==================================================== Newsletter - Issue 72 Date 10/02/08 ==================================================== ==================================================== TCT Quick Tips - Putting Stroke Drill ==================================================== Here's another use for those inexpensive alignment rods I mentioned in the last newsletter, or you could substitute a golf shaft, or even a yardstick. This drill helps you keep your wrists out of your putting stroke. Simply grip your putter with the alignment rod, yardstick, or shaft right under your grip so that it extends right into your sternum area. Then practice putting by rocking your shoulders back and forth with no hand or wrist movement. Practice this stroke with or without a ball and watch your putting improve. There is a training aid on the market called a Pendulum Putting Rod that is used for this purpose, but why spend $30 when you can do it yourself for less? Here's a link to the pendulum putting rod - just to see how it's used: http://www.oneplanegolfswing.com/golfproshop/pendulum_putting_rod ==================================================== Golf Tip : Alignment Tips Q&A ==================================================== I had a couple of questions generated by last issue's alignment tips, here they are with answers. Q: This question came from Warren S.: Greetings Tom, I like the set-up exercise you have included in the newsletter. Question; for my swing, and assuming I'm making an approach shot from 170 out with my 5 iron from the middle of the fairway and the ground is level, should I be aligning my feet slightly left or right of the target? A: Hi Warren, and thanks for the question. Since I know you are right handed, your feet (heels) knees, hips, and shoulders should be aligned parallel left of your ball target line for every shot, including putts. Your clubhead proceeds to impact on a line that is parallel to your body lines but at the target, which means that the ball target line is at the target - and that your body lines are aimed left of the target. Q: This question came from Lin J.: On your alignment tips: I have always struggled with this aspect. Too many fairway irons and even approach chips miss to the right of target. I have periodically set what I thought was a correct stance, then laid my club down at my toes, stepped back and evaluated the direction of the shaft. Invariably, my alignment targets even a straight shot to the right of the green. I have to eyeball aim at the left edge of the green for my actual alignment to approach the center. Is this common? Do some of us just have difficulty turning our heads to 90 degrees and know it? Does it have anything to do with one eye dominant? The rest of the story? Can you imagine the lack of confidence on a putting set-up? I look for a target, usually about 25% of the way to the hole, to get the line. Gauge the speed for the stroke, then concentrate solely on hitting the intermediate target, and pray. A: Thanks for the question Lin, here are my answers. It is very common to set up your body lines at the target instead of parallel left, it is perhaps the most common setup mistake in golf. First of all, laying your club at your toes is not the best spot to check for the alignment of your feet. If you were to have either foot angled away from perpendicular to the ball target line it will not show true alignment. It's better to put whatever you are checking alignment with at your heel line, which will be true. It will show you if you are open or closed with your feet only. You are most likely setting up closed - which means that your body lines are aligned directly at the target. Then you probably are either taking an outside to inside swing path, which could cause your shot to curve right, or taking a normal swing path and not turning through enough, which could cause your shot to be blocked to the right. You could even be hitting it straight, which in this case would go right of the target. I don't think the problem has anything to do with the ability to turn your head any number of degrees, but it could possibly have something to do with eye dominance when you establish your ball target line. I'll explain further in the answer to your putting question. In your putting pre-shot routine and setup, regardless of whether you use a line on your ball or another reference point on the green to establish your ball target line, after your putterface is aligned correctly behind the ball forget about the line and concentrate solely on speed. The alignment part is done, finished, fini, fuggetaboutit. Speed should be the most important consideration in putting for all but very short putts. Lin's main problem was concentrating solely on hitting the intermediate target, and even the praying can't help if you aren't concentrating on speed! As a matter of fact, my personal experience is that praying doesn't help the golf swing much at all. Been there, done that. I don't think God cares. The ball target line is established from behind the ball for putting, as well as for any other shot in golf. That's where eye dominance plays a part. I firmly believe that your ball target line should be established from behind the ball with your dominant eye only. For putts we either pick a spot on the green or use a line on our ball to establish the ball target line. For other shots, we pick a target just in front of our ball that lines up with the intended ball target line. Then for any shot, we square our clubface with the ball target line and align our body parts - feet, knees, hips, shoulders, parallel left to that line (for right handers - for lefties it's the opposite). Then, for longer shots, just as in putting, the alignment part is finished - fuggetaboutit! If you concentrate on alignment off of these intermediate targets instead of thinking about the hole, your alignment will improve dramatically. Then all you have to worry about is putting a good swing on the ball, but that's another story! Enjoy, Tom