Professional's Alignment

[Shamed04]

Ok...So while watching the players I noticed something. It started with watching Fred Couples, ( a swing everyone would like to have) I noticed immediatly his feet are aligned what looks to be 20-50 yards left of where his target was. From this same alignment I noticed he was hitting cuts and draws. Ok so what, Fred swing is unlike any others. Well, Then I started to take notice to many other players. A majority of the players seemed to align their feet 10 yards or more left of their target. (for right handers of course) Now from my little knowledge I just thought they were all hitting cuts and power fades, but soon after Faldo comes in with the new sweet thing, the ball tracking. From this open stance the majority of the players were hitting draws.
(Ok I realize alignment of the feet has nothing to do with where the ball is going, only swing path and squarness of the face matters)
Well now I figure its time to try this for myself. (not attempted on range only in net) I just hit about 50 balls, 25 with my traditional feet on target alignment (I used an old shaft to assure) Then 25 aimed slightly left of target. To me it was after the first shot I felt it. My hips where clear, a problem I fight with alot. Again and again I found the same results.
So Is this conclusive evidence that aligning to the left helps clear your hips and still hit the mighty power draw or cut the ball at will. Someone with the answer let me know. If not go try it next time your hitting balls and see if it feels the same to you.
Thanks for listening

[cyc53870]

Re: Professional's Alignment

Definitely one should clear the hips early on the downswing...

[kbp]

Re: Professional's Alignment

It sounds like you were watching on TV versus in person. How did you determine precisely where their feet were aligned?. The camera is never directly behind the players when they’re playing. It’s usually somewhat behind, but also somewhat to the right of the target line, for right handed players. This makes all the shots look like they start off "pushing", but in reality this is just an illusion because of the offline camera angle.

[GoNavy]

Re: Professional's Alignment

I have two answer for you..lol..in my case it lets me clear the hips a little faster, when I pull my left foot back off the line a few inches, but my shoulders, hips, and knees are still parallel too the line. Second answer, be careful about how you view the foot line, using the backs of the heels is a better gauge, because a lot of players flare out the left toe towards the target, also to aid in clearing the hips, which can look like the foot line is lined up left, when they are indeed parallel. Regardless you are correct in that the foot line will not effect much so long as you don't allow the knee, hips and shoulder to be pulled open as well, unless you like to slice the ball...lol

[jbrunk]

Re: Professional's Alignment

Ok...So while watching the players I noticed something. It started with watching Fred Couples, ( a swing everyone would like to have) I noticed immediatly his feet are aligned what looks to be 20-50 yards left of where his target was. From this same alignment I noticed he was hitting cuts and draws. Ok so what, Fred swing is unlike any others. Well, Then I started to take notice to many other players. A majority of the players seemed to align their feet 10 yards or more left of their target. (for right handers of course) Now from my little knowledge I just thought they were all hitting cuts and power fades, but soon after Faldo comes in with the new sweet thing, the ball tracking. From this open stance the majority of the players were hitting draws.
(Ok I realize alignment of the feet has nothing to do with where the ball is going, only swing path and squarness of the face matters)
Well now I figure its time to try this for myself. (not attempted on range only in net) I just hit about 50 balls, 25 with my traditional feet on target alignment (I used an old shaft to assure) Then 25 aimed slightly left of target. To me it was after the first shot I felt it. My hips where clear, a problem I fight with alot. Again and again I found the same results.
So Is this conclusive evidence that aligning to the left helps clear your hips and still hit the mighty power draw or cut the ball at will. Someone with the answer let me know. If not go try it next time your hitting balls and see if it feels the same to you.
Thanks for listening

Excellent observation my friend. I have noticed the same thing live at many pro tournaments. The reason basically is because most pros (IMO) fear the left shot much more than the right, even those that play draws.

[AvidGolfer]

Re: Professional's Alignment

Ok...So while watching the players I noticed something. It started with watching Fred Couples, ( a swing everyone would like to have) I noticed immediatly his feet are aligned what looks to be 20-50 yards left of where his target was. From this same alignment I noticed he was hitting cuts and draws.Well, Then I started to take notice to many other players. A majority of the players seemed to align their feet 10 yards or more left of their target.
Well now I figure its time to try this for myself. (not attempted on range only in net). To me it was after the first shot I felt it. My hips where clear, a problem I fight with alot. Again and again I found the same results.
So Is this conclusive evidence that aligning to the left helps clear your hips and still hit the mighty power draw or cut the ball at will. Someone with the answer let me know. If not go try it next time your hitting balls and see if it feels the same to you.
Thanks for listening

Many biomechanical studies (ex: ModelGolf) came to that same conclusion (that most pros have slightly open stance alignment), and they advocate the position from a biomechanical and scientific standpoint. Among other things they say it: gives the lower body a head start in the downswing, makes it easier to clear the hips, and produces more coil in the backswing (restricting the hip turn in the backswing slightly).