Hitting Shots On the Center of the Club Face

The sound of making a crisp golf shot is a better sound then pulling up from 40 feet and hearing swoosh (this coming from and ex basketball player).

Golf always was one of my favorite sports but the more I play, it is the sounds that are more pronounced than ever. I love the sound of hitting a crisp bunker shot that lands 2 feet from the hole and just stops; not only the swoosh from the sand, but the thud that the golf ball makes on the green (and its pretty sight of it stopping). I was at Bay Hill this week, more as an observer of the golf swing; watching some of the best in the world hit shots on the range shaping every club they had in their bad while looking for tempo at the same time.

Alignment sticks are what helps achieve most of the optimal sounds that PGA tour stars can create; from driver down to the 60 degree wedge. The key is “swinging down the line” as they call it.

On your back swing most PGA teaching pros will say close the face and swing to the right, well there are few people who know that that feeling is. I am here to help you understand different ways of getting that feeling.

1. Take alignment stick 1 and place is down your foot line…-If you are trying to hit a draw, close off your stance and put an alignment stick down from your front foot to your back foot (notice this will have you aimed right of the target line)

   -If you are trying to hit it straight then aim straight at your target and put the alignment stick down.

   -If you are trying to hit a cut then open your stance and put the alignment stick down from back to from (notice this has you lined up left of target line)

2. Take alignment stick 2 and place it in the ground in front of you.-If you are hitting a draw put the stick in the ground down your foot line in front of your front shoulder about 5 yards and try to hook the ball around the stick back towards the target line. This will allow you to create lag in your golf shaft and it will properly load, this along with the right swing path will create a draw shot.

   If you hit a straight ball and don’t want to shape it that is fine and a lot of golfers wish they had a straight ball in their bags they could pull out when need be. But the position of straight on still is the pace to use the alignment stick 2 to shape the ball it will help you create a cut by starting the ball left of the stick or draw right of the stick.

   When hitting a cut, you can pull across the ball and have it cut back to the target line but you must make sure you hit the ball down your foot line.

The alignment stick 1 is to give you an idea for when you are off the course to still have the visual view of swinging down your foot line.

The alignment stick 2 is there for verification your swing path is correct.