Know Where Your Body Parts Are

Written by Jack Gibson

Why do you see so many LPGA Tour caddies behind player in close proximity just before the actual swing?

If you happen to be standing behind the practice area or first tee at your golf club, you may notice that hardly any players have their whole body lined up anywhere near their target line. By “whole body,” I mean shoulders, arms, chest, stomach, legs and feet Just for fun, I decided to keep track of just how many golfers on the first tee of the club where I taught this summer were lined up well enough to have any chance of making a descent golf swing. After about three days, I added up the totals. I knew it would be bad but only one out of ten was a surprise. One instructor at the club commented that most average golfers set themselves up for failure before even starting their swing.

As most golf instructors early in the learning process stress “set-up” or alignment, I couldn’t help but wonder what nine out of ten players in my sampling were trying to accomplish. I know that all slicers line up to the left to allow for their “curve ball” but what about the others? I remember having a conversation with a fellow instructor last season about a particularly difficult student’s alignment problem. The other pro’s comment was; “You know, if they don’t know where their body parts are, there isn’t much you can do.”

The moral of this story should be clear. You have to have your whole body, not just your feet lined up toward your target. If you can’t see or feel where you’re going, have someone watch you. Even some of the gals on the LPGA tour have their caddies check their alignment before every shot. Not a bad idea!

Jack Gibson teaches golf at La Quinta Country Club and Achilles Indoor Golf Center.