9 Address
Setup and aim
If the feet, the shoulders, and the clubface point at three different places, the swing is not what you are testing.
Home / Setup and aim
The situation
You step up and the shot starts somewhere you did not choose. Before you call it a slice or a shank, find out whether you were aimed there. Aim is a setup job. Where the ball sits between the feet is the next note, ball position.
A check you can do
Lay one club on the ground along your toe line, pointing where you want the ball to start. Step in and set the clubface. If your shoulders do not run with that club on the ground, your aim is a guess. Fix the agreement before you judge the swing.
The fix
- 01Pick a spot a few feet in front of the ball Stand behind the ball and choose a mark on the ground that sits on the line to your target. Aim at that mark. The far target is too big to aim at.
- 02Set the face first Point the clubface at the mark, then set the feet. People who set the feet first tend to twist the face at the last second.
- 03Run the body with the toe line Feet, knees, hips, and shoulders run parallel to the club on the ground. For a straight shot with a right-handed player, that body line is left of the target and the face looks at the target. The lines are parallel. They do not meet in front of you.
- 04Bend from the hips until the arms hang Knees are soft, not sitting and not locked. If you fall toward the ball when you waggle, you are too close or too much on your toes. Give the handle room. Crowding the ball is how a shank starts.
- 05Then place the ball for the club in your hand Do not use the driver ball position for a wedge. Go to ball position once the face and the feet agree. The grip still has to match. Aim will not close an open face.