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Best way to work on alignment?

deuce

deuce

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Alignment rods? Something else?

I think a lot of my problem right now is that when I get set up (especially with my driver) I feel closed, and I wind up trying to manipulate the club in the middle of the swing ... resulting in bad things. Once I throw down an alignment stick, things calm down. Of course, they don't allow you to use alignment sticks while you play, so how do you ingrain a proper alignment?
 
I use the alignment stick on the range. On the course I use the trick of standing behind the ball and picking a spot on my desired line that is 5-10 yards away. In reality the alignment stick is probably best though but make sure you are looking to your target on every shot so you get used to the shoulder alignment. If I hit a straight shot offline I will always drop my club across my toes before I move my feet to check alignment.

With my kids I will take the alignment stick and use it on the course anyway.
 
the close intermediate target is the best way i know to check alignment, but i also like the thought of swiveling your head to look at that spot and the target. i have a bad habit of turning my chin toward my left shoulder to look at the target, but that's not looking down a line toward the target. it can skew alignment by opening the shoulders, or by falsely making you feel like you're lined up when in reality you're looking left of your actual alignment and you're therefore closed. so swivel the eyes down the target line. a thought could be turning your left ear toward the sky.
 
This is tough for me as I am often open to the target in my shoulders and have a hard time feeling when I am square.
 
This is something my instructor and I worked on this year as she noticed I had my feet going one direction and my shoulders pointed in another when I was setting up. For a couple of lessons and range sessions afterwards, I would pick a target, line up, place an alignment rod down and then take a step back to see how I lined up.

On the course, I try to pick a target about 5-10 yards in front of my ball and that helps me set up for a shot. Overall my alignment has improved this summer, so I have been happy with this approach.
 
I use alignment rods on the range to get a good feel. Out on the course I know that the longer irons and woods I tend to open up so I need to compensate by turning a bit closed (which is really just neutral). Been having good results so far.


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I truly believe alignment is the biggest flaw in my game.

I pick an intermediary target in front of the ball, address the ball and I swear the the club face is aimed well left of the target. My mind / sight lines simply can't set up properly. Often time my body is pointed one way while the club another. I haven't found anything to help me get aligned properly on the course.
 
I say take an alignment stick to the course if you're having issues with it. If you're playing partners don't like it, then don't play with them for a few rounds. At least you'll be able to identify if its truly an alignment issue or swing issue in real-time
 
Michael Breed was going over this on his show. He mentioned squaring the back foot the to the face of the club. Meaning they would run parallel to one another. If these two are set and you have an intermediate target, I feel the rest of the body will fall into place.

A lot of people flare the feet and this will not only make it hard to square up but will also have an adverse affect on your weight shift. Give it try and let me know how it works out.
deuce said:
Alignment rods? Something else?

I think a lot of my problem right now is that when I get set up (especially with my driver) I feel closed, and I wind up trying to manipulate the club in the middle of the swing ... resulting in bad things. Once I throw down an alignment stick, things calm down. Of course, they don't allow you to use alignment sticks while you play, so how do you ingrain a proper alignment?
Click to expand...
 
Tadashi70 said:
Michael Breed was going over this on his show. He mentioned squaring the back foot the to the face of the club. Meaning they would run parallel to one another. If these two are set and you have an intermediate target, I feel the rest of the body will fall into place.

A lot of people flare the feet and this will not only make it hard to square up but will also have an adverse affect on your weight shift. Give it try and let me know how it works out.
Click to expand...
I made a conscious effort to line up the club and rear foot the other day on the course. While not every shot was perfect, the percentage of quality shots far out weighed the bad. I'll be doing more of this on Tuesday.
 
Tadashi70 said:
Michael Breed was going over this on his show. He mentioned squaring the back foot the to the face of the club. Meaning they would run parallel to one another. If these two are set and you have an intermediate target, I feel the rest of the body will fall into place.

A lot of people flare the feet and this will not only make it hard to square up but will also have an adverse affect on your weight shift. Give it try and let me know how it works out.
Click to expand...
I've noticed recently that my back foot has been flared out some lately. I didn't consciously mean to do this but its appearance does seem to coincide with my recent alignment issues. I find myself stepping away and rechecking my alignment far too often. Gonna try squaring that foot back
 
EaglevsFalcon said:
I've noticed recently that my back foot has been flared out some lately. I didn't consciously mean to do this but its appearance does seem to coincide with my recent alignment issues. I find myself stepping away and rechecking my alignment far too often. Gonna try squaring that foot back
Click to expand...
It's almost to easy, I felt squ are everytime I did this. Kind of excited to try again.
 
I've been doing the line-up behind the ball, sidestep to the left, walk forward until even with the ball, and then turn 90-degrees to face the ball routine, rather than the "sweeping in" setup. I'm finding it gives me a lot more confidence that I'm aligned properly.
 
I'm thinking of starting to use a technique that my buddy uses: set up initial spot on the range and Mark out two parallel lines with spray (environmental safe) in th grass and use one for alignment and the hit balls off the other, each time take some paint off the line.


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One thing I read, I think it was Butch Harmon, is that when you are looking at your alignment look at your heels, not your toes. If you open up your front foot then looking at your toes means you are aiming farther to your right than you think. I think he recommended using an alignment rod against your heels rather than your toes.
 
Alignment rods if hitting on grass, often only one. Sadly, most often ranges here are mats only, and there, I am very aware of where the mat edge is pointing at. On the course, I use my club shaft to find a spot on the ground to point the line to target. Since I get only one line on the course and only the mat edge as the reference when only range, I often use only one rod on grass range. I'm more concerned the alignment of my shoulders and hips than my feet.
 
The best thing for me, and I learned this from Jack Nicklaus' book, is picking a spot 2-3' in front of the ball on the intended line. Then you just line up parallel to that spot and you're good to go.

The hard part is actually learning what parallel looks and feels like. That is best done on the range with a lot of practice, alignment rods, and video confirmation.

When my alignment is dead on, my eyes tell me I'm aimed way left. It's just something that I have to get over.
 
Tadashi70 said:
It's almost to easy, I felt squ are everytime I did this. Kind of excited to try again.
Click to expand...


After reading this, I'm excited to try this as well.
 
Tadashi70 said:
Michael Breed was going over this on his show. He mentioned squaring the back foot the to the face of the club. Meaning they would run parallel to one another. If these two are set and you have an intermediate target, I feel the rest of the body will fall into place.

A lot of people flare the feet and this will not only make it hard to square up but will also have an adverse affect on your weight shift. Give it try and let me know how it works out.
Click to expand...

I tried this on the range today. Seemed to work better than anything else I've tried. Thanks!
 
I did this yesterday at the range. With the alignment rods and working from the back foot placement. It's almost to simple. Great tip FK
 
SHIFTY said:
I tried this on the range today. Seemed to work better than anything else I've tried. Thanks!
Click to expand...

T2GRN18 said:
I did this yesterday at the range. With the alignment rods and working from the back foot placement. It's almost to simple. Great tip FK
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This is great to hear but this is just me listening while shopping for golf shorts. This tip belongs to Michael Breed. But I'm glad to see its working
 
Tadashi70 said:
This is great to hear but this is just me listening while shopping for golf shorts. This tip belongs to Michael Breed. But I'm glad to see its working
Click to expand...
Yeah well knowledge is power, but only when you share it with others. Now if I can learn the one hop and stop,he was teaching the other night. Haha
 
The right foot and club face cue is perfect. It has to be a go to for me. I don't know why I have never heard it before. But it's perfect
 
Wednesday, I tried squaring the back foot, while on the course, and my shots were way more accurate!!!!

I was actually hitting toward the flag. Usually I hit at the flag, and hope it's close.

My shots were actually predictable.

Jack
 
I told this to a friend, and by this she found out that she flares her right foot out a bit, she had no idea she was doing that. She corrected this, and her shots are better as well.
 
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