I apologize if you took offense JB88. It was not meant as criticism.
Added again -->
I may not know much about much, but golf is the single thing I know best in the world. Here it is again. (I write everything I post in Notepad, so I didn't write it again...)
Ouch!Okay, what we have here, JB88, is a very typical high handicapper setup. Almost all amateurs align too far right and have the wrong sight picture for the shot.
I trust this was taken on your backswing. The club and your arms aren't in a bad position at this point, but the golf swing doesn't really start until you get to the
correct position at the top.
If not, well, what can I say? Take up tennis?
Good golf requires an understanding of risks and rewards. Great golfers are highly intelligent people and good at analyzing risks. There are no dummies on the PGA Tour. Trust me...
The bunkers on the left look to be in play for a well-struck driver, played with a draw, by an above-average length player. A draw is not the shot to play here anyway, so why risk the bunkers? The greater risk is the water hazard. So first, we have to eliminate the highest risk (the water) and take it out of play.
This hole was designed for a fade, and probably a 3-wood, but a fade from your setup would put you in the water, and you don't look like you're setup for a draw.
_____________________________
____
_____________________________
____
All pros and top-flight amateurs play a shaped shot. Why? Well, a straight ball cuts your target area in half. If a fairway is 30 yards wide, aiming down the center only gives you a 15 yard margin for error. Hit it 15 yards left or right (including bounce and roll) and you're in the rough.
You can use the entire width of a fairway with a shaped shot. If I aim down the left side and play a cut, a missed shot that goes straight is still in the fairway. A shot hit well is in the center, and shot that fades too much (25 yards!) is still in the right fairway.
The 3 most likely shots that could result from this setup are:
1. Your brain was still thinking about the water on the right, so you pull-sliced it. The ball started way left, sliced to the right, and bounced and rolled all the way to the right rough or (shudder) one of the bunkers on the right.
2. You hit it near where you are aiming, then pushed it to the right into a bunker or (big shudder) into the water.
3. You got
very lucky and hit it straight... ending up in the right rough.
It is possible you hit it in the fairway, but not very likely.
From the other photo in the bunker, your knees are far too rigid and your hands should be much lower. Imagine you're about to sit on a bar stool, then let your arms hang naturally with a natural hinge in your wrists as you hold the club.
If you put yourself into an unnatural, contorted position at address, it's almost impossible to get back to a naturally strong position at impact.
Anyway, the blue line is a better alignment to minimize the risks. Find the
preferred target line, then adjust your stance to that line and trust it, not the sight picture you have by lifting your head and trying to look down what you think is the line. It's going to look too far left to you, but that is because you have the wrong sight picture embedded in your mind.
Good Luck!
