Well, that’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? You might think at first glance that I’m being a bit offensive but, excuse the pun, there’s a good reason.
Wondering why some days are not good for golf? How is it that on Saturday you can go out on the course and play brilliantly and on Sunday the same course you can’t buy a decent drive?
A very common defect among all amateur golfers is posture. Golf is an athletic sport despite my wife’s opinion and as such requires you to strike a sporty pose.
Take a look at the featured golfers on tour these days and you won’t see many men or women walking around with their shoulders slumped and their chins on their chests.
A good golf swing is all about setup, if you get it right you will have gone a long way towards playing better golf.
Golf is dynamic, it’s a sport of moving parts and all those parts are connected to you. So with that in mind, how do we dynamically configure?
To begin with, let’s stand up straight, ears in line with shoulders, in line with hips, in line with feet. This is the basic position and from here your body can move freely and easily.
Stand in front of your ball with your feet pointing slightly out, your feet should be as wide as your shoulders. We now have a firm and balanced foundation for our swing.
Obviously we need to get to the golf ball and to do this I take my club and hold it at about 45 degrees to my body. Now I lean forward and bend my knees until the clubhead hits the ground, this will put you the correct distance from the ball.
Once you are in this position, stick your butt out. The reason for taking the rear out is to bring the center of gravity to a point over the arches.
With your weight in the middle of your feet, you are in a dynamic position, you can swing the golf club from side to side and maintain good balance, and that is the key to a good, solid, repeatable golf swing.