Alignment, anyone crack the code or am I doomed?!

[Curls]

First off can I say I've had a couple of pros tell me that I am aiming where I am intending to. On the range. I've also put a bit of work into making sure my shoulder and hips are aligned to my feet, they used to be way open.

My issue is on the course where there are no parallel lines. In practice rounds I've stepped away from a shot, put a club down, and found my feet are aiming miles right of where I thought they were. Here's the routine. Note that on a tee box I'll often tee up where an old tee peg gives me a good line so I remove that uncertainty.

1. Stand behind, hold club in front of me along target line, pick a spot on the ground about a foot ahead of the ball. (is that it, too close?!)

2. Take position feet together, align club face to spot, widen feet into stance parallel with clubface-spot line.

3. Look at target, try to get a feeling for how much over my left shoulder it appears. This is something I get better at as the season progresses I think, but it's a bit hit and miss at the moment.

Here's the other issue, sometimes I'll feel like I have no idea if I'm correctly or not, or Ill feel like yes I am aligned right of target and end up compensating in the swing. Of course this is all terrible.

Anyone any magic tips?!

 

[Spear-Chucker]

Pick a spot 18" in front of the ball on your intended target line and align to that using imaginary lines. Not easy to do straight off, but it's only practice. Don't forget to alter elements (shoulders etc.) depending on your swing path for the intended shot. I learnt a bit late that it's really important to practice all this stuff at the range too... But it will save you on the course!

 

[patricks148]

no Magic wand I'm afraid, just hard work and learn how to do it. Will feel like you are aiming miles left.

alignment is one of the trickiest bit of golf. a lot a people struggle with it, from the best players to the worst.

 

[USER1999]

When you are at the range, dont aim at any targets that allow you to align with the straight edges of the mat. Go cross range. That way you dont become dependant on the mat orientation. Or, rotate the mat away from square.

 

[bobmac]

Did you try the method I showed you using your left shoulder?

 

[Region3]

I do the same as you, except instead of lining my feet up to the ball > target line, I line the club up to the spot I picked then set my foot line at right angles to the clubface.

If you aren't sure if you're lined up correctly or not there's nothing in the rules to stop you holding your club across your shoulders and see where it points.

 

[pendodave]

Feedback on the course is invaluable.

Do you play friendly games with mates? One of mine was having a problem with alignment and got me to check it from behind on all his shots for a couple of rounds. He pretty soon got the feel for what was correct. The brain needs feedback to ingrain new behaviour.

 

[Curls]

Thanks all good input so far, yeah I should definitely get someone to check for me in a bounce game, nice one

When you are at the range, dont aim at any targets that allow you to align with the straight edges of the mat. Go cross range. That way you dont become dependant on the mat orientation. Or, rotate the mat away from square.

Thanks chap, yes I do that already, trouble is I still have the reference of whats around me, even the bays allow me to feel how aligned I man when I'm not aligned to the mat.

Did you try the method I showed you using your left shoulder?

Yes Bob its a neat trick and like I say as the season progresses I feel like I get better at it, but Sunday it didn't seem to matter what I did I felt all over the place!

 

[Curls]

I do the same as you, except instead of lining my feet up to the ball > target line, I line the club up to the spot I picked then set my foot line at right angles to the clubface.

If you aren't sure if you're lined up correctly or not there's nothing in the rules to stop you holding your club across your shoulders and see where it points.

Never thought of that! Sounds interesting, will give that a try... Nice one.

 

[njrose51]

okay, so I may be misunderstanding this but...

1. Stand behind, hold club in front of me along target line, pick a spot on the ground about a foot ahead of the ball. (is that it, too close?!)That sounds ok to me

2. Take position feet together, align club face to spot, widen feet into stance parallel with clubface-spot line. That sounds ok to me

3. Look at target, try to get a feeling for how much over my left shoulder it appears. Now this one has me confused!! I don't quite understand why would you be looking over your left shoulder at the target? Considering you say that you align yourself parallel to your clubface target line, if you really are looking directly over your left shoulder when set up over the ball, then surely your body is pointing to the right? I'm trying it now and to look directly over my left shoulder I have to turn it to the right? have I misunderstood your comment?

 

[User62651]

Watch old footage of Faldo in his prime, was so particular about his feet alignment during each set up, rock solid player too. If alignment is an issue wee vid of his may help - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiTth8Oby8U

 

[Maninblack4612]

Trouble with picking a spot a foot in front of the ball is that, if you're a couple of inches out this is magnified a lot over the length of the shot.

This works for me: Stand with feet together, pointing in the direction of the target with the ball level with the middle of your feet. Put the club down so that the sole points to the target. Then, keeping the feet square to the sole of the club, move the left foot left a bit, and the right foot right a bit more. This also helps get the ball to the right position in your stance. I check my alignment at th range at times & it's normally spot on. A club placed across the feet should point left of the target & one parallel to it, level with the ball, should point at the target. I find it useful, once I've taken my stance, to look sideways along the line. You can get a pretty good idea of where you're aiming this way.

 

[bobmac]

okay, so I may be misunderstanding this but...

1. Stand behind, hold club in front of me along target line, pick a spot on the ground about a foot ahead of the ball. (is that it, too close?!)That sounds ok to me

2. Take position feet together, align club face to spot, widen feet into stance parallel with clubface-spot line. That sounds ok to me

3. Look at target, try to get a feeling for how much over my left shoulder it appears. Now this one has me confused!! I don't quite understand why would you be looking over your left shoulder at the target? Considering you say that you align yourself parallel to your clubface target line, if you really are looking directly over your left shoulder when set up over the ball, then surely your body is pointing to the right? I'm trying it now and to look directly over my left shoulder I have to turn it to the right? have I misunderstood your comment?

Post 6 will hopefully make it clearer

http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/showthread.php?68273-Alignment&highlight=augusta

 

[Curls]

okay, so I may be misunderstanding this but...

1. Stand behind, hold club in front of me along target line, pick a spot on the ground about a foot ahead of the ball. (is that it, too close?!)That sounds ok to me

2. Take position feet together, align club face to spot, widen feet into stance parallel with clubface-spot line. That sounds ok to me

3. Look at target, try to get a feeling for how much over my left shoulder it appears. Now this one has me confused!! I don't quite understand why would you be looking over your left shoulder at the target? Considering you say that you align yourself parallel to your clubface target line, if you really are looking directly over your left shoulder when set up over the ball, then surely your body is pointing to the right? I'm trying it now and to look directly over my left shoulder I have to turn it to the right? have I misunderstood your comment?

Post 6 will hopefully make it clearer

http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/showthread.php?68273-Alignment&highlight=augusta

Yes apologies that's what I meant!

 

[the_coach]

couple things not mentioned is whether from start out of set-up PRS the intention is to have foot line & body lines aligned to 'parallel left' of the ball target line - foot line shoulder line should in general not point directly at target (obvs are exceptions if the intention is shots with a bunch of intentional curvature)
maybes parallel left wasn't mentioned as it was just a 'given' that it would be happening anyways - but just mentioned in case it wasn't

other thing not mentioned in the PRS is whether at any point there's a rehearsal practice swing?
(sure there doesn't have to be one at all)

- but if there is a rehearsal swing in there and this rehearsal swing takes place after the fix on the target from behind the ball, so after the steps into the side of the ball making a rehearsal swing by the ball takes the focus and the eyes away from viewing the 3 reference points (ball / spot approx 12" 18" in front ball / target)

so if the routine has a rehearsal swing in it and it is at the side of the ball after the walk around for back of ball would suggest strongly that this is changed to accommodate a rehearsal swing from behind the ball while the focus from there is still the target

find folks that step in first with feet alignments it's a common issue for RH golfers (save sometimes for folks with a heavy slice action) to be then aligned too far right, as foot line then tends to point either directly to target or the right of it

most important piece of the puzzle is to align the leading bottom edge of the face + grooves (irons) to target first - if the issue with folks is a repeated miss-align to rightfield - find what usually helps a good bunch if this 'face' line-up (to the 3 ref points) is done with the club held in the right hand this allows the body then to be a tad 'open' (so body alignments aimed slightly leftfield of the parallel left body alignments) while doing this with the eyes running up & down through the '3 points'

then the grip hold is taken with the feet just few inches apart then the left foot is aligned in place to give the relevant distance to ball position for whatever club being used then the right foot placement to stance width final glances to see club square to target line & foot line is parallel left of target line with glance to check knee line, hip line, chest & shoulders match up to parallel left - sounds when written down and just read to be a long process but in actuality is just some seconds overall - once it becomes a routine - for it to become a routine it has to get practiced at the driving range so not just drag and hit practice - start from behind the ball as in a real play situ

real important that once the walk around from behind the ball occurs first thing that happens is the face angle is lined up to the target line the 3 ref points show - order of what happens next re which hand the club is in first is not something that set in stone either way - but mention the routine above have found through experience has helped folks most if the issue of the RH player is always miss-aligned right - biggest reasons for that have found are setting the feet in first body to feet then lining the club face up last and also having a rehearsal swing by the side of the ball after the walk around from back of ball where target was first picked out

 

[GreggerKBR]

couple things not mentioned is whether from start out of set-up PRS the intention is to have foot line & body lines aligned to 'parallel left' of the ball target line - foot line shoulder line should in general not point directly at target (obvs are exceptions if the intention is shots with a bunch of intentional curvature)
maybes parallel left wasn't mentioned as it was just a 'given' that it would be happening anyways - but just mentioned in case it wasn't

other thing not mentioned in the PRS is whether at any point there's a rehearsal practice swing?
(sure there doesn't have to be one at all)

- but if there is a rehearsal swing in there and this rehearsal swing takes place after the fix on the target from behind the ball, so after the steps into the side of the ball making a rehearsal swing by the ball takes the focus and the eyes away from viewing the 3 reference points (ball / spot approx 12" 18" in front ball / target)

so if the routine has a rehearsal swing in it and it is at the side of the ball after the walk around for back of ball would suggest strongly that this is changed to accommodate a rehearsal swing from behind the ball while the focus from there is still the target

find folks that step in first with feet alignments it's a common issue for RH golfers (save sometimes for folks with a heavy slice action) to be then aligned too far right, as foot line then tends to point either directly to target or the right of it

most important piece of the puzzle is to align the leading bottom edge of the face + grooves (irons) to target first - if the issue with folks is a repeated miss-align to rightfield - find what usually helps a good bunch if this 'face' line-up (to the 3 ref points) is done with the club held in the right hand this allows the body then to be a tad 'open' (so body alignments aimed slightly leftfield of the parallel left body alignments) while doing this with the eyes running up & down through the '3 points'

then the grip hold is taken with the feet just few inches apart then the left foot is aligned in place to give the relevant distance to ball position for whatever club being used then the right foot placement to stance width final glances to see club square to target line & foot line is parallel left of target line with glance to check knee line, hip line, chest & shoulders match up to parallel left - sounds when written down and just read to be a long process but in actuality is just some seconds overall - once it becomes a routine - for it to become a routine it has to get practiced at the driving range so not just drag and hit practice - start from behind the ball as in a real play situ

real important that once the walk around from behind the ball occurs first thing that happens is the face angle is lined up to the target line the 3 ref points show - order of what happens next re which hand the club is in first is not something that set in stone either way - but mention the routine above have found through experience has helped folks most if the issue of the RH player is always miss-aligned right - biggest reasons for that have found are setting the feet in first body to feet then lining the club face up last and also having a rehearsal swing by the side of the ball after the walk around from back of ball where target was first picked out

Point of interest - if you are aligning club away from "straight to target line" in order to shape the flight, how would you recommend stance be aligned then?

 

[User62651]

Point of interest - if you are aligning club away from "straight to target line" in order to shape the flight, how would you recommend stance be aligned then?

For pure shot shaping (no slopes or wind factored in) in my day you always lined the clubface straight to target first and then either closed or opened your stance to shape the ball accordingly. I'm guessing things have moved on?

 

[GreggerKBR]

For pure shot shaping (no slopes or wind factored in) in my day you always lined the clubface to target first and then either closed or opened your stance to shape the ball accordingly. I'm guessing things have moved on?

Indeed that was how I did it a few years back, I had a fair bit of "hand action" in my swing then.

But having made a few swing changes my coach/pro explained things a little differently using Trackman.
My understanding of club face, swing direction and club path relationships changed dramatically, and it's helped my game a lot.

The results are less distance variation in the shapes - draw is longer than fade but much less variation now.
However, I can't line my feet up to the clubface when doing that, as it just won't come back to target.
So I'm intrigued how others arrange themselves as I'm still feeling like it's a little bit of guesswork.

 

[clubchamp98]

First off can I say I've had a couple of pros tell me that I am aiming where I am intending to. On the range. I've also put a bit of work into making sure my shoulder and hips are aligned to my feet, they used to be way open.

My issue is on the course where there are no parallel lines. In practice rounds I've stepped away from a shot, put a club down, and found my feet are aiming miles right of where I thought they were. Here's the routine. Note that on a tee box I'll often tee up where an old tee peg gives me a good line so I remove that uncertainty.

1. Stand behind, hold club in front of me along target line, pick a spot on the ground about a foot ahead of the ball. (is that it, too close?!)

2. Take position feet together, align club face to spot, widen feet into stance parallel with clubface-spot line.

3. Look at target, try to get a feeling for how much over my left shoulder it appears. This is something I get better at as the season progresses I think, but it's a bit hit and miss at the moment.

Here's the other issue, sometimes I'll feel like I have no idea if I'm correctly or not, or Ill feel like yes I am aligned right of target and end up compensating in the swing. Of course this is all terrible.

Anyone any magic tips?!

when I am just having a knock I always carry an alignment stick cut about 12" off or just enough to have it popping out the bag this way it doesn't get in the way all the time.
it only takes a few seconds to put it down to align yourself up.
you soon get used to the correct line.
i do this on every shot .
you CANT do this in a comp just for practising or if you have nice friends they might let you when you play with them
but they may NOT.

 

[the_coach]

Point of interest - if you are aligning club away from "straight to target line" in order to shape the flight, how would you recommend stance be aligned then?

Indeed that was how I did it a few years back, I had a fair bit of "hand action" in my swing then.

But having made a few swing changes my coach/pro explained things a little differently using Trackman.
My understanding of club face, swing direction and club path relationships changed dramatically, and it's helped my game a lot.

The results are less distance variation in the shapes - draw is longer than fade but much less variation now.
However, I can't line my feet up to the clubface when doing that, as it just won't come back to target.
So I'm intrigued how others arrange themselves as I'm still feeling like it's a little bit of guesswork.

{the first post very much just speaking to help alleviate the issue of constant miss-alignment rightfield}

difficult to give 'a' definite answer here as 'how' would heavily depend of the ability to repeatedly produce a swing motion that produced a 'certain' amount of either fade/draw curvature some folks are more inclined to hit 6' to 12' of 'shape' some 15' to 20' ( #'s as an example) & what that 'natural swing motion' to the individual happened to involve more arms hands active some folks more body controlled (the latter more body alignment controlled shaping a ways easy to repeat)

but a generalization if known for sure a fade /draw of some shape is going to happen off of a tee box or into green then you got to think round it in terms of 2 targets initial starting direction / end destination of ball

so know say hitting a draw off of tee box say but looking to end middle/center fairway foot line & body lines gotta to aimed to some degree towards rightfield of center to right edge of fairway - then would be the opposite to accommodate fade shape

all either these shapes are - whichever the shape fade or draw - the face angle has got to point to initial desired starting line of ball and then the target line would be pointing (RH folks) to left of the direction the face angle is pointing and the path of the swing (ie the swing direction of club head into/through impact) would have to be traveling on a line thats to the right of the where face angle is pointing

generalization though when shaping shots beside the para above it's the shoulder line angle in relation to target along to a certain extent the secondary spine tilt angle that more governs the 'control' of the swing direction, the path, of the club head into and through impact rather than the foot line