We have already discussed and looked at the pre-shot checkpoints of Aim the Name, Lift and Point Your Left arm and Right Arm. These work great to double check that you are aimed correctly. But, I promise you, that no matter how careful, diligent, paying attention to details, making the H and overall 'Technical Excellence' of getting into your setup for posture, and alignment you work on, You Will still get aimed off target now and again. The key is for the 'now and agains' to be few and far between. The important issue to address, relative to this bad alignment, is hitting a good shot to the wrong place and that it does not mess up your swing. Let me explain.
The swing starts in the mind. The mind decides the shot to hit, and then feels the setup and swing and, as I like to say, then plugs in the correct setup position and triggers the muscles to move correctly to execute the desired shot. The worst thing that can mess up the mind is doing this pre-swing mental / physical routine perfectly, then hitting a quality to perfect shot off line because of misalignment, then blaming the swing. This completely throws your metal and physical swing makeup into disconnect. This is no different than teaching your dog to sit correctly with rewards and love taps on the head for weeks and weeks. Then one day you decide to change the sit command to want the dog to roll over, and when the dog sits, you get mad and scold it. You can bet, at that point, the dog is all messed up because it just sat down on the sit command for which it has been rewarded and praised and now is scolded. It is likely saying in its mind, 'What is wrong here? I did it right and now it's wrong? Make up your mind.' The same will happen to you if you blame a good swing as bad when alignment was the problem.
The best example is when on the lesson tee, as you all know, I ALWAYS give the student a target. As you know, after checking the face on setup positions in my diagnosis checkup, I then spend most of my lesson time and when watching out on the course, standing behind the student in the down the line view, checking their posture and alignment. Mostly, I am watching their walk-in routine and checking their alignment.
The big test for the student comes when I see him walk in and get lined up off target, say enough to the right that he would be aimed in the right greenside bunker on a hole on the course, and he makes a good swing and hits a good shot directly, like a laser beam, into that right bunker. Test Question from me is, 'What did you think of that swing and ball flight?' After a few seconds of his mentally running through his setup and swing and shot analysis, and because it was a good swing and shot, I always get the same answer.
But before I tell you, ask yourself what you would answer if you were that student and just concluded that a good setup and swing just hit the ball straight right into the greenside bunker. What is just about the only conclusion that can come from good setup and swing hitting a good straight shot to the right? 'I MUST HAVE PUSHED IT OR BLOCKED IT.' Why is that answer in this situation the KISS of CONFUSION?
Because, just like your dog got confused about what 'sit' is, you are now confused about what a good swing is. You believe you just made a good swing and hit a good shot. But it went dead right and your analysis just blamed the right on a push or block. HELLO, a push or block is a swing flaw, a swing problem, a swing breakdown. You just said and admitted that it is not a good swing'¦ period! It was a good swing in your mind until you saw the ball flight going right into the right bunker. Blaming it on a push or block, dismissing that swing as good, and now as a flawed one, just threw your mind into 'CONFUSION CENTRAL.' Why? Because you don't really know what a good setup and swing is and now you have to start over to find out. So now let's look at the 'SURGE SOLUTION' to solving this dilemma.
Anytime you feel you made a good setup and swing, and hit a good shot to a wrong place, first and foremost never'¦never'¦ever'¦immediately blame it on a push or pull. What you do, since it was a good swing, which means you got to a good dynamically balanced finish, is you return back to your setup position, bend down and place your club on the ground touching your toes to check your ALIGNMENT. Then walk back behind the club and look where it points. I'll bet you all the gold in Fort Knox that the club is pointing close to or at or to the right of the target. I like to stand there and raise my right arm up and point it, parallel to the club, to fully appreciate how far right my aiming line actually was. And again, Fort Knox's gold, I'll bet since it was a good swing and hit, the ball landed exactly where you are pointing. Your intended physical alignment did not match up to your intended mental alignment.
That's right, the first thing you do before thinking about anything, especially pointing a finger of blame on YOUR SWING, is you check and evaluate your alignment. The last thing, and I mean the last thing, you ever want to do is place blame on your swing when alignment was the problem. And, remember, if anything is going to sneak up and mess up a shot when you are carefully doing your pre shot routine, it is the BIG A'¦Alignment. Knowing the real cause of the problem makes fixing it real easy and closes down 'Confusion Central.'
Now, let's look at the exact opposite scenario. You just hit a poor to terrible shot. If you can get back to your setup position, toe the club, and check your alignment as described above. Betting Fort Knox again, your alignment is bad. So, this begs the question of why did you make a good swing and hit a good shot to a wrong place one time and then a bad swing and a bad shot another time.
The answer is simply that one time the mind felt everything was a Big AOK, despite being lined up off target, never sensed it was off during the swing, and let you make a perfect swing. The other time, once the swing was going, the mind felt and decided the BIG A'¦was not OK and set compensations and corrections into motion. The problem was the corrections and compensations were either too much, too little, too late or whatever, and the swing broke down and the shot was a terrible one.
Checking your alignment and seeing it was bad means that you know alignment was the problem as to the swing breaking down. So, forget that swing. In fact wipe it out of your memory bank. Make a good practice swing, setting the feeling it in your muscles, and walk into the shot with a good routine, and just concentrate on making a good feeling swing.
Last point on this post-checking your alignment: I teach this routine to every student I discuss alignment with, and stress that they need to make this post-check a permanent part of their swing routine. The sad thing is that most students I play with NEVER do a POST-SWING-CHECK to see if the 'BIG A' was the culprit for a good shot gone to a wrong place, or a bad and ugly shot. I promise you that I ALWAYS do a POST-SHOT-CHECKUP when I hit a good shot to a wrong place, or just a plain poor shot. Adding the POST-SHOT-CHECKUP will help and improve your swing and lower your scores, because it will improve your alignment.
This is playing smart golf, focusing your mind on a good setup and swing. Who cares about wrong'¦just focus on the right. The only exception to caring about the wrong on the course, and for that matter on the practice tee if you don't have aiming sticks on the ground, always check your 'BIG A.' Why? Because it is the only thing you can check after the shot and prove, without video or someone watching, as to why a good shot to a wrong place or for just a bad shot, that the swing broke down because of bad alignment, or as one of my lady students calls it, 'TERRIBLE TOWARDS.'
Knowing where you're going is the answer! Again, here's to always having 'TERRIFIC TOWARDS.'
The Surge!