By Michael Jacobs, Golf Digest’s No. 8 Teacher in America
A balanced, centered and repeatable setup position is essential to any good golf swing. It also requires absolutely no athletic ability to create. Once you know the proper setup position, all you have to do is repeat it. However, because every golfer looks different when it comes to things like height, weight, posture and mobility, there can be a lot of variability amongst golfers at setup. It is also a challenge that the ball is on the ground. It simply isn’t in a great position for us to strike it, the way a baseball would be if we were making contact with it belt-high and out in front of home plate. Many golfers also struggle with how to consistently place the club and ball in the right position at address so they can efficiently propel the ball towards the target. Here, I’m going to give you some tips to establish a comfortable, confident and consistent setup position that works for your body and your golf swing.
Step 1: Find a Neutral Standing Posture
Stand in a normal and comfortable standing position. Take note of where your belt buckle is in relation to your feet. Many people push their hips forward when they stand, which presses the belt buckle forward of their feet. This puts pressure on the lower back and causes the upper body to tilt back and the head to slump forward. So, make sure your belt buckle is over your feet.
Step 2: Flex at the Hips
Flexing your hips means that your thighs will move closer to your stomach, as opposed to extending the hips, in which the thighs move away from the stomach, or hyper-extending, in which they move behind you. To properly flex the hips in the golf setup position, push the back pockets behind the heels so your torso moves towards the ball. You won’t need to actively move the torso forward. Simply flexing the hips so the back pockets go behind the heels should get you into proper position with a neutral spine and the arms hanging straight down.
Step 3: Use Your Legs
At address, many people set up with their thighs and legs inside their feet. This is a weak position from which it is difficult to control your balance and use the ground effectively. Instead, make sure your thighs, your knees, your ankles and your hip joints all align. It may feel as if your thighs are a little wider than they are when you stand normally, but this will wake up the back side of the body and allow you to move more athletically throughout your swing.
Step 4: Aim the Club First
A common mistakes I see with students during playing lessons is that they set their bodies before they aim their clubface to the target. You might have a great grip and great posture, but if you aim your body first, it’s a lot more difficult to get consistent alignment with your target. Aiming the club first allows you to move your body in and better get your body to face the ball, with your feet, knees, legs, belt and torso all lining up and facing the ball completely. You don’t want to be in a situation in which you continually have some of your body segments facing one way and some facing the other, or in which you have parts of your body facing in a different direction from the clubface. So, I recommend that you first set or aim the clubface, then build your setup position off of that line.
Step 5: Position the Ball
I always recommend that the ball be center to forward at address because during a full golf swing, your body weight will move forward. Starting with the ball slightly forward in your stance will allow you to move into it properly. If you put the ball too far back in your stance, and you make a move in which you actually use your body weight the way you should, it can be more difficult to hit a consistent shot. When hitting your wedges, you want the ball closer to center. If you are hitting a six iron, you want the ball forward of center. As your clubs get longer, all the way up to the driver, you move the ball more and more forward, but never farther forward than the outside of the front shoulder. With the longer clubs, we push our body more forward, so ball position has to follow suit.
Step 6: Position the Club
Lastly, you must set the position of the club relative to your body. I recommend that you set up with the grip and shaft of your club aligned with the middle of your body or your belt buckle, regardless of ball position or club selection. You want to have the feeling at setup position that your hands are in the middle of your body as opposed to being pushed forward or backwards. This will ensure your ability to coordinate and integrate a good takeaway.
Step 7: Find Consistency
I think everyone should experiment with the different variables of the setup position. It is important to find a comfortable and effective position that you can consistently repeat. I coach Major champions, and they all say the same thing; “I make sure I do my setup position the same way every time, and that’s pretty much all I think about on the golf course.”
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