The other weekend I drove up to Kiawah Island to play a few rounds with Uncle Ed. We enjoy playing together and Kiawah offers some of the most beautiful golfing. Uncle Ed grew up playing golf. Since his father was a local pro, Ed’s game is natural. His golfing instincts are true and he can spot a fault in another player’s swing but he is a gentleman enough not to point it out unless asked or until he saw me suffer for 9 holes. He saw my aim was off and knew how to fix it.
Poor Golf Aim
As I said, Uncle Ed and I enjoyed a fine round on Saturday when I shot a 87. We both relished my success and swing speed. Over dinner, we agreed I had turned a corner in my golf game. And then the sun rose on another day and the golf gods withdrew their favor. The next day, my driver failed me time after time with snap hooks. Uncle Ed watched patiently until the turn. On the 10th tee, he stopped me.
“Set up for your swing”, he said. I complied. “Stop.” he said as he laid a club in front of my toes. “Now let’s see where you are aiming.”
My target was straight ahead but my stance was aiming to the right side of the fairway.
“Set your feet so they parallel the target line and give it a whack.”
I did and the ball flew true down the middle.
Visualizing Golf Aim
To practice this new habit, I took my drill sticks to the driving range to get comfortable with my new foot placement.
Below is a photo of how I was aiming. My feet point well to the right. To get the ball to fly to the target, I would have to whip my body around to the left and the result is a snap hook.
Let’s take a look a parallel foot placement.
Now my feet are aimed to the left of the target allowing my body to freely rotate easily.
Of course, it felt weird for a while and I still find myself moving my right foot forward after addressing the book to get aligned. I cannot argue with the results. Straight down the middle.
Thanks Ed for this simple correction.
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