Hi, this is Craig Hunt, PGA golf professional and this is the second in a series of golf lessons about aiming or alignment. All lessons will be presented in a right-handed format, so if you are left-handed, please make the necessary translation. I will once again make the disclaimer that this particular lesson does not take into account any fine tuning such as angle of attack adjustments, D-Plane, etc. This lesson will not discuss feet that may be purposely pointed outward or the special cases of open or closed stances.
I WANT TO SAY THIS AGAIN IN PLAIN AND SIMPLE TERMS BEFORE I GO ANY FURTHER. FOR A NORMAL GOLF SHOT, YOUR BODY MUST NOT POINT AT THE TARGET; IT MUST POINT LEFT OF THE TARGET...YOUR BODY MAY POINT AT THE LAKE, BUNKER, CANYON, OR WHATEVER OTHER NASTY PLACE THAT IS LOCATED JUST LEFT OF THE TARGET IF YOU ACTUALLY WANT YOUR BALL TO GO AT THE TARGET.
In the first lesson you learned that your body line should point parallel left of the target by placing an alignment tool along your toes parallel to another alignment tool on the target line near the ball.
I want to mention that it is not just your toe line that should point parallel left of the target, but for our purposes, the lines along your knees, hips, shoulders, etc. should also point parallel left of the target.
In the first lesson I also said that many of you may have incorrectly had your body pointed at the target or even to the right of the target instead of correctly to the left of the target.
Now I am going to tell you why it is so bad to have your body aimed at the target.
First let me say that it is completely normal to make this mistake. It is normal for a human being to look over his shoulder and try to aim his shoulder or body at the target in order to hit the ball at that target; It just feels correct to do so, initially. (The human being may also have been told to do so by its well-meaning amateur instructors.)
However, we are trying to hit the ball at the target and the ball is not on the same line as our body; the ball is approximately 1-3 feet or more away from our body depending on the length of the club, etc.
So let’s say that the first time you hit a golf ball, the ball landed to the right of the target.
You may have made a perfect swing!!! However, you unknowingly had your body pointed at the target instead of properly left of the target.
What did you do to fix the ball flight? You did not fix your aim because it felt like your aim was okay. Instead, you changed your swing...you changed your perfect swing...you ruined your perfect swing by swinging across your body to the left and releasing the club early to make the ball land on the target.
That sort of worked a little bit so you continued to aim to the right and swing to the left, creating the over the top, outside in, early release, steep pull slicer’s swing that has been the hallmark of golfers since the invention of the game. So it is very important that you learn how to aim before you even pick up a golf club.
But take heart; all is not lost. Your swing can be saved.
The first step is to aim properly parallel left of the target with your body...every time...and every time your ball goes crooked, check your aim after the shot. If your aim is okay, then you can look further for the problem.
What will happen the first time you aim properly left? The ball will go too far left because you have been SWINGING and releasing too far left for a long time; your swing will not suddenly be perfect...but your aim is now perfect...and it is time to change your swing to fit your perfect aim. You will hit a lot of balls to the left until you change your swing back to the perfect swing you were born with and maintain the perfect aim with which you were not born but have just learned.
Keep the faith, keep your aim, and your swing may gradually change by itself or you can accelerate the learning process and save a lot of time, frustration, and money by seeing your local PGA golf professional for advice.
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