Josh’s Tips & Tricks: Parallel Lines

Intro

Hi guys, welcome to this week’s tips & tricks. Another back to basics this week. We’re going to be double checking that you’re actually aiming in the correct way and how you can check you clubface/body alignment. This is something that I correct amongst golfers everyday so likelihood is, this could apply to you and your practice. Let’s have a look…

Parallel Lines – Alignment

Take a look at the following video to see how you could set up your practice sessions for a better chance of hitting your target.

Set up

Golf is a target sport and you need to be able to get the ball to travel towards the target with the correct distance and the correct direction. To give yourself the best chance of understanding your swing and the best chance of hitting towards the target you need to check your alignment. Most people I teach struggle with aim/alignment and end up pointing their clubface and/or body in completely the wrong direction. After that then the brian is trying to compute how to correct it, potentially causing inconsistent directional misses.

Next time you practice, hit the ball from the same spot, use the same club, and pick the same target. Set up lines either side of the ball that are parallel to the target. Then use a few more sticks to set consistent parallel lines until you get to the feet. Try to then get your knees, hips, shoulders, elbows all parallel to the target. You may need a friend or a tripod to help you to match up parallel lines through the body. Lots of people think they’re parallel but they’re actually a long way off.

Swing

Try to gently push the club back so the shaft matches up parallel with the lines on the floor when it’s horizontal (see video). Try to swing the club straight through the lines to ensure a centred strike and a neutral start line if you’re trying to hit the ball as straight as possible.

If you end up hitting one of the sticks on the way through it’s possible your swing plane or swing path are slgihtly off. Try to take note of which stick you hit and where. Make sure to reset the sticks if they do move so your alignment is always perfect. If your brain knows the clubface is straight and the body is parallel there is a mych greater chance of starting the ball on the target line. If your ball doesn’t then your clubface angle is likely to be off.

Summary

Everyone needs to check their alignment. If you’re not practicing to a target with alignment guides down, how do you know if you’re hitting good shots? Try to get the clubface to target and body parallel. If you practice doing this enough you will improve your ball striking and start direction.

If you struggle with alignment or directional misses and would like some help CLICK HERE TO BOOK A LESSON NOW.

Catch you soon.

Cheers,

Josh