A Different View on Setup

Stop forcing yourself into golf positions!  Get your setup right and it may just happen naturally.

Have you ever found yourself forcing yourself into certain golf positions during a lesson or from a tip you read about in a book, magazine video?   And you just wonder how you're going to be able to repeat those motions?  It just doesn't feel natural does it?

I have to admit, during my first years as a swing coach, there have been countless times when I struggled to get my students into certain positions without them feeling like they're exaggerating and over-forcing it.  This is a problem that every golfer has gone through.  When this happens, the swing becomes overly manufactured and the athleticism in the swing is almost always lost.  If this was ever your experience, you probably got more frustrated because it felt like you were an acrobat contorting your body only to hit it worse than when you started.

Before you dismiss this article thinking it's another gripe on having the correct grip, stance and posture, think again.  The ideas expressed in this blog post are going to go a little beyond what you're probably thinking.  

What I really want to share with you is the fact that the setup in the golf swing doesn't just involve having the correct grip, stance and posture, but more so how these fundamentals contribute to what I call "Directional Setup" or as some people call it "Dynamic Setup."  What do I mean?  Well, I define directional setup as the way in which our bodies are positioned to hit the target.  Often, people try to set up to the ball too symmetrically.  When you set up correctly to the ball, you should almost feel as if you're opened up toward the target.  If you look to the image here, you will see that the golfer on the left looks like he's ready to move toward the target and the golfer on the right looks like he's ready to move away from it.  You must be positioned to swing toward the target at setup.  If you're not, you will never develop consistency in your swing!  In fact I can cure a lot of swing flaws by simply having my golfers set up more directionally.  This is not as easy as you think as the only way to know for sure is to use a vector plate to make sure your foot pressure distribution is within the right parameters.

But, for starters, try this!  

Address the club with you right hand on the club first and aim it at the target.  Slide in your trail foot to get in a preliminary stance, then bring in your lead foot to complete the stance (preferable with more weight onto your lead heel) and finally place your left hand grip on the club and finalize your setup.  You must do this in the right sequence!  If you do this correctly you should feel like you are open to the target, even though you are not.  After your done, take a couple waggles and take a swing.  Don't be surprised if you hit some great shots!!!!

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