Golf Swing Instruction: Golf Swing Alignment for Duffers

Duffers, do you consistently miss fairways and greens to the right? Do you often come up short of the green on your approach? Do you sometimes hit the ball flush only to realize it was pulled severely? Then you need to read further and learn the simple steps to eliminate this swing fault forever.

Those ball flight patterns are a strong indication of improper golf swing alignment.  This is a very common swing fault. Dooley Duffer, my long time golfing partner, knows this all too well. He suffers from occasional alignment problems causing him to lose distance and accuracy on all his full shots. He was doing his best to adjust for the sudden change in power and accuracy. He moved up a club, strengthened his grip and moved his right foot back a bit all in an attempt to straighten out his ball flight. Nothing worked to his satisfaction.

Golf swing alignment is easy to correct if we just add an alignment check to our pre-shot routine. It may take some effort to work it into your routine but once you do so you will always be certain that you are properly aligned to the ball and the intended target line. Dooley still sometimes skips his alignment check and has to deal with the errant shot. But he knows right away how to correct it next time.

Here is what Dooley does to check his golf swing alignment during his pre-shot routine. Once he addresses the ball with the club in the left hand only aimed down the target line does two things to insure proper golf swing alignment. He suggests you do the same

• Imagine the golf ball setting on the outside rail of a set of train tracks. Then align your feet, knees, hips and shoulders over the second rail. This places your body parallel to the intended target line or the outside rail.
  
• Place the right hand on the golf club from underneath by tilting the shoulders until the right hand comes into contact with the grip. This prevents the shoulders from turning open to the target line. Be most careful to keep the shoulders aligned with the hips, knees and feet. The shoulders are most likely the issue when your alignment is off because the right shoulder tends to move forward and around when the right hand is placed on the grip.

Remember the best way to swing the club on the proper path is to begin from a proper position completely aligned to the target line. If we start out incorrectly aligned we will either hit an errant shot or we must compensate to strike the ball correctly. 

Dooley learned this golf swing alignment technique from the best resource available on the internet, and eBook called “How to Break 80” by Jack Moorehouse. He has learned a lot from this work and he feels very comfortable recommending it to other duffers looking to improve their golf swing as well.

Proper golf swing alignment found here: Dooley Duffer Golf