More help with alignment please

First the good news.

As many of you will know (and many have tried to help with) my driving has always been woeful at best. However since I had the shaft cut down to 44" my ball striking has improved and following the switch last week to a 12 degree loft I've gained distance - not up with the 300 yarders but at 250+ more than respectable enough for me, for now.

The bad news is that - as you will guess from the title - that I am ahem directionally challenged.

We have a nice grass area at the range and yesterday's practice was typical.

Lay down a club, set up to it, swing nice and easy and the ball is away with one of those "pick up your tee" strikes, even with a slight but consistent draw.

Take the club away. Stand behind the ball. Pick the "blade of grass" - or whatever a few feet away. Walk round, setup up, swing nice and easy and the ball is pushed way right.

Try as I might as I walk from behind to the side I just lose the target line. A few more tries and I lose my set up and start slicing.

So please, please, please does anyone out there have an alternative to the "blade of grass" approach

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Hi Robin,

This is what I do:

Make my grip away from the ball.
Approach the ball from the side with my lead foot forward.
Set the clubface in place behind the ball and pointing to target.
Now align myself to the club.

I think many people have problems where they align their body first, often they will align themselves to the target and not left parallel to it, then place the club incorrectly behind the ball. This normally results in a shot to the right.

Tie your shoe laces together!

hi
try addressing the ball and swing back to half way and then swing slowly back to the ball but turn your hips and shift your weight more to the left and get into the impact position and check the alignment of the club face.
if its in line then that givers you added confidence with the shot if not adjust the club in your hand and don't just turn your hand over a little then take another haft swing and check it again.
i often do this on the tight driving holes and it works.
cheers
bill

This is weird; I'm sure I posted a long response to this which has disappeared. Mind you the format of the portal has changed as well.

Anyway.

Thank's for the answer Brian; two questions.

By target do you mean the big target (left fairway, short of the trap) or the little intermediate target (that daisy on the target line)?

Why the leading foot. I've just switched to the placing the right foot first which for some odd reason seems to set me in balance with a nice tilt of the shoulders and I'd be reluctant to change unless fundamental to solving the misalignment.

Cheers

__________________
I firmly believe that we should try to experience all that life affords, except, perhaps, bestiality and of course Morris Dancing.

hi bdbl
I'm like Brian and i set up with my left foot first, and i do that as i also set up with just my left hand on the club and then as i put my right hand on the club i move my right foot into posision. without changing the line up of my club face, if i did it right foot first i would not have set my distant from the ball up the club and up my left arm and to where my left shoulder was at the right distant from the ball.
i do change where my right foot goes as i move from long irons to wedges but my left foot is always in the same place to the ball only closer as the clubs move from long irons to wedges.
hope you understand what i mean.#
cheers
bill

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i like to line the clubface up 1st with my feet together. i then move the lead foot out to set the ball position and then move the back foot out

i then take my left hand off the club and point left of the target to check my shoulder alignment

I've been doing some reading on alignment lately, and this is what I've come up with:

Pick the distance target. It shouldn't be a big target, the smaller the better. It's up to you whether or not to use an intermediary target or not.

Align the leading edge of the club to your target (either distant or intermediate). It's important to use the leading edge as some manufacturers paint the topline differently to give the appearance of square, even though the face is closed - this is why some folks find hybrids to be 'hook machines'. The other exception to this is with modern drivers over 10° of loft - these should point slightly to the hook side of target as they're built with closed faces - but you can always relax your grip and allow them to settle closed. You need square for your alignment.

After setting the club down behind the ball, stand with your feet together so that the space between your feet is perpendicular to the imaginary target line. If you cannot see this line, you need to work on your imagination!

Move your target side foot forward so that the ball is 2-3" off your left heel. Move your rear foot for balance. Check that your toe line is parallel to the imaginary target line. Adjust until it is. From here, adjust your stance open or closed as necessary for the shot, but the ball stays 2-3" off your left heel.

So far, I've had excellent results with this method.

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I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

hi lowpost
are you not better setting up using the groves of the club rather than the leading edge as some leading edges are curved a little.
cheers
bill

Even if the leading edge is slightly radiused, it's still the squarest part of the club. You could probably get away with using the lowest couple grooves, though.

hi lowpost
its normally grove 3,4 and 5 i set up with and i find it easer to set up that way that than with the leading edge of my irons, its something i have done for a very long time and don't really think about it i just do it.
cheers
bill

Sounds good to me. I'm sure that I'm doing it subconsiously, too.

Thanks guys; some ideas there to take away and work on.

Interesting point on the hybrids too Ben; I have a tendency to hook them from time to time so that gives me something to check when it creeps in.

I will have picked out a small target (where my ball will finish) from behind the ball and already created a vision of my ball travelling to it and the shot I will make.

I place the lead foot forward as I know the distance it will be in front of the ball and I prefer to settle my rear foot last while creating the appropriate lean or sternum tilt, OK there is a little shuffling after to fine tune it all.

Lay your club on the ground, it is legal. time consuming and looks funny, but if it helps. Once you get a feel for how it looks, you probably won't need to do that much, as at first.

You can not leave a club on the ground to indicate the line while swinging, but you can lay the club your using down, check your line , then pick it up, get your grip, without moving from your alignment, and swing away..lol