GOLF BASICS

GOLF BASICS—Setup and Swing

  1. GRIP

Start with Neutral Grip, palms facing, thumbs overlapping on grip, left thumb covered with the righthand lifeline. The back of the lead hand [left for right-handed players] should be positioned about 30-degrees right of the target with 2-3 knuckles visible. If gloved, the logo can be used to find the correct angle, again the logo faces about 30-degrees right of target.

Avoid a weak grip because it contributes to a slice, or a toe strike. Avoid a strong grip because it contributes to a hook, or heel strike.

  • STANCE

The proper stance begins with feet apart shoulder width and aligned square to target line. Toes should be square to the Target line with lead foot flared about 30-degrees left of the Target Line. Knees slightly bent [at ease position] with shoulders tilted back square [not slumped] and right shoulder down, but not out. Maintain shoulder alignment with the Target Line.

Avoid allowing the trailing shoulder to move out towards the target line because this leads to a pulled or hooked ball flight.

The club shaft should be tilted slightly forward towards the target when the clubhead is placed behind the ball. Keep hands on grip inside the leading thigh.

  • POSTURE

Spine and back tilted forward from hips, hands straight dropped down for irons and slightly reaching for woods and driver. No slouching. Head up, not down, but down enough to maintain eye contact with ball.

  • WRISTS

Leading wrist may be slightly cupped at address but should become straight to bowed during the backswing and at the top of swing. The left wrist should remain straight or bowed throughout downswing and into impact with ball. Visualize hitting the ball with the back of your left hand.

Do not over-rotate your lead arm [left arm for right-handed players] during the backswing because this will promote an open clubface at impact and result in a slice. Keep lead arm rotation to a minimum.

  • TARGET PATH

To hit a draw, the clubhead path must approach the target path from the inside during the downswing and cross very slightly over to the right side at impact. The clubhead path should about 3-degrees right of target path and the clubface about 2-degrees closed. This creates a drawn ball.

  • DOWNSWING

The downswing must be initiated by slightly sitting down while the hip is pushed aggressively forward by the trailing foot. The hip push should be followed by an aggressive hip pivot towards the target. Never start the downswing with hands, arms, and shoulders because this will lead to slices, mishits, and inconsistent shots.

  • THE SLOT

The clubhead should swing in an arc at or near the same angle it is at address. This is the single plane golf swing. To practice this swing slot, imagine the ball on a 2-foot-tall tee and practice swinging in an arc around your spine using the proper sequence: shoulders lead backswing and hips lead downswing. After a half dozen or so swings at the 2-foot level make additional swings while bringing the clubhead down lower and lower until the clubhead is sweeping the grass.

For iron play off the ground, the low point of the swing arc should be an inch or so past the ball and the clubhead should be descending into the back of the ball.

For teed balls the low point of the arc should be slightly behind where the ball is teed. The clubhead should be rising when it makes impact with the teed ball in a sweeping motion.

  • RELEASE

The “release” refers to when the wrist-cock that occurred during the backswing is released during in the through swing. The golfer should maintain the wrist-cock until a fraction of a second prior to impact with the ball. This should occur about knee high during the downswing.

The late release accelerates clubhead speed up into and past the ball. Early release of the wrist-cock during the downswing can lead to weak shots and scooping the ball resulting in higher and shorter flight patterns.

SWING FAULTS

Swing faults are not easy to correct because these are usually engrained into muscle memory. Common faults:

  1. During takeaway, golfer uses hands to guide and control the golf club which oftne leads to swinging the clubhead too far inside [behind] requiring a swing over the top to recover the club for the downswing resulting in a slice, or a pulled hook.
  2. golfer’s left hand arrives at impact with the side of the left hand facing the target leaving clubface wide open which results in a mishit off the club’s heel, or a slice off the club’s toe.
  3. golfer arrives at impact with a cupped left wrist leading to loss of power and inconsistency.
  4. golfer releases clubhead too early, loses speed and power, scoops ball for higher and shorter ball flight.

All these faults can be corrected by following the sequences above described in 1 – 8.

© by Glen Bowen, 2020, Certified Professional Golf Coach