Alignment Is Key!
This week I want to help all of you with another setup fundamental: alignment. Poor alignment probably creates more swing faults (and the most destructive ones) than any other setup mistake. The vast majority of golfers set up their bodies too far right of their target. This subject is not talked or written about nearly enough and getting it correct is very easy. When you set up to hit full shots or pitch shots, your toe line, hips, and shoulders should all be parallel to each other and 5 degrees LEFT of where you want the ball to start. So if I am hitting a shot to a 100 yd. target, my lines should point to a spot 5 yards left of it. If it's a 200 yd. shot, my lines point 10 yards left of my desired starting line.
What I see in so many of my students when they first come to see me is feet pointed right of target, shoulders pointed left of the target and hips somewhere in between. That complicates your angles so much not to mention none of them are left of the target as they should be. That setup combination almost guarantees an "over the top" golf swing, weak pull slices with the driver shot and pulled short irons. We get told in the magazines and TV that we should swing from "inside out" which is correct but our instincts won't let us do that from those typical poor alignment angles.
To check your foot alignment, set up to a ball with a very specific target on the range or course and then without moving your feet, place your club on the ground on the toe edge of your shoes, step back and check its aim. Don't be surprised if it's aimed right of your target. Now remember, if your feet, for instance, are aimed 5 degrees right of your target, they are 10 degrees off!
How to fix it: practice with a club on the ground about 2 inches in front of both feet that is pointed that 5 degrees left of your target. Then getting your brain re-calibrated to that alignment and getting your shoulders parallel to your feet will feel absolutely dreadful at first but will get easier with consistent practice. Good luck and good golfing!
Doug Curtiss, PGA
Director of Instruction
Create Great Setup Positions To Help Your Game
To increase your chances of making consistently good golf swings, you must create great setup positions. Because it takes almost no talent or physical ability to do, a little work during the winter months will have you ready for great progress once the season starts in earnest. Ball position, posture, grip, alignment, and stance make up the positions we will talk about as the weeks go on. The most important is arguably grip. Almost no one grips the club well. To start, place the grip in your left hand (for righties) where your pinky meets your palm and between the middle knuckle of your index finger and where that finger meets your palm. This places the clubs in your fingers properly. Now hold your hand in front of you and turn your hand so that you can see 2 and a half knuckles on your left hand when the clubface is square. When you add your right hand, you can use an overlap or interlock grip unless you have small hands and then I recommend the interlock like Jack and Tiger use. Your right palm should be parallel to the clubface to promote a square face at impact. Now the hard part: Start with your grip pressure about a 5-6 on your left (firmest pressure with the pinky, ring and middle fingers) and a 4-5 on your right and KEEP YOUR GRIP PRESSURE THE SAME UNTIL YOUR FOLLOW THROUGH POSE POSITION. This tends to be especially difficult to do with the right hand if you are right hand dominant. Practice hitting irons off of a tee where you focus just on keeping your grip pressure the same. It's harder than it seems. Good luck and good playing!!!
Doug Curtiss, PGA
Director of Instruction