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Better Golf through Better Fitness
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5 Vital Elements for Golf Swing Set-Up
1.) Grip
2.) Stance
3.) Posture
4.) Alignment
5.) Ball Position
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The Set-Up - Addressing the Ball
Each of these 5 fundamentals is critical to your successful golf swing. Golfers should develop a pre-shot set-up routine that includes all 5 Fundamentals.
Let's talk about what each one means and why it's important. In the next issue of the Golf Guru Newsletter, I will talk more about "how to" achieve the 5 points of the correct set-up.
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GRIP - Your Connection to the Golf Club
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The GRIP is the first fundamental because it is what attaches the club to the body. Also, it is your grip that has the greatest control over what the club face does.
Whether you choose a baseball style grip, interlocking (as shown in photo) or overlapping, a relatively firm grip pressure is important for good control.
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STANCE - Your Connection to the Ground
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The STANCE you take for your golf swing determines how well you can move and turn your body through impact into the follow-through position.
In general, you should use your widest stance for your driver, less for hybrids and long irons and even less for short irons.
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POSTURE - Your Connection to the Correct Angles
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The correct golf POSTURE is critical to staying in Natural Dynamic Balance during the golf swing. You ability to acheive and maintain good posture throughout the entire round is greatly enhanced by a good fitness level. Strength, flexibility and endurance in your large muscle groups are important.
Key points for good golf posture include your weight distribution on your feet as you stand, the bend in your knees, the angle of forward lean of the upper body, and the position of your head.
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ALIGNMENT - Your Connection to the Target
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Correct ALIGNMENT to your target is essential. Consider this: For each 1" you are off the true target line, the ball will end up 5-10 yards away from target (usually to the right for right handed golfers) at 100 yards out. As you can imagine, this multiplies and adds up quickly if you are more than one inch off.
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BALL POSITION - Your Connection to a Square Clubface
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What's the correct BALL POSITION for each club? You should adjust the ball position depending on the type of club you have chosen. You should know how to place the ball (and adjust your stance) for your driver, long irons & hybrids, and short irons.
The Golf Guru shows you how to find the correct ball position and stance with each club. Check out the video below.
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Rule School |
Below are a few golf terms and their Official Rules of Golf definitions. Most of you will be familiar with many of these terms, but you may be surprised to learn the exact, whole meaning as defined in the rule book.
Addressing the Ball - A player has "addressed the ball" when she has taken her stance and has also grounded her club, except that in a hazard a player has addressed the ball when she has taken her stance.
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Hazard - A "Hazard" is any bunker or water hazard.
Bunker - A "bunker" is a hazard consisting of a prepared area of ground, often a hollow, from which turf or soil has been removed and replaced with sand or the like. Grass-covered ground bordering or within a bunker is not part of the bunker. The margin of a bunker extends vertically downwards, but not upwards. A ball is in a bunker when it lies in or any part of it touches the bunker.
Water Hazard - A "water hazard" is any sea, lake, pond, river, ditch or other open water course (whether or not containing water) and anything of a similar nature. All ground or water within the margin of a water hazard is part of the water hazard. The margin of a water hazard extends vertically upwards and downwards. Stakes and lines defining the margins of a water hazard are in the hazards. Such stakes are obstructions. A ball is in a water hazard when it lies in or any part of it touches the water hazard.
Obstructions - An "obstruction" is anything artificial, including the artificial surfaces and sides of roads and paths except:
a. Objects defining out of bounds, such as walls, fences, stakes and railings;
b. Any part of an immovable artificial object which is out of bounds; and
c. Any construction declared by the Committee to be an integral of the course.
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Thanks for reading the Golf Guru Newsletter! I welcome all feedback, suggestions, etc.I would love to add an "Ask Golf Guru" section, so please submit any golf swing or golf fitness questions you may have. Please check back as I add info and develop my new Golf Guru website.
Please forward this link to any golfers you know who may be interested. Tawny
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Tawny McLellan has owned and operated the fitness guru personal training studio in Ojai, California since 1998. Tawny holds national personal fitness training certifications from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and National Federation of Personal Trainers (NFPT).
Tawny lives with her husband, Mike and two wolfdogs, Cheyenne & Zeff. She also is a wildlife rehabilitator with the Ojai Raptor Center, raising owls and songbirds. Oh, and she plays golf every chance she gets!
With 23 years experience training hundreds of clients, Tawny is uniquely qualified to guide you safely toward your fitness goals, or your golf swing improvement quest.
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