YOU ARE HERE: Central Kentucky Home→Collections

Tips From the Pro: Focus on the set-up

June 03, 2008|BRUCE BROWN

The inclement weather has certainly put a damper on the spring golf season. Most golfers are not near where they were last year in regards to their game. Fortunately, the cool weather is behind us now and we can focus on our games.

As more and more golfers are getting to the practice range for lessons, I am finding many similar faults that mostly involve the set-up.

This refers to how we are actually addressing the golf ball. There should be very little flex in the knees at address. Hips should have a slight tilt. I am looking for correct posture. Too many golfers tend to have too much bend and therefore somewhat crowd the golf ball. This will greatly affect the proper turn.

The head at address needs to be slightly tilted behind the ball to insure that at impact the head will be behind the ball. The next area of concern is the distribution of your weight. This must remain on the balls of your feet, not your toes, which could result in a push or fade, and not your heels which could result in a draw or a hook.

The only exception to this rule would be the driver, where I prefer to see 55 percent of your weight to your side unless you are left-handed, and then your weight would be on your left side. With all other shots your weight should be equal on both sides.

Make sure your hands are not too close or too far from your body at address. As a rule, the best method to use to check this is to make a fist with your right hand and place it behind your left hand at address. This is about the distance that you should use on all shots with the exception of the driver.

With the driver I like to see about a two-hand distance. Most of the time golfers tend to be too close as opposed to too far away.

The butt of the club will often time be a great indicator of proper posture. If the butt of the club is pointing toward your knees or lower thigh then in all probability you are bent over too much. When the butt of the club is pointing toward your stomach or chest than you are standing too upright.

Generally, I want to see the butt of the club pointing towards your waist or belt area. At this position you should be in a pretty good posture set-up.

As you get your swings back, make sure you focus on your posture and set-up. It is impossible to hit the ball well without either of these.

|

|

|