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PRO TIP
Doug Morgan CPGA
As the season winds down, people that play golf may move onto other winter activities. If you are a golfer and you want to use the Fall and Winter months to improve your techniques, ensure that you continue to practice all three key components of your game:
1. Full Swings
2. Less than Full Swings
3. Putting
There are two things that most golfers do when they come to the driving range, they either hit balls or they practice. If you just hit balls, that type of practice is called BLOCK practice. You’re probably not working on anything other than just trying to make contact with the ball and getting it airborne.
If you are working on improving your technique, that type of practice is called TECHNICAL practice.
One aspect of TECHNICAL practice is aiming. Very few people work on aim because of how driving ranges are constructed. Stalls have dividers between them, for safety, but they are directed towards the deepest part of the range. Mats are positioned in the middle of these stall, some that are aligned perfectly to the dividers.
If you want to eliminate thinking that your aim is the cause of your directional issues, work on these three different types of aiming:
1. Intermediate
2. External
3. Internal
Intermediate aiming starts from behind the ball. Stand behind the ball in direct line with your target. Visualize a line from the ball to the target and back to the ball. Rather than trying to aim the club face at a target the could be 100’s of yards away, pick an object, divot or piece of grass three or four feet in front of the ball. As you walk towards the ball, keep your eyes focused on the intermediate object and aim your clubface there. From there, set your feet and body 90° to the lines on the clubface.
External aiming involves placing a shaft, or other alignment tool, on the ground between the ball and your toes. You are trying to align your joints (Ankles, Knees, Hips, Shoulders, Jaw) parallel to your target. When your joints are aligned parallel to your target, your body will move right-left / left-right and be in a better balanced position. Ensure that you frequently step behind the ball and check that the aiming tool is still aligned parallel at your intended target.
Internal aiming is a check of your perception of how you are actually aimed to a particular target. Take your set-up position and before your swing, place the shaft you are holding on the ground so that it touches both heels. Carefully step out of your set-up position and check that your heel line is parallel left to your target line. Adjust your feet accordingly.
Working on alignment at the range is one part of your PRE-SHOT ROUTINE that is imperative for improvement. If you work on aiming and you still have directional issues with your golf shot, then it isn’t your aim that is the problem.
I see so many golfers on the course and the range who are reactionary to the result (Ball flight, distance and direction). How can you become consistent when you change your aim after each swing based on the previous result?
Improvement starts when you create a process, are diligent with that process and stop reacting to the result.
Contact Doug Morgan at (604) 720-9181 or at golf.pro@shaw.ca for Fall/Winter Lesson Information.
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