Jessica Marksbury
December 26, 2024
Alignment is a fundamental component that is often overlooked, says Top 100 teacher Mike Malizia.
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I was fortunate enough to attend the annual GOLF Top 100 teacher summit bee Cabot citrus farms earlier this month, and what a treat it was to spend two days picking the brains of some of the game’s best instructional minds.
In addition to the numerous presentations given on-site, my colleagues and I had the opportunity to pull some teachers aside in quiet moments and ask some of our most burning instruction-related questions. One question I had for Top 100 teacher Mike Malizia: What is the An something that many of your students have the most difficulty with? His response was immediate: alignment.
This piqued my interest because I feel like I am never aligned with where I think I am. And according to Malizia, I’m not the only one. But putting down alignment sticks during a practice session on the track isn’t the remedy you might think.
“You can’t practice alignment on the driving range because the driving range is a square box,” Malizia told me. “On the golf course you have shapes, you have tees that face one way and fairways that face the other way. Greens have a certain angle. So alignment is probably one of the most important things in golf, and one of the things that people never practice. The coordination is enormous.”
If you really want to nail your alignment, Malizia says, you need to practice your technique during the day a round – not before or after.
“This is what I want you to do,” Malizia said. “Go play nine holes late in the day. I want you to use an alignment stick on every shot.
According to Malizia, students who try this advice are often surprised at how quickly it helps them.
“(Afterwards) they say, ‘Yes, I shot 38 today, unreal!’” Malizia said. “And I’m going, yeah, because your misses aren’t that far off now.”
“Alignment is one of the most important things,” he continued. “But it is also one of the most overlooked and unpracticed.”
If you’re looking for a simple tip to get your game in shape for 2025, fixing your alignment is a surefire way to generate lower scores. Try Malizia’s tip and start your next golf year off right.
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