Alignment, Part 2
Here is the problem: If I tell you to line up parallel to the target line without any explanation, there is a very good chance you will line up parallel and then look at the target and see that you are visually aimed way to the left. Your sight line does not converge like the railroad track in the drawing does, and it never will. This visual image is playing tricks on you. You will adjust your stance line to line up on a line that will converge with the target, like the railroad track drawing. When you do this, you will no longer be aligned on a line that runs parallel to the ball-target line. You are now aiming to the right of the target. The simple fact is that the parallel line (your alignment line) visually diverges from the target when we look up from it. It runs to the left side of the target, and it actually gets farther away (diverges) from the target the farther you extend it. Until you get comfortable with this picture, you will feel like you are lined up way to the left of the target.
A simple way to prove this to yourself is to look out a window. Pick one that is about thirty inches wide and sit about six feet away from the window. The right side is your ball-target line and the left is your stance or alignment line. When you look out the window across your yard to the back fence you will see more than 30 inches of fence, and as you look off into the distance the landscape grows. Remember this the next time you are tempted to realign your setup. The alignment line represents the left side of your field of vision as you looked out the window. It will diverge from the target as the distance to the target increases. We want to swing along the ball-target line.
Alignment is something that you really have to practice until it becomes second nature. And then it is something that becomes part of your routine.
ALIGNMENT DRILLS
To work on your alignment you need three golf clubs and a ball. Place the ball on the ground and move behind it. Pick out your target and an intermediate target. We will approach this ball as if it was in the fairway, but it would make no difference if it was on the tee. We would approach it just the same.
1. Determine the ball-target line.
2. Lay one of the golf clubs along the ball-target line.
3. Use the second club to establish the stance line. It should be parallel to the ball-target line.
4. Line your feet up on the stance line, and take your stance.
5. Use the third club to check the alignment of your knees, your hips and your shoulders. Make sure that they are parallel with the stance line.
6. Repeat taking your stance until you are comfortable checking your alignment without the aid of the golf clubs.