This Week’s Top Tip
How to create a sound set up
The key to create a good set-up requires two things:
- Correct positioning
- Consistency
I’m going to outline a couple of set-up drills to allow yourself 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 we all come in different shapes and sizes, different movement ranges and age. So the number one rule is to feel comfortable.
Drill:
A drill I use to create better posture is to imagine you are a goalkeeper ready to save a penalty kick. You will notice they will stand with a slight flex in the knees, straight spine and they 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 we use.
However I believe to promote a consistent swing a strike the ball position should remain the same throughout our iron play. We 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)
Have a ball in position, place your feet together with the ball centre of the two. Now take a small step with your left foot, then a big step 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 myself on [email protected]
If you would like to book lessons to work on set-up and your iron play why not have a look at my ‘Strike it like Stenson’ package.
This 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.
