The next step to helping you become a great shot-maker! The Alignment.

Concept Golf is the simplest and most complete approach to the golf swing and the entire game. There are only five swing principles. They are principles in that they are the cause of every effect in the golf swing. Concept Golf really is a discovery of the principles and therefore a definition of the golf swing.

The discovery of these principles has taken years, roughly 50 years. I learned or was told that the one-liners were the foundation of the golf swing. You know; head down, left arm straight, eye on the ball, slow backswing, turn in a barrel and NEVER look up.

After many years as a good golfer, including 5 years on the PGA Tour I began not only to question those teaching ideas but look for more reasonable swing ideas that were the truth and that actually helped golfers hit good shots. The five Concept Golf swing principles are the result of my playing at a high level with great players, teaching golfers for 25 years and much inspiration.

I know these principles are right. They have helped countless golfers improve their shot making many within an hour. John Mahaffey who plays on the Champions Tour read the book. The next day he made an effort to seek me out and tell me the ideas in the book are 100% correct. All the ideas are logical and make sense with little thinking.

I cant help but share these ideas with all golfers, especially the frustrated ones. Included in this newsletter is Principle #2, Alignment.

Alignment:

Alignment is simply positioning the club and body so the ball can be delivered to the target with an uncomplicated swing. This is simple and important but it is often overlooked or misunderstood. To consistently hit the ball toward the target, the club and body need to be positioned correctly.

Aiming the club at the target involves making an imaginary straight line through the ball to the target and simply setting the club behind the ball so that the bottom line of the club is perpendicular to the target line.

Once the club is positioned correctly, you need to position your body so that it can function most effectively. The line through your toes needs to be aimed at least parallel to the target line, preferably to the left of the target line (See illustration 1). With your body thus aimed, you are able to make a swing that will have the club on line to the target throughout the entire swing. It also positions the target out in front of you rather than off to your side or behind you. In other sports the target is out in front of the player.

Illustration 1

What happens if your body is not aimed to the left of your target? Most of the golfers that come to me for instruction are inclined to aim their body at the target or even to the right of the target (See illustration 2). By this I mean that the line through the tips of their toes tends to point toward the target or to the right of the target. For some reason golfers think that aiming their body at the target will facilitate the ball going toward the target.

Illustration 2

If the body is aimed at the target, or to the right of the target, the club is actually aimed much further to the right. Such an alignment will cause the swing to redirect to an outside-in path during the downswing in hopes of getting the ball to go toward the target. It will cause a glancing blow to the ball and result in a weak slice. Do not worry that aiming your body to the left of the target line will cause a fade or slice. That is a myth. You can fade or draw from any alignment.

Alignment can be easily demonstrated by placing two golf balls about 3 feet apart, one is the target and the other is the golfer's ball. The target line is most obvious when the two golf balls are close together. You can easily set the golf club perpendicular to that imaginary line. Next, simply position your body so that the line through your toes is either parallel to the target line, preferably aiming at a point to the left of the target. Now you are in position to make a swing during which the club stays on the line to the target, or in golf vernacular, on the plane. A straight, solid shot at your target will be your consistent result.

However, if you position your body with the line through your toes aiming at the target, you can see how far to the right of the target the golf club is actually aimed. (See illustration 2). If the golf club is aimed way to the right of the target, your body will make a compensating move during the downswing to try to get the ball to go toward the target. This creates the outside-in swing that will result in weak, unreliable shots.

Golfers who aim to the right have a standard shot: a miss-hit which consistently slices. I witnessed a US Open champion playing in a Senior Tour event. He was aiming far to the right. I watched him hit two shots with irons. The first was a miss-hit that went way to the right of the target. The second was almost a grounder. Good alignment allows your body and system to create a swing that will consistently deliver the object to the target. Alignment is deceptively important and simple. It's easy to get it right and causes mountains of trouble if you get it wrong.

I have instructed many students who were having a great deal of difficulty striking the ball because of faulty alignment. Once they understood and utilized proper alignment, their ball striking immediately improved and they were able to enjoy the game once again. I also remember watching Tom Kite practice. He always practiced with a club on the ground to make sure his alignment was correct. If you want to put a club on the ground to check your alignment, put it six inches outside the ball on the line aimed at the target. Let your feet go to the left of that line but don't put a club along your toes (See illustration 3).

Illustration 3

Alignment is important and simple. It takes place before you swing. Please understand it and get it right now or you will forever lose power, accuracy, low scores, good caddies and the club championship.

Align to the target, not the golf ball. I see many high handicappers working hard to get in a good address position at the golf ball, but only taking a cursory look at the target. On the other hand, good players set up to the target with a vague awareness of the golf ball. If you want to improve your golf game, spend a lot of time looking at the target and only a little time looking at the golf ball.