Answering questions about alignment for golf shots is often fairly simple because we just say aim straight, aim where you want the ball to go. But when we’re pitching and chipping, that can be very different, because very rarely would you ever see a good player aiming straight when they’re pitching and chipping which sounds a bit daft because a pitch and chip shot, we desperately want it to be really accurate. We really want to land it close to that flag. But we’re not aiming at that flag. Quite often a good player would be aiming 10, 15, maybe even 30 degrees off line in an open stance. So if you’re a right handed golfer that would be aiming to the left side.

So when I pitch the ball out here, normally my white line would be my straight line. But I could pitch this ball out there aiming like that and I would feel completely comfortable with that much of an open stance. And to un-exaggerate the point, I could even stand here. So my feet are so twisted back. I’m actually facing completely backwards and I could pitch the ball out there quite nicely and that’s landed just three feet left of the flag I was aiming for. So is my alignment important when I’m chipping? Yes it is. It’s important that you understand it. Your feet can aim any different which way as long as you make the right compensations with the rest of your body. So why do we stand open when we’re chipping and pitching? Well, really we want to stand open, because it allows us to get the front leg out of the way. When I’m playing a full swing, my alignment is straight and square. As I come to impact, my impact position there, my front leg is really taking a movement back and out of the way. Effectively it’s opened up and that creates the space for the hands and arms to come through impact.

Buy spinning this hip out of the way creates a lot of power and its power that we simply don’t need in a chip or a pitch shot. So when I’m standing to chip and pitch, I don’t want to be spinning my hips in the down swing to get the – the front side out of the way, the leg out of the way. So I would do is I would set up with the leg out of the way, that left thigh for me as a right handed golfer and my hip is already pre-turned out of the way. Then I can go ahead and make my swing through and this side feels like it’s not going to get in the way. It’s not going to block me. But that means my feet, my knees, my hips, my – also my – my feet, my knees, my hips are all aiming quite a long way to the open side, to the left side of target. But importantly, my shoulders aren’t – my shoulders are pointing at the target so there’s now a twist. My body isn’t fully aligned and stacked. My shoulders are actually twisted back towards target.

Now that’s important because the shoulders will control the path of the swing; the path of the swing, the direction the club is travelling. The club is still going to travel straight. So when I’ve opened my stance I’m not swinging to that left side. I’m still actually swinging on my shoulder alignment. I’m swinging straight down there to the camera. That’s why I can hit this shot because my shoulders are aiming straight. The ball will go straight regardless of where my feet are pointing. So feet are aiming a long way left for the right handed golfer, body weight still over the front side, shoulders are aiming square, and the ball therefore comes out straight. That’s finished two feet to the right of the target I was aiming at. So my shoulders are square, my feet are a long way open, and I hit through. So alignment with chipping and pitching doesn’t always have to be straight at the target with your feet, but get your shoulders on line and that’s a good crucial element of hitting straighter chip shots.