How to perfect your Golf Stance and Alignment Routines

Ask any professional golfer what single aspect of their game has more bearing on the outcome of their shot, and in most cases they will say "setup"...

Some of the best players in the game have even gone as far as saying that setup accounts for as much as 50% of the success behind the shot.

Think about this for a moment...your golf setup is not tied in any way to your "physical skill" of being able to hit a golf ball.

You may think you have the worst golf swing in the world...but you have the ability to learn how to perform a "perfect golf setup".

I like to use the analogy of learning how to fly an airplane to describe your golf setup...

One of the most critical aspects behind producing a safe flight is to conduct a thorough "pre-flight" check...make sure everything is set and correct with the aircraft on the ground...once you are in the air it is too late to be conducting any checks.

Your golf setup is no different...make sure everything about your setup is correct before the shot...once you are into your swing there is very little you can do to make split second adjustments.

Anyone can learn how to conduct a preflight check of an airplane, even if they have no idea how to fly...the check is not related in any way to flying "skill".

Likewise a golf pre-shot setup routine is easily learned and has nothing to do with your "physical golf skill"...

Golf Set Up

In preparing yourself for a shot, you should break your golf setup into two separate routines.

The first is an "Alignment Routine"...this sets your body position correctly with the target.

The second is a "Stance Routine"...this sets your feet, hands and body posture correct to the ball.

The routines I am about to cover in this lens are both taken from my e-book
"Breaking the Distance Barrier"

They are also described in a free three part video series on my online instruction website
Highlander School of Golf

Ball Flight Laws - Never align yourself to the target with your feet..

Before I start talking about the specifics of each routine it is important to understand a little about the ball flight laws...

Knowing what elements of your swing determine the ball flight path, gives you a better undertsanding on what elements of your swing you should focus on during your setup.

Let me start by asking you...how often do you align yourself to the target using your feet?....

Nine out of ten golfers use their feet to align themselves to the target...so do many pros.

Yet, your feet have zero impact on the flight path of the ball at the point of contact with the club head!...

You may find this surprising but, there are only two elements of your swing that impact ball flight direction at impact...and those are:

- Club face alignment.

- Club head swing path...which is determined by your shoulder alignment.

Another aspect to remember that impacts ball flight path is ball spin...

- a straight flight path will result if the club face is "square" to the club head swing path.

- a slice will result if the club face is "open" relative to the club head swing path.

- a hook will result if the club head is "closed" relative to the club head swing path.

Now if your feet have no bearing on the flight path of the ball, it makes sense then to focus your alignment routine on the two aspects that do...clubface alignment and shoulder alignment.

I always advice my students to align themselves to the target using the club face and their shoulders before positioning their feet...

Let's take a closer look...

Visual Distortion
If the alignment process only involves aligning the clubface and your shoulders, why do so many golfers have trouble with this process?

The one single aspect that "screws up" every golfer's ability to line themselves up to the target is "visual distortion"...

Visual distortion results from the focus of your "dominant eye" being hindered by the bridge of your nose as you are trying to focus on a distant target.

This will happen when you are aligning yourself to the target in the "stance position", having to look over your left shoulder at the target (case for right handers - opposite shoulder for lefties).

Check it out for yourself by closing your left eye as you look over your left shoulder to see the effect....do you see your nose getting in the way of your focus?

If you are right eye dominant this will hinder your right eye focus and your visual judgment.

To avoid this effect, you need to align yourself with a closer target that allows both eyes to be equally focused in the process.

You do this by selecting a close reference point between your club face and the target such as a divot or a tuft of grass, and use this point for your setup.

Not only does visual distortion affect your ability to line yourself up to a distant target it also impacts your judgement even while trying to set yourself up to the ball in the stance.

In all cases the way to avoid this effect is to create "visual reference lines" for yourself as part of your routines.

- one for your clubface alignment
- one for your shoulder alignment
- one for your ball positioning in the stance