Welcome to our second part of the instructional series with Darren Hodgson,
The Seven Deadly sins.
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Your instructor this week is…
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This week, Darren help you out with your alignment and how to solve any problems with standing to the ball properly and aiming in the right direction.
Most poor shots can be directly attributed to poor alignment of the feet and poor ball position and if the foundations are not right before you begin a practice session, it is pointless even practising!
Take these notes to the range next time you fancy hitting a bucket of balls and work on these basic fundamentals…your results will improve significantly if you pay heed.
Sin 3: Poor stance and ball position.
With the feet too close or too far apart, this can lead to swaying, topping, hitting the ground before the ball and a general lack of consistency, making you look like a complete "chopper" in the process! Now, none of us like to be referred to as such, therefore, we had better fix it quick!
Start by measuring the width of your shoulders with a piece of string. Place the string on the floor and then place the inside of your heels on the string and then shuffle the feet about 3” closer.
This will be a good position for a 6 iron and can be adopted for all of the full iron shots. With the woods it would be best to have your feet the same width as the length of string.
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Ideal position with a 6-iron
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With the ball position I have found that for best results with an iron it should be one to two inches inside the left heel and for a wood closer to the heel.
The idea is that you hit down on an iron shot generally and with woods, you should "sweep" the ball away for full power.
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The driver…further forward to sweep away!
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The best way to achieve this is to take up your set up and have the shaft of the club pointing towards your belly button so that the club head is also right in the middle of your body and stance. This will place the ball slightly to the left of centre. This is a good ball position for a six iron. With the wood you then move the ball two inches towards the left heel
Sin 4: Aim your feet too!
Many people tend to misalign their feet in relation to where they wish to hit a golf ball. This causes the body to be twisted and can cause undue stress to the spine.
With chiropractic bills nearly as expensive as petrol, now is a good time to listen before they put up their prices too!
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Get your feet "square" to the line
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Set up to a target using a six iron then place the club you have in your hands down on the floor with the shaft touching your toes. Step back to see where it is pointing.
This can be more easily seen if you replace the ball with another club so that the shaft is then pointing at the target representing the "ball to target line".
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Check where you are aiming now!
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The club that was touching your toes should be parallel to the ball to target line. I bet it's not!
If it isn't then move the club next to the toes about six inches closer to the other club, making sure that they are running like railway tracks parallel to each other.
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Practice with a shaft on the ground
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Move the ball to target line club away and take up your set up again with your toes now parallel to this club. The club should be in the between your toes and ball so that you do not stand on or hit the club. If you repeat this process on the range every time you are there then you will soon start finding that your feet are aiming in the right direction.
Once you have all your feet running parallel to your ball to target line you are able to allow yourself to swing with less stress in your lower back.
Darren Hodgson is a PGA Professional at Wycombe Heights Golf Club in Buckinghamshire. He can be booked for lessons on 01494 812862...Mention GOLFmagic and you get the special treatment!!!
