If you’re struggling with your swing, chances are the problem can be traced to something amiss in your setup — especially aim, posture and alignment. Even if your swing is relatively sound, if one of these foundations is out of whack, the ball likely isn’t going to end up where you’re expecting it to go.
If poor aim is your problem, teaching professional Teresa Zamboni has a simple tip to help.
In a video posted to the LPGA Professionals YouTube page, Zamboni explains that amateurs often aim out of order. That is, they try to align their body first and clubhead second. But according to Zamboni, the most foolproof way to ensure you’re aimed at your intended target is the inverse. Aim your clubhead first, followed by your body, starting from the ground up: feet, knees, hips and shoulders.
“The first step is to aim your clubface in the direction of your target,” Zamboni says. “Once that clubface is aimed in the direction of your target, then you can align your feet, your knees, your hips and your shoulders in that parallel line to the target.”
Allowing your body to align first, Zamboni says, often results in a clubhead that is askew at address.
“If you aim your clubhead first, that’s the object that is actually coming through the ball,” Zamboni says. “That’s your first step. And then once your clubface is aimed at the target, go ahead and set your feet, knees, hips and shoulders parallel to that intended target, and you’re on your way to hitting that right in the center of the clubface.”
Give Zamboni’s advice and you’ll hit more shots toward your intended target.
As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her original interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.
