Hi Everyone,
Hope you’ve had a great week on and off the Golf Course!
GOLF TIP OF THE WEEK
How to Create a Sound Set-Up
The key to create a good set-up requires two things:
- Correct positioning
- Consistency
Below I’m going to outline a couple of set-up drills to help give you the best chance of making a good swing.
Posture:
Golf is an athletic movement, you don’t want to slump or look lazy. You want your body to be in a position to make an athletic movement. First thing to understand, is that everyone is a different age, shape and size, and we all have different movement ranges. So the No.1 rule is to feel comfortable.
Drill:
A drill I will use to create a better posture is to imagine you are a goalkeeper ready to save a penalty kick. If you have seen this, you will notice they stand with a slight flex in the knees, straight spine and they will slightly tilt forward from the hips with their hands in the air. They are now in a position to move. (See picture below)
Now all you have to do is simply drop your hands and assume your grip. You should already feel more athletic. This will help to swing the club in a more powerful manner and ensure the correct limbs are being used to swing the club.
Ball position:
Ball position, in my opinion, is one of the most important fundamentals in the set-up. This will determine where you strike the ball.
A ball that is too far back in our stance will tend to create a thin shot, a ball too far forward in the stance will tend to create a fat shot, or perhaps a top.
Many golfers are under the illusion that ball position needs to change for every iron shot, depending on what club you use.
However, I believe to promote a consistent swing, ball striking position should remain the same throughout your iron play. You are trying to make the same swing each time, so why move where the ball is? An important thing to remember is the club wants to return to where it originally started.
Drill: (Small Step, Big Step)
Put your ball in position, place your feet together with the ball right in the centre of the two. Simply take a small step out with your left foot, then a big step out with your right foot. (For right handed golfers) You should notice the ball is positioned just left of centre. Keep repeating this whilst hitting balls and you will begin to notice a more consistent strike and ball flight.
I hope you find these drills useful. If you have any questions please email me at [email protected]
If you are keen to improve your set-up and your iron play, the ‘Strike it like Stenson’ package includes 3 x 1 hour lessons focusing on set-up, ball striking, swinging the club on plane and working towards a more consistent strike and ball flight.
