Improving Your Stance for More Accuracy in Golf
The simplicity to achieving consistently accurate golf shots starts in the golf stance. Your stance literally aims you towards your desired target and is also the foundation of the golf swing. Having a poor stance will lead to poor shots and increased inconsistency. This article will discuss methods that you can implement to improve your aim and accuracy in golf.
Keep your circle small. Your circle simply describes how wide you aim. If you take a picture of your setup and draw lines of where your feet, knees, shoulders and club face aim you will be able to create a circle which highlights how big your aim miss is. By decreasing this circle size, you will be able to increase your accuracy within your long game.
The basics of a Good Stance
A good stance includes the following elements. They include:
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Alignment: Your feet, knees, hips, forearms and shoulders should be aligned parallel to your target.
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Ball position: Ball position will change dependant on the club and shot you are hitting but generally for most shots it should be located just forward of centre.
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Stance width: Your feet should be around shoulder-width apart. Depending on where you feel comfortable you can narrow or widen this slightly.
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Posture – Keep an athletic posture – Ideally you would let your arms hang, tilt from the hips and keep a long spine as opposed to a bent back.
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Build correctly - Build around your pre aimed club to maximise consistency.
Get Your Alignment Right
Alignment should never be overlooked – it is crucial. To promote good aim, find an intermediate target between the flag and the ball.
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Hold your golf club up slightly covering the target and your ball. Then pick an intermediate target such as a leaf, blade of grass, divot or tee.
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To achieve proper alignment, you can use an alignment stick or simply pick out a spot on the ground in front of you to use as a reference point. Usually no more than a few feet in front of you.
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Now build your stance around the intermediate target and you should be aimed fantastically and consistent.
Check Your Ball Position
Ball position relative to stance is a must to get right. As mentioned prior, the ball should be located just forward of centre. However, this will change whether you are hitting from a slope. From an upslope the ball position will move closer towards the target and backwards for downhill to counteract the slope. Similarly, it is likely that your ball position could alter during a round due to poor habits or other variables like altering shot height. Ensuring that your ball position matches the shot you are trying to hit. Keeping your ball position in good order will help you consistently start the ball where you desire.
Good Posture
Having great posture will enable you to make more consistent swings. Good posture enables you to swing freely and make more repetitive swings more often. Keep an athletic posture – Ideally you would let your arms hang, tilt from the hips and keep a long spine as opposed to a bent back. Maintaining an athletic posture will also enable you to have better balance, make better swings and remove the chances of reactionary swings.
Build
Lastly, always remember to aim your club face first. If you follow these steps correctly you will remember that an intermediate target is best to aim at. So, aim your club at your desired target then build your stance around your club. This way as long as you don’t alter your clubface when building your stance around the club you can guarantee that you’re aiming where you intend. If you were to look only at the flag and aim your feet and body, then you will likely lose accuracy. It is far easier to aim at a close target than one far away. It is also easier to aim around a club and build your stance from there. This will provide you with confidence in knowing that your ball position, aim and posture are all suitable for the shot ahead and finally that the better your posture the more likely that you will be able to repeat the creation of great swings.