The other day, I was on the range with one of our instructors. From the first few swings, I noticed his ball starting left of his aim line. He smiled and said, “Feels pretty good now. I was fighting the case of lefts earlier, I am thinking it may be my grip or my swing path.”
I didn’t jump in right away. He’s a good instructor himself, and I wanted to be respectful. So I said, “Hey, humor me; set up again and let’s check where your clubface and feet are pointing.” We laid out two alignment sticks: one for his clubface, one for his stance. From the address, he thought they looked fine. But when I had him step back and look from behind the target line, he laughed.
Sure enough, he was aimed right of his target. A classic over-the-top. The ball started left and looked like a swing fault, but it was the alignment creating the false feedback.
Instead of tinkering with his swing, we adjusted his setup. After three balls, he was hitting it perfectly down the line at the target. Problem solved.
That’s golf in a nutshell. We think the issue is mechanical, when often it’s just setup fooling us. False feedback can send us chasing fixes we don’t need.
The whole thing reminded me: improvement starts with awareness. Sometimes what feels like a major flaw is just a small awareness issue. He thought it was a swing problem. It was simply alignment. One tiny adjustment changed everything.
Golf is funny like that. Improvement doesn’t always come from tearing down your swing or grinding drills. Often, it begins with noticing. With awareness. And improvement starts with awareness.
Even instructors need another set of eyes. Pros fall into the same traps as everyone else—thinking the issue is huge when it’s actually simple. That’s why journaling, filming, or having a friend watch can help. These habits sharpen awareness, and improvement always starts with awareness.
So here’s the takeaway: next time your shots look off, don’t rush to rebuild your swing. Step back, check your aim, grip, and posture. Sometimes awareness is all you need. Play golf, not your golf swing.