This is the Full Swing Golf Alignment Lesson for Short Irons. This lesson is designed to help you aim at your target properly. It's great if you can hit the ball solidly and straight, but if you don't aim well and miss your target by 30 yards...you are really not taking advantage of how well you can hit the golf ball.
When you have a short iron you truly have a scoring club in your hands. Do you now why the pros shoot such low scores? It's because they are unbelievable with their short irons. They rarely miss the green and are usually within 20 feet of the hole, or better yet they are knocking down the flagstick. By doing that they are giving themselves the best opportunity to make the putt and take fewer shots.
Besides, poor aim usually leads to bad changes in your swing. That is because your brain knows you are trying to hit it towards a specific target. If you are not aiming at that target then your brain will try to manipulate your body to make your golf ball go there. That makes your swing very inconsistent. When your swing is inconsistent, it becomes very hard to score. Aiming is critical when it comes to short irons because you should be trying to zero in on the target and hit it is as close to the hole as possible.
A Golf Alignment Lesson In 5 Easy Steps
In this lesson you will see pictures with strings. Those strings are being used to illustrate how to aim properly. It is also a great way to practice because you will know you are aiming at your target. You can replace the strings with golf clubs. The important thing is to have an aid to help you work on your game.
If you know you are aimed at your target, yet still miss your shot, then you know there is something in your swing or timing that needs to be fixed. You won't be guessing as to what is wrong...setup or swing.
Please follow the steps below to develop a great routine that will help you get aligned to your target every time.
Step #1 : Club Down First With Feet Together
You should ALWAYS place your club down behind your ball first, before you position your body.
Place your club behind your ball while keeping your feet together. By having your feet together you will be focused on placing your club first.
Step #2 : Aiming At Your Target
No matter what club your are using, please make sure you are aiming your club at your target. The line represented by the string in the picture is called your Target Line.. It should go through the back of your club, through your ball, and to your target in the distance.
Your club is what strikes your ball. Therefore you want to have your club aimed at your target.
The more specific your target the better. This helps narrow our focus to hit a more precise shot.
Step #3 : Body Parallel To Target Line
Your body should always setup in relation to your target line. This means your feet, knees, hips and shoulders follow your target line.
As you can see your Body Line should be parallel to your Target Line. This is the string running along my toes.
Many instructors have used the image of railway tracks. As you can see by the strings on the ground...it is a pretty strong image to use. Your club goes on one rail aimed at the target, and your body follows the other rail.
Step #4 : A Great Aiming Test
Setup to your golf ball so that your body is parallel to your target line.
Stand up straight and extend your left arm in line with your shoulders. You arm should be pointing about 5 yards left of your target.
Step #5 : Golf Alignment Lesson Final Check
If your arm is pointing at your target then you have most likely set your body up ahead of your club. Remember, you need to set your club down to form your target line so that you can set your body line parallel to it.
Thank you for taking the Full Swing Golf Alignment Lesson for Short Irons. This is a very important lesson for improving and then maintaining your scores. The Golf Alignment Lesson series are not the most exciting lessons, especially compared to working on movements of the golf swing, but they are lessons that should be reviewed at least once a month during your golf season. We can all slip out of position if we are not paying attention...and if we do we will not hit the ball as close to the hole as we should.
Congratulations to Steve Stricker on his victory at the 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
I believe the commentators said he has won 9 times in his 40s. That is amazing!I also agree with Sir Nick and Johnny Miller that his swing will be copied in the future. Technology has reduced the need for hand action in the golf swing to generate power. Watch the old videos of Bobby Jones to see how much action he created compared to that of Steve Stricker.
A great objective for any player is to eliminate any unnecessary movement. Stricker does a great job of that. His hands stay very quiet on the backswing. His wrists hardly hinge at the top of his backswing. You can see from the above video that his backswing is all shoulder turn.
His downswing starts from the hips and he simply turns everything through the golf ball at the same time. His hands and wrists release naturally without any effort. This is a great way to have a consistent rhythm through the golf ball on every shot. This swing delivers enough power to win on Tour.
European Tour Winner Quick Lesson
Congratulations to Louis Oosthuizen and his victory at the 2012 Africa Open.
Louis burst onto the scene with his dominating performance at the Open Championship. Many have predicted multiple wins for this player. His victory this past weekend is likely one of many to come.
In the video above pay really close attention to when the video ends. Take a look at his left foot. Notice how all his weight his on his left heel. This is a great sign that he has cleared his hips properly.
One of the key reasons for starting the downswing with your lower body is to clear your hips out of the way to create more room for your arms to swing through impact. It is a great indicator as to how well you cleared your hips, when almost all your weight is on your heel.
If your weight is leaning on you toes or even the middle of your foot then you have not rotated and cleared your hips enough through your downswing and past impact. You really want to feel the pressure of your weight on your heel like Oosthuizen.
Make sure you start your downswing with your lower body. At the top of your backswing; either pull your left knee or your left hip (right handed player) towards the target. Also make sure your hips keep rotating through impact and into your finish position with your weight on the heel.