The easiest way for left handed gofers to hit more consistent shots is to ensure that the fundamental building blocks of the technique are solid.
Theses fundamentals include the grip and stance. Although essential for a consistent technique they are often overlooked or under appreciated.
Grip
The consensus amongst most golf professionals and top players is a neutral golf grip will usually lead to the best club face positions at impact. As the club swings down into impact, the palms will generally want to rotate and turn to a point where they face each other. A neutral grip will allow this to happen. Follow this guide for a neutral grip.
1. Place the club face behind the ball, keeping it square to your intended target.
2. Let the grip run through the base of the right hand. The grip should run from the base of the little finger through the hand until it goes through the middle of the index finger. Then wrap the right hand over on top of the grip.
3. When looking down, players should be able to see two and a half knuckles on the right hand. The V shape made by the thumb and index finger should point towards the left shoulder.
4. Depending on which grip is used, the left hand joins the right with either a ten fingered (baseball), interlocking or overlap grip.
5. The left hand sits on the grip with the right thumb covered by the base of the right thumb. The V created by the thumb and forefinger of the left hand should also point towards the left shoulder.
Stance
The key to a correct stance is to achieve the correct ball position and alignment to the target. The ball position changes with the club. The short irons should be played from the middle of the stance, the mid irons from just forward of centre and the long irons and woods from towards the front of the stance. There are a couple of ways to ensure these positions are correct. One is to move the ball forward maintaining the stance width, whilst the other involves keeping the ball position static and gradually increasing the stance width by moving the left foot further back. This will have the same effect as altering the ball position, with the added advantage of increasing stability as the club length increases.
The second important factor in stance is alignment. Follow this guide to achieve the correct alignment.
1. From behind the ball, lock on to the target and draw a line back from the target to the ball. This line represents the ball-to-target-line.
2. Just in front of the ball, pick something which sits on the ball-to-target line. On the course this could be something small like a different shade of grass or divot.
3. After the ball-to-target line has been identified, move into the set up position and aim the club face at the intermediate target. This means at address the club face is aiming at the target.
4. After the club face is aligned correctly, the toes, knees, hips and shoulders should be then set at right angles to the club face and ball-to-target line
5. A useful mental image to use when addressing the ball is that of a train track. The ball is on the left rail which runs to the target; the feet are on the right rail which runs parallel.
Left handed golfers should always look to be as consistent as possible. By practicing and grooving a correct grip and stance, the chances of hitting better golf shots will be greatly increased.
