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How to become a master of alignment?

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Trevor68

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I struggle with alignment due to poor swing mechanics. Without even knowing sometimes my body aligns one way and my clubhead another way. Has anyone successfully battled this issue and become decent at it?


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My HS aged son struggles with alignment quite a bit. He hated dragging the alignment sticks out in the beginning but finally bought in. I pull up a chair on his down the line view and keep him straight. For the longest time he thought I was crazy. What he was doing was adjusting his swing to compensate for the alignment issue. So everything felt really weird to him. Finally in year 3 last year he bought in and had a bit of a break thru.

I use the driveway marker sticks and will set two parallel or use one at his toes and stick one in the ground about 20 feet on line for him. I still use them too...
 
I use an alignment aid ALWAYS on the range.
 
I personally have never used alignment sticks. My strategy to lining up is drawing an imaginary line between the ball and my target. Then I find a leaf, weed, pebble, etc on that line. I square my face up to that mark and get in my stance accordingly. If I miss its because of my swing and not because I wasn't aligning correctly.
 
InTheDrink said:
I personally have never used alignment sticks. My strategy to lining up is drawing an imaginary line between the ball and my target. Then I find a leaf, weed, pebble, etc on that line. I square my face up to that mark and get in my stance accordingly. If I miss its because of my swing and not because I wasn't aligning correctly.
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I use this method. It has helped me tremendously. I stand about 10 feet behind the ball figure out the shot I want to hit and the line it needs to be on, then find something on the ground about 15 feet in front of the ball to align myself too. I found that I am really good at aligning to something close, but aligning to a target 200 or more yards away I was not so hot at. Now my misses are due to my swing instead of my line.

If you do want to get alignment sticks go to Home Depot or Lowe’s instead of a golf shop. The thin aluminum poles are sold as construction markers for $1-$2 a piece at a hardware store. The golf people sell the same thing for $5-$10.
 
Trevor68 said:
I struggle with alignment due to poor swing mechanics. Without even knowing sometimes my body aligns one way and my clubhead another way. Has anyone successfully battled this issue and become decent at it?


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Click to expand...

Just hold a club across your body at your waist and see where it is pointing.
 
I don't do it every trip to the range, but I do use "blocked practice" semi-frequently. If I'm not using an alignment aid, I am still using an intermediate target.
 
DataDude said:
I use this method. It has helped me tremendously. I stand about 10 feet behind the ball figure out the shot I want to hit and the line it needs to be on, then find something on the ground about 15 feet in front of the ball to align myself too. I found that I am really good at aligning to something close, but aligning to a target 200 or more yards away I was not so hot at. Now my misses are due to my swing instead of my line.

If you do want to get alignment sticks go to Home Depot or Lowe’s instead of a golf shop. The thin aluminum poles are sold as construction markers for $1-$2 a piece at a hardware store. The golf people sell the same thing for $5-$10.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice
 
TGW.com has these on sale now for a 2 pack for $4
 
Alignment sticks aren’t allowed on the course so you have to use your body. The shoulders should be on the target. The club head parallel to the shoulders. The best way to accomplish this is to look down tour shoulders. If the lead shoulder isn’t pointed at your target, then you are off. Simply move the shoulder toward your target. Make sure the club face to on the same line just slight right of the target.
 
I was so off on alignment before that I decided to use painters tape on the floor to understand exactly what I was doing that made everything go wrong. Worked out perfectly once I developed a routine to begin my set up and trusted my routine over my perceived alignment. Takes time but once you do it, the second guessing goes away.
 
Just to toss an idea into the hat....on every tee box I look at where I want to hit, a line if you will, then I tee the ball behind a divot or some imperfection that is on the line to the target. I do the same in the fairway...divot...leaf, etc.
 
GolfLivesMatter said:
Just to toss an idea into the hat....on every tee box I look at where I want to hit, a line if you will, then I tee the ball behind a divot or some imperfection that is on the line to the target. I do the same in the fairway...divot...leaf, etc.
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That’s called an intermediate target, and everyone should be using them when on course.
 
Alez367 said:
I was so off on alignment before that I decided to use painters tape on the floor to understand exactly what I was doing that made everything go wrong. Worked out perfectly once I developed a routine to begin my set up and trusted my routine over my perceived alignment. Takes time but once you do it, the second guessing goes away.
Click to expand...

Can you expand on that? I assume you do that inside of your home without hitting a ball?


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Another way to use an alignment stick on the range is to have a partner place one stick behind your heels after you think you are aligned. Then get out of address and look at that back stick.
 
Trevor68 said:
Can you expand on that? I assume you do that inside of your home without hitting a ball?


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Click to expand...

Sure

So I began finding a spot that was flat and about 4’x 4’ then marked a square box out in painters tape. Then I stepped inside the box and got my stance ready. Without moving I marked the tip of my shoes so I could begin my routine each time setting up the same. Then I took my 7i and took my stance to get a start point. I marked with a straight line the face of the club. Stepping out I then grabbed a laser pointer and using the middle of the line I just marked I picked a target about 20 yds away and lines the center up to target. Took a little bit but once I was satisfied with everything I began practicing walking into a shot and setting up noting how I felt with my shoulders,hips, head and feet. It will take some time but little by little I got comfortable. It’s definitely awkward but it gets you trusting your set up and focusing on swing instead of if you’re aiming right.


Tip for creating square as this will be how you make sure you’re square to target. Use an angle ruler to make sure you’ve done the square right.

Here’s a diagram of how mine looked

19963d11eb273e3abf93653d208cdd32.jpg



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Alez367 said:
Sure

So I began finding a spot that was flat and about 4’x 4’ then marked a square box out in painters tape. Then I stepped inside the box and got my stance ready. Without moving I marked the tip of my shoes so I could begin my routine each time setting up the same. Then I took my 7i and took my stance to get a start point. I marked with a straight line the face of the club. Stepping out I then grabbed a laser pointer and using the middle of the line I just marked I picked a target about 20 yds away and lines the center up to target. Took a little bit but once I was satisfied with everything I began practicing walking into a shot and setting up noting how I felt with my shoulders,hips, head and feet. It will take some time but little by little I got comfortable. It’s definitely awkward but it gets you trusting your set up and focusing on swing instead of if you’re aiming right.


Tip for creating square as this will be how you make sure you’re square to target. Use an angle ruler to make sure you’ve done the square right.

Here’s a diagram of how mine looked

19963d11eb273e3abf93653d208cdd32.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Interesting. Do you play the ball off the left heel on most all shots? Sometimes I think folks (including myself) end up placing the ball too far back in their stance.
 
GolfLivesMatter said:
Interesting. Do you play the ball off the left heel on most all shots? Sometimes I think folks (including myself) end up placing the ball too far back in their stance.
Click to expand...

Varies depending on the type of shot I'm looking to play but for the most part my mid irons just forward of center to account for my normal lazy sway into a shot.
 
This thread is just what I needed, I'm going to start using the intermediate target trick, maybe with a tee or some kind of marker I keep in my bag.
 
chadderkdawg said:
This thread is just what I needed, I'm going to start using the intermediate target trick, maybe with a tee or some kind of marker I keep in my bag.
Click to expand...

I really appreciate the responses. I played a round today and once I picked a line for each shot, I would aim at a divot about 10 inches away that was on that line. Shots were straight at my target. Much improved!


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Tadashi70 said:
Alignment sticks aren’t allowed on the course so you have to use your body. The shoulders should be on the target. The club head parallel to the shoulders. The best way to accomplish this is to look down tour shoulders. If the lead shoulder isn’t pointed at your target, then you are off. Simply move the shoulder toward your target. Make sure the club face to on the same line just slight right of the target.
Click to expand...

I don't know why it's so hard to get this alignment thing straight, when I think I've got it, I fail miserably.
 
chadderkdawg said:
This thread is just what I needed, I'm going to start using the intermediate target trick, maybe with a tee or some kind of marker I keep in my bag.
Click to expand...

For practice, that's fine, but for competition or rounds you are going to report for handicap, I don't think you're allowed to put down something to use for an intermediate target. Now, if a tee happens to be lying on the course and is in the right spot to use, I'd bet it's fine, but not if you had to put it down or move it to a suitable location.
 
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