deceleration in golf swing

Erase A Bad Ballstriking Day

You just shot eight strokes above your golf handicap. You putted well. You chipped well. But your ballstriking was off. You didn’t have a solid hit all day. Chalk it up to a bad day. Right? Well, maybe. Sometimes, days like this are bad days. Other times, they’re due to bad alignment. A visit to the range after your round can help you tweak your setup so that you get the results you expect when you take your best swings. Approaching this practice session in a systematic way gets the most from it.

Start by building an alignment station. Pick out a target. Lay two clubs down about two feet apart and parallel to each other, making sure the lane between them points to your target. Run a third club from the inside shaft through your stance, forming a capital T. Place the ball against the inside shaft opposite the grip end of the third club. Finally, place three balls to the left of the first so they sit edge to edge. When finished, you’ll have four balls in a row, pointing toward the target.

Use the alignment station and the golf tips below to help you improve your alignment. The golf tips will erase any bad habits that could create misalignment and add strokes to your scores and golf handicap.

Clubface Aim:
If your clubface aim is off, your shot will be off off. Even if the rest of your body is aligned properly, you’ll miss your target if your clubface isn’t correct. To improve clubface aim, point the center of your clubface down the lane formed by the two clubs on the ground. One key: The clubface may look closed to you, but it’s not.

Body Aim:
We see it all the time in golf lessons. Weekend golfers misalign their bodies in relation to the target. To improve your body aim, position your feet so that your toes point straight toward the inside shaft. Use the outside shaft to check that your shoulders are parallel to your toe line. If both your feet and your shoulders are aligned to the appropriate shafts, your body aim is correct.

Stance Width:
Stance width is often forgotten when players take their address. But it’s just as critical to good alignment as clubface aim and body aim. To improve stance width, set both feet the same distance from the shaft that’s lying perpendicular to your aiming club.
Increase or decrease your stance width to match the club your swinging as long as the shaft on the ground stays in line with your zipper.

Ball Position:
Ball position is the most critical element of good alignment. If your ball position is off, everything else can be correct and you still won’t hit a crisp shot. To improve ball position, place your practice ball opposite the four station balls. Use the right-most practice ball for wedge shots. Move to the next ball for short iron shots, then the next for long iron shots and fairway woods. When hitting driver, position your practice ball off the left-most station ball.

These golf tips will help you align yourself properly. Use the alignment station every time you go to the practice range. After awhile, proper alignment will be second nature to you. You’ll feel strange when you’re not properly aligned. Below is a drill often used in golf instruction sessions to erase a bad ballstriking day:

On the practice range, stick two dowels (or broken shafts) in the ground a few feet in front of your alignment station. Station them about four feet apart. Hit balls through them without any thought to the landing area. You’ll find it easier to start your balls online. When you’re on the course, picture the two dowels in your mind’s eye. Now take the same smooth swing you took at the practice range and drive the ball through the dowels.

Sometimes a bad ballstriking day is a bad ballstriking day. Other times, it’s bad alignment. Next time to you have a bad day, an after-round visit to the range can help you erase alignment problems if your approach it systematically. Use the alignment station and the golf tips described above and you’ll correct any alignment flaws that may be interfering with good swings. Getting the most out of your good swings will prevent your golf handicap from climbing.

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