded. Also, after checking for square, when you put the club down behind the ball, the club face will look closed. Nothing wrong with that, so don't open the club face after taking your stance. Billy Casper's people shared this little tid bit at a seminar they put on. It works. :comp:

Lets please keep the ask the pro section clear of answers until the THP Pro has a chance to chime in.

The drill listed above is a great drill to do on the practice range. Set 2 clubs up parallel to each other so you have a referance for the club and 1 for your feet. While there I still want you to stand behind the ball and practice lining up and use the clubs to double check you setup. On the course. I want you to start behind the ball. I want you looking for 2 things from back here. The first is I want you to pick a small target in the fairway where you want your tee shot to land. I don't want this area any bigger than a 10 foot circle out there. Next find a spot about 6 inches to a foot ahead of your ball that is directly between your ball and that spot. Picking a spot that close makes it that much easier to set up to. Get you club square to your mark and then step in with your feet parallel. Once you are set and feel comfortable take one more look at your target in the fairway. Let it rip. The smaller target out there will help you focus your energy on putting the ball there. Hope this helps and let me know how it works.

Andy, related question -- is knowing which eye is dominant important in aiming on the full swing? On putts, I try to use my dominant eye to set my line, but I haven't been very concerned about that on full shots. Should I be?

It isn't near as important as it is on the greens. Are you having issues at set up with the full swing. Most people that I work with are able to get into a great alignment by picking out spots close to the ball at set up versus picking a spot 200 yards down the fairway. Great question!

amollerud said:

It isn't near as important as it is on the greens. Are you having issues at set up with the full swing. Most people that I work with are able to get into a great alignment by picking out spots close to the ball at set up versus picking a spot 200 yards down the fairway. Great question!

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Ha ha -- only if you consider hitting the ground 8" behind the ball an "issue"! But as to alignment on full shots, not really my biggest problem.