Most people believe that when hitting a straight shot, proper alignment would have you aiming the club-face straight down the centre of the fairway with your shoulders and feet running approximately parallel to that imaginary target line. Unfortunately, this is not correct since that alignment is not mathematically parallel.

Think about it-when you stand 2.5 feet from the ball at setup, your feet should not point 2.5 feet to the side of the target 200 yards away. When looking at the view from “down the line,” this position will make it look like you are aiming in the bush-which is probably where your ball will end up.

For a right hander, your body should be on a line farther to the left than 2.5 feet. If you’re hitting a 220 yard drive down the centre, your body should be aimed towards the edge of the fairway. If you are hitting a straight shot into a 150-yard flag in the middle of the green, your body should be angled toward the left edge of the green.

I call this Parallel Expanding.

A very common problem for golfers is to have these lines crossing. These two lines should never cross unless you’re playing an intentional draw or hook. This problem can often start from not practicing with a work station, having a grip too strong, trying to aim the body 2.5 feet parallel, having a closed clubface on the takeaway, right eye dominance, or having the wrong idea on how to fix a slice.

If you tend to hit the ball regularly straight and solid, but seem to be missing greens regularly, we should check your alignment.

Don’t buy new clubs again, come see me to get things properly aligned.

-Gary Kent