I often hear from golfers, “I’m terrible at aiming” or “I can’t aim well.” The problem isn’t that you can’t point your clubface in the general direction of the intended target, it’s that you don’t deliver the club at impact in the same direction.
In other words, when you make contact with the ball, the face of the golf club is not pointing in the same direction as it was at address.
This is a newer concept for the everyday golfer. Unfortunately, when a shot goes offline, many golfers believe it’s because of where they positioned their club or body in relation to the target. Thus begins an endless cycle of further compounding the problem by attempting to aim away from the direction of the last miss.
The key to eliminating this tendency is to do your best to replicate your address-position aim at impact. Here’s an easy way to work on it.
A drill to improve your aim
Grab a 7-iron and 2 alignment sticks. Lay down one alignment stick in your intended target direction and stick the other in the ground about 8 feet in front of the stick (see photo at left). Try hitting shots that start right and left of the stick in the ground. While you are doing this, try to feel what may be creating each directional change. Is it your wrists? Forearms? Hands? I find that if you can feel what happens to create the directional miss you fight, you will then have a better idea on what feels you need to have to send it where you want to!
Sarah Stone, PGA, is one of GOLF’s 2021-22 Teachers to Watch, and is the Director of Instruction at Chevy Chase Club in Bethesda, Md.
