setting up square driving me nuts

New poster so go easy - i play off a lowish H/cap (3) but have over the last few years started to become fixated with not being set up square to the target. This has become a putting issue (shoulders) and ball striking hips and shoulders problem. I dont think ive ever really stood sqaure to the ball at address but the more i try now the more im driving myself nuts.

Anyone have similar troubles and how have you sorted it out - or am i doomed for eternity trying to get the right set up and feeling closed/open at various times in a round?

If you are playing off three then you must be doing a lot of things right. If you are not set up square does it matter if the shots are good?

What is square?

Foot alignment? Hip alignment? Shoulder perhaps? Clubface? Hands?

There are so many things that it can be difficult... particularly the one where a playing partner sticks a club along your toes but ignores the rest of your setup.

Personally I know I stand a bit open with some clubs and more square with others. But that is to counteract a specific shot I try to avoid. Doesn't always work but a lot of the time it does.

Focus on results not on angles. Look at Fred Couples. He stands way open and blocks almost everything. But you'd love to be able to hit it like he does.

got a good short game - scramble well. Its consistancy im after and that comes from a solid set up. maybe im just fixating and youre right - should forget it but to get to scratch means i have to nail this or i wont get there. Well thats what is driving me nuts anyway

LJ - Hips and shoulders are the key - feet are not as crucial. youre right about freddy would love his tempo - prefer the sqaure set up of els though

Taking LJ's point to the other extreme, look at Bubba's set up he's unique but it works for him. Then look at the problems big Phil's been having and remember it was only 18-month ago he was being touted as the deadliest putter in the world. A couple of weks ago he used 3 different putters and then reverted back to old faithful last week.

Its funny how in golf we can become fixated with certain swing issues i suppose. I never had goals set in golf - but last year i moved to a new club and decided i wanted to get to scratch. Since then ive been treading water trying to fix things that perhaps as you all say dont need fixing - its my head that needs the work maybe

Golf really does drive me mad though

The best truism in golf is the phrase ' golf is a game of millimeters, and thats the space between the ears'. It's a head game and that will never change

It is only a mental/head game up to a point. If you take two players with same technical ability the one with the better mental attitude will win. If you gave a 20 handicapper tiger woods mind of 2001 and played him against the tiger of 2010 the 2010 tiger would still win. I do wonder how many shots the mind game can gain you however? I wonder if there would be a way to figure this out. As no doubt I think a better attitude could gain a few shots above your base skill level.

Mac thats actually a really good point, and in my particular case which happens at least once per round: I can see the little chip over the bunker and know exactly where i want it to land. I take a couple of practice swings and adjust my position/stance and then have another couple of practice swings until happy. Swing and chunk or swing and thin it, because the execution was nowhere near what i had just practiced a moment before, because simply I started worrying or bottled on the way down. Head, bad thoughts, or whatever but we all do it. Unless you can be happy with your game and comfortable in your skill (Even if you think you're better than you are) you will always do something silly and spoil your round. How many times have we played a blinder and then you start to think about your final score for the round and what that will do for your confidence, and you start to fail badly. Its a confidence thing and as long as you don't start thinking ......

Doc:
I sometimes question taking a practice swing at all, because even the pros often fail to replicate the shot when it comes to getting 'down n dirty'. I'm coming round to the belief that you should do all your practicing either before the round or in a separate session. As someone once said to me many many years ago 'Shanking stop faffing around just step up to the ball and bloody hit it - you'll do just as well'

Focus is the key and clearing the mind of everythign else. If you have confidence in your set up (my problem right now sadly) you can then just know its all in place and swing freely.

Like i said though...thats my problem right now...its not in place and therefore playing on my mind

Noshankingtonite wrote:Doc:
I sometimes question taking a practice swing at all, because even the pros often fail to replicate the shot when it comes to getting 'down n dirty'. I'm coming round to the belief that you should do all your practicing either before the round or in a separate session. As someone once said to me many many years ago 'Shanking stop faffing around just step up to the ball and bloody hit it - you'll do just as well'

Noshanks I tend to agree, and it's wierd when I think about because I don't take a practice swing on the tee, or rarely nor do I out on the course. it's just the 'engineered shots' that I play around with. The ones where you have to think it through how to get the best result