Golf has many myths.  Covering everything from driving to
course management, these myths are passed down from father
to son, father to daughter, and so on.  Misguided myths:

1. Aim at the Target
We’ve all heard this statement before.  Maybe even said it.  The
statement isn’t so much mythic as it is confusing.  The question
is, aim what at the target?  Your clubface?  Your shoulders?  Your
body?  

The problem with this myth is that it can cause people to misalign
themselves in one of two ways, hurting his or her golf handicap.

• aiming the feet, hips, knees, and shoulders directly at the target,
leaving the clubface following a line well right of the target; or,

• aiming to compensate for ballflight errors, like when you aim left
to compensate for the ballflight error of a slice (for right handers).

When aimed correctly, the leading edge of the clubface sits at a
right angle to the target line while your body aligns parallel-left of
the target line.  This set up establishes perfect parallel alignment.
This position doesn’t come naturally.  So you need to work on it
on the range to recognize when you’re aiming correctly on the
course.

Here’s a drill I use in my pracitce times.  First, pick a
target and lay one club down on the ground a few feet in front of
the ball, but on the target line.  Then, take a second club and lay it
down parallel to the first but along your toe line to indicate body
alignment.  Make adjustments as necessary.  Finally, hit a few
balls and see what happens.  After awhile you’ll have trained your
body and eyes to accept this new alignment.

2. You should swing your driver faster than your wedges
If you’re like most golfers, you swing the driver faster than the 7-
iron or 8-iron.  Most of us invariably ramp up our swing speed
with longer clubs because we envision hitting the ball harder and
driving it farther.  

Unfortunately, when you ramp up your swing speed, you destroy
your natural swing tempo—the total amount of time it takes to
create your swing from beginning to end.  That’s not good.  When
you start varying your swing’s tempo from club to club, you
destroy the timing required to hit consistent golf shots.  It’s one
reason why you feel that you can hit your irons well one-day but
not your woods, and vice versa.  Practice consistent tempo with all
your clubs and you’ll hit consistent shots.

3. Play the ball back with shorter clubs
But incorrect ball positioning can create major problems.  With the ball positioned
too far forward, our shoulders tend to align too far left of forward.
Since your club swings where our shoulders point, we slice.  With
the ball positioned too far back, our shoulders tend to close,
encouraging a push or a hook. One inch left of center is the best position for short irons, which is not far back.  Many people push the ball so far back that it creates many problems.

Remember, for normal shots on level lies, there are just three
basic ball positions;

• Short iron: one inch left of center
• Mid-irons: two inches left of center
• Long irons & woods: three inches left of center.