One of the most important things to keep in mind to improve your game is to practice with a purpose.
Every time I visit the local practice facility, there are players beating balls and that’s about it. They aim at a sign in the distance or so they think.
Today, here’s an important part of any practice routine and you’ll want to use an alignment stick (or two if you so choose). Don’t fall into the trap of buying those $20 alignment sticks sold in golf shops. You can go to any Lowe’s or Home Depot and pick up marker sticks, they typically market them as mailbox or driveway markers but they’re basically the same as those expensive golf shop sticks and they’ll only cost around two bucks apiece.
Here’s the most important line in your practice — it’s the TARGET LINE. When you prepare to practice, take the alignment stick and place it maybe three yards ahead of your ball, closer if you prefer and make sure it’s pointing at your target.
First thing you want to accomplish is to get your clubface square to that target line. Might sound trivial but too often it’s a bad setup that creates a bad result. Once you square the face, then you can focus on getting your body lines squared up as well.
A lot of players like to put a second alignment stick parallel to the target line to him them set up correctly. We believe that using just the target line gets you used to setting up properly and you won’t have that second stick on the course. When you’re on the course, you can use the Jack Nicklaus strategy and pick out a spot in front of your ball that is in line with your target.
Focus on the target line. If you can start your golf shots on line, you’re on your way to becoming a good player.
