How to hit it straight like a PGA Tour pro - golf alignment 101

In our latest golf instruction video, PGA Professional Steven Went runs you through alignment and how this can help you hit straighter shots on the golf course. 

Steven takes a closer look in the video below at how your body alignment affects the path in which you swing the golf club...

Here's what PGA pro Steven Went has to say about body alignment...

Let's focus on body alignment and the impact it has on your golf shots. So we have an orange alignment stick here in relation to our target line. 

A common theme I see a lot of the time is that the left foot is slightly back or the front foot is slight back, or there is a lot of flare in the toes.

The reason why this becomes a problem is because body alignment affects the path in which you swing the club. So for example, if I move my right foot back slightly, my feet are now pointing to the right hand side. So in this instance, when you swing down, you will come massively on the inside and generally start blocking it way right.

Vice versa, if my left foot is back slightly, everything opens up and the ball will start left of the target line. 

When it comes to the modern day themes of body rotation, we sometimes get people to flare their toes out. Yes, this can help you get a bigger turn, but the negative affect on alignment is that it provides a actual perception issue for your body. If I turn my back foot out and to flare it, it has the same impact of making my body now point off towards the right. 

If I flare my front foot out to get a bigger turn on the way through, I am now very subtly opening my body up. With this, when you have an alignment stick just in front of you, you won't be able to see this distance. You will think you have set up nice and square. 

So there is a second point we can use to help with alignment, and it's a very simple setup station. It involves the use of a wooden board, and the other reference point you can use is your heels. Even if you flares your toes out, the heel stays in the same spot. What I do with my clients is to put a board  just behind them, and get them to back up so the heels are nice and flat right up against the board.

If I have any foot flare, it doesn't matter now because I know my reference point on the heels is still perfectly square towards the target. I know I am nicely aligned to my target. My feet might be off to the front line, but the back board remains parallel to it. From here, I can have either flare, or I can know if my feet are off the board. From here, I'm nicely squared up and can swing away. 

That should help you hit nice straighter shots towards your target line. 

Give it a go and see how you get on.