When most golfers think about alignment they think about the body, shoulders, knees, hips are all to be parallel to the target-line (the ball-target-line is an imaginary line that runs through the ball to the target). Although these are important elements to alignment, in my opinion, they are still not the most important. There is a much greater alignment element that effects ball flight more directly and is often overlooked – the eyes.Why? The eyes stabilize the axis of the swing and their position or movement directly control the initial path of the ball when it’s hit. Consider you are swinging the club around your spine. Your eyes are attached to your upper spine. If your eyes move, so does your spine. If your spine moves so the swing plane shifts and thus so goes your ball. So the key in aligning properly is to learn to orintate your eye-line in such a way that it controls your ball flight. Simple, right? Not exactly, but the principals and swing drill below can assist you in this critical alignment element and how to control it better.

Principal #1

Addressing the golf ball places your body lateral (left) of the target-line, and visa-versa for lefties. For starters, this dramatically distorts your perception. In other words we are standing and looking at right angles to the ball target line. This is not natural. Consider how you aim a pistol or a gun. It is easy to aim a pistol or gun with your eye running down the barrel or along the target-line. However, it is much more difficult to aim that same pistol while holding it at arms length in front of you while shooting it lateral your body alignment. This is the equivalent of aligning in golf. When swinging the club it is critical you keep your eyes at a right angles to the ball-target-line.

Principal #2

In addition to this aiming dilemma, the golf swing is a circular motion orbiting around a fixed point on your body. This fixed point is the center axis of the golf swing and is located about the center of the chest cavity. No where near the feet, knees, or rest of the body. Your eyes are nearest this hub and thus most influential in controlling the hub or axis. Unfortunately, when a swing is made it can also produce great momentum that potentially pulls your head and eyes around early. Pull shots or slices will result. Without a doubt, the most influential piece of alignment is the eyes.

Sure, pro’s keep their feet aligned parallel the target. They do this not because it is the most influential aligning tool. They do so because it is visibly unacceptable not to. However you can aim your feet in another direction than your eyes but the ball will most likely go down your eye-line not your feet. How many times have you hit shots that ended somewhere rather than where you intended. You may have even put a shaft on the ground after a misguided shot, just to find that your feet were aimed precisely at the target, but the ball went somewhere else. Frustrating, right? We need to be conscience of where our eyes are when hitting the shot more so than anything else.

Think of your eye-line as the barrel of the gun. Where they are aimed at impact controls the flight of the ball, just like the barrel controls the flight of the bullet.

Eye-Line Drill

Hold a shaft with your right hand about 6 inches away from your eyes. Keep the shaft running parallel to your eyes (see photo). Next, begin making swings. Aim the shaft in different directions keeping the eyes parallel to it. Notice how your swing is influenced into the same direction. Pay close attention to the eye-line position especially during the downswing. Soon, you should be able to hit shots in the same direction you are aimed, an obvious advantage in playing consistent golf.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.