Ask any better player and they will tell you the secret to consistency and better golf comes from not only having sound swing fundamentals but also proper alignment.
If you aren’t aligned properly, the game gets a lot harder, requiring your body to manipulate its way back on line to hit the ball in your intended direction.
An easy-to-make mistake, and one beginners often make when they’re struggling with accuracy, happens when they align both their body and the clubface directly at the target.
It seems intuitive to aim your body where you want to hit the ball, but, in actuality, you want it positioned parallel to the target line, not pointed directly at it.
Think of a metro rail or a train track. Set your feet and body parallel left on one side of the track (or right if you’re a lefty) with the clubhead square to the intended target on the other side. It’s how pros do it. Follow their lead.
Tina Tombs is director of instruction at the Arizona Biltmore Golf Club in Phoenix, Ariz.