Help with Aim

[barrycuda]

i hit a great shot, nice and straight but right of the target. i put the club down where my feet where and bingo, pointing way right of target.

some of the good players in this forum, how do you get yourself lined up properly?

[Shindig]

i hit a great shot, nice and straight but right of the target. i put the club down where my feet where and bingo, pointing way right of target.

Intermediate targets. I find a discoloration in the grass or a leaf or flower or something that is on the line I want the ball to start. I picture a line going through that point and the ball, set my feet parallel, set the club on the line, and let it go.

[beung]

The best advice I can give is this:

If you don't have a preshot routine, get one. Weather you do or don't, try and fit this into it.

Stand behind the ball, facing your target. In your mind, draw a line from your target (the line where you want the ball the start in the air not where you want the ball the end up), through your ball and back to you. Now line your left foot (if you are right handed) on that line. When you step forward to the ball for your setup step with your right foot first. Address the ball as you would normally and see if you are still lining up to far to the right.

This should get you walking along the line where your feet should be pointing and not the line where your ball will be traveling on. Your feet should aways be lined up left of the line your ball will be traveling on. So if you pick a tree out in the distance for your target line your feet should be aiming left of that tree. If you feet are aiming at the tree at address then you are aiming too far right.

[golf_junkie27]

As other posters have mentioned, you need to get a pre-shot routine. The best advice I was given:

1) Find the target that you want. Draw a straight line from your ball to that target.

2) Take your practice swings behind the ball. Not next to it.

3) Find a spot, about 10 feet in front of your ball, that is in line with your target.

4) Set your club down, behind the ball and lined directly with the spot in front of your ball.

5) Set your feet, make sure you are left of the target line and square. Fire away.

You should also practice like this. Too many times I see guys practicing "rapid fire" golf at the range. Hit a ball, grab another, hit a ball. If you practice like you play, you'll develop consistency and hopefully good habits.

[mancest]

I have and probably always will take my practice swing next to my ball. Now, instead of just setting up after the practice swing, I back out, look at my target from behind the ball, line it up and set my club up facing along that line then step into my stance. I have been playing much more consistently this way.

For putting I take my practice strokes behind the ball, then follow the same procedure.

On the tee I line the Titleist where I want it to go, then set up along that path.

Whatever you do, do it consistently, the first couple rounds that I started doing this, I caught myself not doing it, and made sure I did it.

[Richie3Jack]

Good question. I'm a 2 handicap and used to have a + handicap and I still struggle with aim, usually aiming right of the target when I'm struggling. There's a book called "See It and Sink It" that is about reading greens and aligning putts, but it goes into why the eyes will often get you misaligned and it applies to the full swing as well.

What I do is in my pre-shot routine and sort of "plumb bob" behind the shot (and I'm talking about full golf swings, not putts). The See it and Sink it book calls it the "Zorro Technique" where instead of doing the regular style of plumb bobbing, it sort of looks like this:



Except you don't have to flail the left arm back and wear a cape

I will take the club and try to line the ball with the target. Then I take the shaft and just move it parallel left to the target and that's where I know where to align my body.

It takes a little while at first, but you'll start to get used to it after a short while.





3JACK

[Avid Golfer]

i hit a great shot, nice and straight but right of the target. i put the club down where my feet where and bingo, pointing way right of target.

What you are referring to with your feet is alignment (not aim). You can try the following things to improve your aim and/or alignment:

Aim: Aim the writing on the ball toward your intended target (you can do this at any time before you swing on the tee box or the green). Pick out an intermediate target slightly in front of your ball that is on line with your target in the distance, and aim your club face at that intermediate target. Pick a precise target (when possible also at the same height your want your ball to reach at its apex) in the distance that is in the direction of your target (the more specific the better). Alignment: Where would an imaginary line going through your elbows point? Where your combined elbows point reflect where your shoulders are aligned. Pointing your elbows parallel to your target should also align your shoulders. Where would a club placed across the top of your thighs point? The alignment of your thighs will reflect the alignment of your hips. Hold something across your eye line (where are your eyes aligned?). If you are getting your eyes aligned right the other parts of your body will follow. Finally your feet. If you watch a lot of the pros (ex: Charles Howell and Nick Price) you will see they put down the club head behind the ball and put their feet together. I recommend you start the same way to take some of the variation out of getting your foot alignment. From the foot together position step toward your target a few inches with your front, and then away from it with your back foot. When you're on the range put down a club (like a lot of pros do) to reinforce where you want to align, and take a second club and hold it across your shoulders, hips (or thighs), and eyes to confirm that those areas are aligned parallel to your target. The more you practice it the more your alignment will become second nature.