Golf swing fundamentals – the proper golf setup

Once upon a time, I was a part-time golf instructor given my previous competitive experience as an amateur.

I don’t teach much anymore, but thought I would share my content here.  

Today’s topic involves how to set up to the golf ball.  

This is the second most important golf fundamental.

How we set up to the ball will go a long way toward dictating how we swing the club, which will affect our shots.

For instance, if you stand up too upright, you will likely take the club too low and too far to the inside on your takeaway.

If you are too hunched over, you will likely take the too far outside and too steeply.

In both cases, you immediately go off the swing plane and you will have to re-route the club at some point.

If you are not successful in doing that, you will hit the ball inconsistently.

Alignment is also important.

Poor alignment will contribute to the ball starting in the wrong direction.

Here are some keys to consider when setting up to the ball…

• Your feet, knees, hips, arms, shoulders and eyes should all be aligned parallel to your target line.
• You should find yourself in an athletic stance….
• feet shoulder width apart (the longer the club, the wider the stance, and vice versa)
• knees slightly bent and turned inward toward each other
• bent slightly at the waist…usually about 25 to 30 degrees. The longer the club in your hand, the less bend there will be.
• arms hang down directly under the shoulders so that the hands are not too far or too close to the body when holding the club
• back straight
• chin is not tucked into the chest, but up a little bit
• weight evenly distributed between each foot
• weight should be just behind the balls of the feet…not on toes and not on heels

Your ball position will vary depending upon the club in your hands.

Most shots played with a wedge through a 5 or 6 iron will be played in the middle of your stance.

The longer the club, the more forward we place the ball in our stance, assuming a flat lie.

Your hands for most shots should be even with the golf ball.

This will allow the triangle formed by your arms and shoulders to be directly in front of you.

We do not want this triangle angled too far forward, with a strong forward press of the hands as this will take loft off of the club.

We also do not want this triangle tilted backward, as this will add loft to the club.

The right shoulder will be tilted slightly lower than the left simply because the right hand (if you are a right-handed player) is below the left hand on the club.  However, we do not want more of a tilt than needed.

Check out the video below for some more thoughts on the proper golf set up.