Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.
Getting into good practice habits is crucial if you are serious about lowering your handicap. Getting reps in is always good, but you need to be efficient in your practice to get the most out of it.
One of the best ways to achieve efficient practice is by using training aids. No matter what issue you’re trying to correct, there’s sure to be a product out there that can help you.
Don’t think that means you need to spend hundreds of dollars to fix your swing, though. In fact, some of the best training aids are extremely cheap — and some can be made out of common household goods.
Use a string as a training aid
If you’ve got a piece of string laying around — congrats! You’ve got yourself a pretty useful training aid. It might sound odd, but if you know how to use it, a few feet of string can be used for all sorts of things.
“It’s huge for me,” says elite mid-amateur Jonathan Bale. “It’s my feet alignment, it’s the clubface, it’s distance from the ball. Just something so simple like that helps me a lot.”
During every practice session, Bale lays a piece of string on the ground pointing at his target line. Not only does it make sure his aim is correct, but he can also make sure his clubface is square before every swing.
“I’ve always had a problem keeping the face square,” Bale says. “So for this, obviously [the string] is perpendicular to the clubface and I can see that my clubface is square from there.”
Unlike an alignment rod, the string can be quite close to your clubhead as you make swings. In fact, you can even put a ball right on top of it and hit shots without affecting your clubhead as it comes through the ball.
If you’re someone who struggles with aim and alignment, look around the house for a piece of string. It might just be the secret to curing your woes.
