My Name
Brant Kasbohm, PGA
My Experience
Mr. Kasbohm is the Director of Instruction at Fixyourgame.com, a website where students can upload a video of their swing or putting stroke and get personalized analysis and instruction from PGA Professionals.
My Web Site(s)
How my tip will help:
This easy-to-use tip will provide a foolproof method for alignment, to ensure that your shots are on target. Is there anything worse than a well-struck shot ending up in a bunker or water because of poor alignment? By picking an intermediate target, your alignment will improve, and even your mis-hits will be more on-line. This will also help you to determine other potential flaws in your swing.
Here's my tip:
Ever wonder what the Tour pros are looking at when they stand behind their ball before they play a shot? They're picking an intermediate target to align themselves to. An intermediate target is something a few inches or up to 2-3 feet in front on your ball that is directly in-between your ball and your ultimate target (fairway or green).
This intermediate target can be a broken tee, divot, leaf, discolored piece of grass, or anything else that you might see. Keep in mind that according to the Rules of Golf, alignment aids are not allowed, so your intermediate target has to be something that is already present on the course. It can't be anything artificially placed by the player.
Your intermediate target should be directly in line with the intended starting ball flight, and not necessarily the ultimate target. This means that if you're going to hit a draw, your ball is starting to the right of your target, and so should your intermediate target be to the right of the ultimate target.
When you stand behind your ball, and pick your intermediate target, and then approach the ball to make your stance, focus on aligning your club and body to the intermediate target. It should be close enough to your ball that you can see it without coming out of your stance or posture.
It's much easier to align your club and your body to something that is two feet away from your ball than it is to something that is hundreds of yards away. Practice this on the range and incorporate it into your pre-shot routine, and you'll see immediate results. This an easy, fast, and zero-cost way to improve your scores.
Advice
- Before you play your next shot, stand behind your ball and pick an intermediate target.
- Pick an intermediate target close to, and in front of your ball, that is in-between your ball and the ultimate target.
- When you take your stance, align your clubface and body in line with this intermediate target.
- It'd much easier to square your body to a target that is a couple feet away, than it is to something that is hundreds of yards away.
