Golf Aiming Tips | How to Use Golf Alignment Sticks to Improve Your Golf Ball Flight Trajectory

Ted Norby, Director of Instruction for the National University Golf Academy, explains how to use golf alignment sticks to help improve your golf aim. To discuss this golf tip with other golfers and share your own, leave a comment below. We look forward to your feedback.

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DIALOG FROM THE VIDEO
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I'm Ted Norby, Director of Instruction for the National University Golf Academy.

What I'm going to talk about today is alignment. A lot of players, even the professionals, have issues with alignment. And the main reason for this is when we're setting up to the golf ball, we aren't standing behind the ball, on line, to our target. We're standing to the side which creates angles for our eyes when we're looking at that target line. So as I setup to the ball my eyes are clearly inside the target line. That's where I'm standing. If I want that ball to go straight down this line towards that big tree in the distance I've got to take it right over this line and through that gate right there. But when I look at my target, if my eyes go right to the target, my eyes are actually tracking right over the ball to the left of the gate. For most amateurs, because they look at their target, they're looking at this spot to the left of the gate, so they swing to the left of that gate. For better players, that know to pick a spot in front of them, the tendency is to look at that spot in front even where that gate is, but then when I look at the gate my eyes through that gate go thirty yards to the right of that tree.

So we have a dilemma. Should I be looking at the target or should I be looking at the spot in front of us. You get to experiment with it. Figure out which one works best. Most good players, the better players, are going to be looking at their target, and setting their club face to the target. Automatically it will start going through that gate a little bit. The average player that has some issues with alignment needs to start behind the ball, pick an intermediate target, somewhere a foot to three feet out in from of them, line the clubface up to that spot, and then set their feet to the club face. Either way the biggest piece is to trust and start getting the ball to go through that gate.

So what I'll do is setup a line right in front of the ball and put up a gate with some of the alignment rods that are out there today and then what I've got to do is start hitting some shots to get it through that gate. The average player, who comes over the top of it, is automatically going to start swinging out this way. The better player, who kind of has a tendency to line up out to the right, is going to start swinging left a little bit more to get through the gate. So if I setup a gate and start hitting shots through it, I'll start hitting it at the target a little bit more.

For me, I've got to look at the target in the distance, set the clubface, and then as I'm looking at the target in the distance, that's when I set my feet. Now I track down and I actually see my eyes going through that gate right there. Now I'm going to go ahead and take my swing.

So to start hitting the ball on line, we've got to start hitting it through the gate.

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© Copyright National University System 2012

[Lunchbox]

This makes so much sense.  Bowling uses such similar ideas with the markings on the lanes.

[nugolfacademy]

Hello Baugherful. Good to hear! I'm glad it helped you.

[tigerbricks]

excellent at last straight forward instruction, not long winded, simple and effective

[billrosner]

That was great advice.  I used this in my last practice session and saw some real improvement.

[nugolfacademy]

Thank you for the comment, Derek, and keep moving forward! Practice makes perfect.

[JoScoNathan]

I will try this. I wonder if that is why I slice. There different reasons why I slice, at this point it's finding out which one it is then correcting that one.

[abigolf]

My coach has said to use alignment sticks accurately I need a swing plane perfector (I think). Anyone heard of this?

[nugolfacademy]

Let us know how it goes, JoScoNathan.

[proprinters]

Is that why most golfers slice because they are looking left trying to compensate and hit right. Seems that way. How many times, do us amateurs hit a great shot, but we don't think we did because perhaps our alignment was off. Guilty here.

[proprinters]

Perfect practice makes perfect. Practicing the wrong thing ...

[rickwilliams]

YOU DIDNT HIT THROUGH THE GATE .IT WAS RIGHT