Alignment, alignment, alignment! As I was working my handicap down, I would find myself wondering why I had no idea where the hell the ball was going. A common problem for, well, everybody. The majority of us will just walk up to the ball, maybe take a practice swing, look at the pin, then fire. If we look at the pros, they are much more methodical with their setup and take their time making sure they are aligned correctly. The hard thing about alignment is even being off by a few degrees can cause some errant misses. Alignment not only applies to your driver and iron shots, but to your putting as well - so correct it, and you'll notice some drastic improvement.
A simple way to test your alignment is to address the ball and lay a club straight across your toes and see exactly where that club is pointing. You need to square up your feet and shoulders to be in line with your target. You may be surprised to see how off-line you really are, and it may be the reason you are spraying the ball or can never seem to find a fairway. Correcting my alignment and actually paying attention to it, helped me create more consistency as a golfer. Once you believe you are squared to your target line, pick a blade of grass six inches in front of the ball along the starting line, and swing with the intent of that ball flying right over that blade of grass. It is also important to understand to align yourself with your ball shape. What I mean by that is; if you’re a righty that tends to fade the ball, you’ll want to align a little more left to compensate for that left-to-right ball shape. Alignment is key to avoiding hazards and keeping your ball in play. Many times alignment can be fixed by simply just paying attention to it. Too often we neglect it, and then we don't understand why we're missing our target lines. Check your alignment next time you play and see if you notice a difference!
What do y’all think is the biggest mistake made by the average player?
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