Almost every lesson I give I have to address alignment as one of the problems causing the students' swing and shot issues. I believe alignment is critical and is probably one of the most overlooked setup positions in teaching. I actually tell students that alignment is as important as the vitals that the nurse checks on every patient before the doctor sees them.
Alignment is so vital to diagnosing swing problems that it can never be overlooked. It can only be checked if the student has a target, as the target is the key to establishing your alignment. My Surgism and mantra for alignment is, '90 to 95 percent of all swing problems arise out of Alignment.' I believe it says it all as to its importance in the scheme of setup and swing for hitting good shots accurately to the target. I believe it is so important that I tell students and write in my books and articles, as I am doing here, that if any golf professional does not give you a target at the start of your lesson or ask you what is your target, put the club in your bag and leave. Leave, because any instruction without checking and referencing alignment can't be correct.
There is one big issue I see in lessons all the time when I am working on alignment with a student using parallel alignment sticks. It's a big problem in the lesson and will be an even bigger one if they do it on the practice tee. This problem relates to the foot alignment stick when setting the feet at address. Whether using just one for foot alignment or two, with the other one for the aiming line, I see students all the time not checking out the accuracy of their stance: the distance of their toes relative to their toe line stick.
When you use a toe line alignment stick, you cannot have your toes touching the stick because in the follow through to the finish, the back foot turning to the right as it stands up onto the toe will always push the sick to the right. The stick will no longer be parallel left of the aiming line. When this happens the stick has to be re-positioned back to parallel or the next setup will be aligned quite left of target. To avoid pushing the toe line stick I always recommend standing with both toes at least 2 inches away from the stick.
What I constantly see is the student has the toe line stick down on the ground and is working on his walk in routine diligently but somehow just does not check his toes relative to the toe line stick. I see it time after time. A student walks in, sets up and swings and both toes are not the same distance from the toe line stick. That is he walks in and swings and never looks down to check to see if his toes are an equal distance from the toe line stick.
For the stance to be square and parallel to the aiming line, both toes have to be of equal distance from the toe line stick to be parallel and square. I see students consistently swing with the toes different distances from the line as much as one of them being 2 and 3 inches farther away. If it is the front foot, their stance is open. If the back foot is farther away, it's a closed stance.
Alignment is critically important. Practicing with alignment sticks is a great way to learn a square walk-in routine. But all is for naught if you don't check your toe distance every setup to see that it is the same and equal distance from the stick. Checking the distance of both toes from the stick is one little but important step that makes alignment 'practice perfect.'
The Surge!