![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_ryo_ishikawa.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHead to any range in the country and you’ll see one thing. Well, okay, you’ll see a lot of things, like 90% of people hitting off their right foot, slicing, and firing balls one after the other as if they go bad when exposed to sunlight.<\/p>\n
But the thing I’m talking about is actually something you won’t see: alignment sticks. Station after station, golfer after golfer, and not a single alignment stick to be found.<\/p>\n
Walk around the range at a PGA Tour event and you can’t get away from the darn things.<\/p>\n
Everyone wants to be like a PGA Tour pro, but very few people practice like one. Here are a couple of photos from The Memorial and the Bridgestone Invitational showing pros – and their training aids – on the range.
\n
\nRyo Ishikawa has one of the more expensive training aids out there: a real live human being in the form of renowned instructor Jim Flick.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then there’s the always popular “hold this club against my head” trick:<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_unknown.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Vijay Singh, as you might guess, combines the “hold this club against my hip” with an umbrella barely to the right of his target line, a glove under his left arm, the eyes of two trained individuals, and an alignment stick on the ground. I’m probably missing something else, too.<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_vijay_singh.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
At the Bridgestone, Trackman launch monitors were used in a fairly heavy rotation by pros – like Mike Weir – looking to fine-tune their launch conditions.<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/bridgestone_2k9_training_mike_weir_trackman.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Cameras are a big hit on the Tour as well.<\/p>\n
Aaron Baddeley:<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_aaron_baddeley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Ian Poulter:<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/bridgestone_2k9_training_ian_poulter_camera.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_casio_camera.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
But, naturally, the easiest and most readily available training aid are the $2 sticks from Lowe’s or Home Depot. If a pro doesn’t happen to have a stick, a spare club will often do the trick.<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/bridgestone_2k9_training_ian_poulter_sticks.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_adam_scott.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_brett_quigley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_charles_howell_iii.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_charley_hoffman.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_dustin_johnson.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_jason_day.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_jesper_parnevik.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_jim_furyk.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_kenny_perry.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_nick_ohern.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Paul Casey switched to a rope…<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_paul_casey_rope.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
… after he whacked one of his sticks with his 3-wood:<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_paul_casey_stick.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_steve_flesch.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_stuart_appleby_downrange.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_stuart_appleby.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_unkown_square.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
And finally, proof that Tiger Woods was fibbing when he told us he draws the lines on his golf balls freehand.<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/memorial_2k9_training_tiger_woods_marking_ball.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pros use alignment sticks on the range more than half the time. Chops don’t. Go figger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pga"],"yoast_head":"\n