Hey everyone, Looking for some coaching on this one. I feel like my golf game is suffering on 2 points, putting and alignment. Putting is a problem for everyone, alignment I feel like I am starting to get the yips. Even when I am right on, I don't trust it.

(Just to give you background) For years I have been a fader/Slicer and successfully aligned left of the target for years. As I have improved I have straightened out my flight. Now I have what is turning out to be a terrible problem. I can't get seem to aim at all. Once over the ball I feel like my feet and shoulders are batteling one another for proper alignment. Needless to say, I am all over the place with my direction but my shots are always pretty straight. Talk about frustrating!

Any tips?

Hey, it looks like you have a problem that I suffered with for a while. I fixed it through trial and error, but to save you some time I'll tell you how I deal with it now...sometimes the alignment still creeps on me, usually when I put undue pressure on myself.

First I align the club face with my target, either the pin or an object in line with the pin that's rather close to my ball. Then I line me feet up to be parallel with the club face. It always feels a little closed to me but that's how I know it's right. and last is the shoulders... This is where most amateurs have serious problems. After I've gone through the previous steps, I take my right hand off the club, left if your left handed. and just let it dangle, I put it back on the club from "underneath" which means I tilt my right shoulder slightly down. Do this instead of rotating your shoulder to put your hand on the club. So I'm a little tilted but still pointing in the same direction as my legs.

---===
______

^^Something like that. Your leading shoulder is above your rear shoulder just slightly.

I hope this helped.

As the last post stated, align your club face to the target line. I like to pick out a spot on the ground 1-2 feet in front of the ball that is in line with the target. Then I set my feet so that a line across my toes is at 90* to the shaft of the club. Have your feet parallel to the shaft at this point. Adjust the angle of your feet while keeping your heals in the same place, don't move your heals, move your toes. Once your feet are parallel to the target line, stand up straight and face the ball. Now bend over to address the ball WITHOUT TWISTING YOUR BODY. This will keep you shoulder and hips in line and parallel to the target line. Lower your right shoulder a little and you should be all ready to start your backswing. Follow this routine before every shot and it will not be long before you are setting up straight every time and hitting the ball right at the target. Try it and let me know how it works for you. Good Golf can be hard work. Don.

sheesh, don. sounds like yer gonna kick my butt in june!
alignment is my problem, most of the time. feet going right, shoulders going left. but it's a repeatable swing & i'm doing alright. practice, practice, practice.

Not me, you driver the ball too far for me to give you any trouble. Besides, alignment isn't my problem, it's returning to my address position every time on the downswing and swinging flat enough to catch the ball with the driver on an upward arc. If I do get that figured out so I can repeat it every time,I might have a chance. Don

ever play riverdale? mariana butte? got those in mind. buddy in ft. collins can get us on some great courses at a discount. connections! ever play new mex? might try paa ko ridge, black mesa, maybe pinon hills on way back to phx, but i hear plus & minus about it. i like a lot of elevated tees & elevation changes. gonna play this wkend...sore shoulders & all. overdid it last wkend playing 5 rounds. stinks getting old. (52 going on 82)

hey don...I know you didn't start the topic or anything but sounds you like you have the same problem I just got over...I talked to the pro at my course and he said you're probably just teein the ball to far back in your stance...I of course told him, noooo I have it off my left instep. BUT I WAS WRONG. Amazing how deceiving it can look at set up, I layed my club down perpendicular to the target line and the ball was actually off of where the logo would be on my shirt. So what I did to correct it was when I was setting up, I place the driver about 4 inches behind the ball, then take my normal set up. It helped me keep the ball forward in my stance, and line the club face up with my target. I've added atleast 35 yrds off the tee and it'll probably go up more once I get a shaft in my driver that doesn't get the ball so high in the air. So try that, it helped me tons. Also, I only missed one fairway my last round! Hope this helps.

Hi Chris,
My problem isn't ball position, rather a too upright swing, caused by practicing too much with my short irons. I play mostly the local par three course and because of that I practice mostly short to mid irons. In fact,I have been placing the ball a little bit back in my stance with the driver, because I have not enough shift to the left in my downswing sometimes.If I place the ball too far forward, I hit the ball and put topspin on it, causing the ball to go out straight and then dive down toward the ground. Needless to say, the ball does't go real far with topspin on it, maybe 150 yards if I'm lucky. Of course it rolls a long way, but you never know how far or in what direction.If you want to try something to correct your ball being to far back in your stance, try addressing the ball with your feet together, with the ball between your feet, then move only the right foot. This method forces the ball to be located just inside the left heel, which is where it sounds you are trying to get it. The same method works for all clubs, by adjusting how far you move each foot. For your wedges, just move each foot the same amount and the ball is in the middle of your stance. Got this idea from a GolfTec seminor last year and it works fine.
One of the things I see wrong in golf instrution articles and books, is that they tell you where the ball should be to hit it correctly. But that location is only correct if you shift your weight and body position on the downswing the way they tell you to. If you shift less than they advise, the bottom of your swing will be farther back and the ball will be too far forward for your swing. You have to find the bottom of your swing and not go by what the experts say is correct for expert golfers. I don't shift my hips enough to the left, so I have to place the ball a little farther right in my stance. A good example if when I hit a 3 wood from the fairway. If I have the ball where it belongs according to the so called experts, I will top the ball every time. If I play the ball a few inches forward of center, I hit the ball with solid contact and on the correct launch angle. It might be better if I played the ball forward and shifted more, but until I can get myself to shift left more, I will have to live with the swing I have. With more practice I hope to correct my lack of shifting left and improve my game. At least that's my goal. Good luck with your game and thanks for your input. Don

Don, Thanks for taking my input and not throwing it back in my face I really appreciate that. I understand totally what your sayin about the so called experts say, if you read what I put in the ironic thought post then you can see that I have my own ideas on how the club should be swung. Thanks for the tip on the ball position with my driver, that's what I thought I was doing a while ago but I always "instinctively" moved my left foot forward a little without realizing it. Also the easiest way I found to flatten out the golf swing is to take the club back so it feels like it's in line with your back shoulder. When I have that feeling all my clubs are flying correctly. Thanks Again.

I'm not sure what you mean by, "inline with my back shoulder". Can you give me a difference reference to help my brain understand it better? It's amazing how poor some magazine articles are. I read one that told you what to do if you contact the ball toward the toe of the driver face. It went on to tell you what to do if you hot the ball off of the HEAL, TOP, BOTTOM. I don't know about you but if I start hitting the ball off of the toe,I just move 1/2 inch closer to the ball. No where in the article did the author tell someone what to do if you hit the ball in all of these spots, which is what 99% of us do.
I know this isn't on the same topic this post started on, but did you happen to read my post on the Technasonic Check-Go? I have been using the equator line to help line up my putts, and I have to tell you that it really helps. It takes a little time to get used to lining up the ball equator line with the spot you want to start the ball to go, but after you practice a little with that line, I don't think you will ever putt with a naked ball again. You may never miss a four foot putt again. Once you line up the ball, you don't have to think about anything but making a smooth stroke to the ball. Try it, I think you will like it. Yesterday I was making 10 foot putts like it was easy. Even the ones I missed were never more than 6 inches off line. I even hit some putts of over 120 feet and every ball was within 4 feet of being on the correct path. It makes putting a lot easier when you only have to worry about the correct speed and not the line at the same time. My putting has always been a strong part of my game, but it just got real strong. If yesterdays results hold up over the long run, I think I just took half a dozen strokes off my handicap. Try it and let me know what you think. I will appreciate your feedback.

Don.

Hey, don. By "inline with your back shoulder" I mean when you take the club back and you are have your wrist hinged check the line of the club and make sure that it draws a line straight through your back shoulder with the butt of the club pointing at the target line. I hope that helps. And about the check-go I've been doin this for a couple years now, but I didn't buy anything to get the same effect. If you mix Epsom salt, water, and a couple drops of jet dry you get the same effect. drop the golf ball in and give it a little spin. When it stops spinning the heaviest point on the golf ball will be down. Now just mark the top of the ball, I put a little arrow goin off the dot to, it doesn't matter which way because the dot is directly above the heavy part. Off the tee have the dot facing up and when your putting line the arrow up facing the hole and have the arrow directly on top, not the dot. This will help insure a true roll on your putts.

The problem with floating and spinning is you get two different results. Which alignment method do you use if they are totally different? I has some balls that when spun, the float mark that is at the lightest side of the ball, comes out on the side of the ball. If the light drawn on the ball is on the equator, then the float mark is at the north pole. You can't line-up the ball both ways at the same time. I will have to do some testing and see which method works best for putting. But I would think that the equator line should be vertical and aimed at the target on the tee shot. This lines up the dymamic balance equator so the ball spins the truest in flight. Having a line on the ball is the best way I have found to make putting a lot easier.