The Perfect Golf Swing Stance and Grip Routine
By Tracy Reed, author, Golf Swing Control.
ATTENTION: This routine is now available free on DVD. Information is at the bottom of the page.
Most Tour Professional players say that more often than not, when they are having a bad day, the problem can be traced back to their setup routine. If the hands, knee-bend, spine angle, or any other part of the setup is off by just a little bit, it will directly affect the golf swing. It is so important to them that they start their practice by reviewing their setup routine in their mind before hitting balls.
Every part of the setup affects a different part of your golf swing.
- The width of your stance affects hip turn, distance and balance during the swing.
- Your knee bend affects the swing plane, distance and balance during the golf swing.
- The amount that you bend at the waist affects swing plane, direction of shot, the shape of the shot and distance.
- Arm position affects swing plane, shot shape, distance, and quality of the contact with the ball.
When the setup is off, your whole game suffers and it's hard to figure out during the round. It's no wonder why with all of the elements that can affect your golf swing... Golfers are always telling me that they used to suffer sometimes for weeks only to find a small error in their setup. Once they found this routine to keep their setup correct, their scores improved and they enjoyed golf a whole lot more.
When you are out on the golf course, you can't see your setup, so if you want to know it is right, you have to learn to feel it, and know if it is correct, and if not, how to fix it......that's what this routine will do for you. This golf grip and stance routine will automatically place you in a properly balanced stance for any golf club or any golf shot.
More importantly: This routine automatically adjusts to any golfer's build, so it doesn't matter how tall or short, big or small you are.
WARNING: You must pay attention to all of the details or this routine won't help you. When you understand the benefit from this setup routine, you will have what it takes to play scratch golf.
IMPORTANT: This exercise looks like most other golf instruction you will find, EXCEPT it has subtle differences. Those differences have a lot to do with how your mind and body communicate. The smart golfer who pays attention to the details of this exercise will see the differences and start to understand the subtle difference between instruction and instruction well communicated to the body.
To give you an idea of how important this routine is, I want to give you the statistics of what happens to golfers who try this setup routine.
18% don't pay attention to details and make mistakes and get only about half of the complete value. 63% pay attention, see immediate improvements in their golf swing and are happy with their game at that point. 19% see major improvement and realize that Golf Swing Control will answer the rest of their unanswered questions about the mind and body in golf. They become GSC members.
It doesn't matter which golfer you will be... But I believe that instructors shouldn't charge for these vital "building blocks" of the golf swing.
Over the years, I have tried and taught different routines to get into the golf stance, but I felt that they were incomplete and often still led to problems. The routine I teach now took 12 years to develop and test so that it will work whether you are 6'9" or 5'2" and adjust your setup to whatever club you are holding.
This routine is designed to allow golfers to find their own natural balanced stance without thought or doubt as to whether the stance is correct.
The routine:
I have to start with the grip, which has it's own routine. We all have to grip the club in some manner. If there is a routine for the golf grip, it will be the same every time, which will reduce the
variety of shot errors. There are a number of good references on the grip. My favorite is Golf My Way, by Jack Nicklaus. Remember, although his grip and yours will not be the same, His routine is what I would like you to pay attention to.
Now for the whys of the golf grip. The butt of the grip should extend past the heel of the left hand (right handers). This helps to maintain control of the club, prevents the glove wearing out in the
palm (a telltale sign), and helps to keep the ball from popping up during a normal shot.
The club should be gripped lightly in the fingers. Gripping in the fingers eliminates tension in the arms which would reduce the ability to transfer energy to the club. It also allows the
wrists to naturally turn through the hitting area without having to be forced to do so. (See Figure 2)
The right thumb (right handers) should NOT be on top of the club. Putting the thumb on top of the club creates tension that goes all the way to the shoulder.
Try this experiment: grip a club with the right (right handers) thumb on top of the grip and push down with the thumb. You should be able to feel the tension all the way up the right arm. That is a
swing killer.
I prefer to take my grip on my left side by reaching my right hand across my body to place it on the club while holding the club level to the ground at the waist (Belly button) in my left hand and
on my left side. I do this because when I hit the ball, ideally, that is where my hands should be; on the left side. If I set up my grip there, my club face should be correct to send the ball in the
intended direction. (See Figures 1 and 3)
The stance routine that I teach works very well in just about every case. I have experimented with it by showing golfers at a driving range nothing more than the stance routine. In just about every case, when they properly performed this drill, their shot stayed on line with the intended target.
First I step up to the ball with the right foot and ground the club head behind the ball. I keep 90% of my weight on the arch of my right foot and tilt my upper body until my arms are hanging straight down.
Having the weight on one foot while placing the club forces the upper body to find the correct forward bend.
Once you get the angle of waist bend/forward upper body forward tilt, it is very important to keep it while you place the rest of your body.(See Figure 4)
The next step is the most important: Look down range at your target, and keeping the upper body angle intact, place your left foot and then your right so that your weight is distributed behind the balls of your feet with about 65% of the weight on the arch of your right foot. Move back and forth, foot to foot, in very small steps until the feet feel comfortable with the weight in the arches. This movement should be made without swinging the hips, but rather keeping the hips centered and rocking foot to foot as you pickup and place you feet. The feet should raise a few inches off of the ground each time.
The key here is to consciously feel the weight distribution under your feet.
DO NOT look back at the ball until your feet are positioned and you feel comfortable!!! AGAIN, all placement of the feet is performed while you are looking down range at your target. You should be imagining in your mind where the ball is to "see" where to place your feet. This jump starts the visualization proces and keeps you relaxed for the swing.
Since your right hand is lower on the grip, your right shoulder should be lower than your left (right handers). This is accomplished by tilting the spine slightly to the right.
(See Figure 5 and 6)
The arms should hang straight down directly under the shoulders because this is where gravity will fight
to take them during the downswing. If you allow them to follow their natural path, you can direct more energy to the club head. If you feel like your hands are too close to your body, (It should be about the width of your hand across your fingers away) it means you do not have the proper forward upper body tilt.
When you start the club in the right position, you don't have to fight the laws of physics during the swing and you then have more energy to direct to the club head.
The reason you look away when you set your feet is so that you automatically get the right amount of knee bend and you automatically balance yourself.
Setting the spine angle to the right sets up the right side pivot point which reduces the tendency to slide the hips as you take away the golf club which allows a coiling on the right side where all
of the energy is stored in the backswing.
IMPORTANT: If you center yourself and find that the club is no longer behind the ball, STEP BACK and start over.
The tendency is to just reach a little bit to put the club behind the ball which will create an off-balance condition and defeat the whole purpose of the routine.
Lastly, ball position is handled by remembering only three important rules: 1) The club head goes behind the ball. 2) The grip/handle should be ahead of the ball (with exception of the Driver). To get more exact, the bottom of the grip should be just ahead of the ball. And 3) Your hands should be lined up with your target side inner thigh. In that position, the club face should be lined up to the intended target line. If you get the setup and the club face lined up properly, the ball should fly on line.
This routine should help you to start hitting the ball more consistently, no matter what pattern your shots have. The pattern can be corrected, once you have a consistent shot. If, after trying this set up routine, you don't see a difference, I invite you to e-mail me and let me know what happened.
I would like to make sure you see the difference in this instruction, so if you missed something, I'll be happy to help you with it.
One last recommendation:
Golfers who practice this routine at home without hitting golf balls until they can get the setup right usually see the best results.
Hit'm well,
Tracy
Attention: Because reading instructions can sometimes be confusing, I have created a DVD of the setup routine to make sure golfers can enjoy the full benefit of this routine. The DVD is free. I have included a clip from the DVD below. You just need to pay shipping and handling fee of $7.95
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If you would like to get one of these DVDs, simply click this link and we'll get one sent out.
Why get the DVD?
Because I have added extra information to the DVD so that you don't make the mistakes that have held other golfers back in the past. Because there is so much information, you'll need to review a few times to get it all correct. Because it's more convenient to have the DVD than to spend extra time waiting for the videos to load over the internet. Because you can take them with you when you travel... maybe on a golf vacation? Because it's your opportunity to get and keep a full lesson from me ($120 value at $120/hr)for the mere cost of shipping and handling. Because I know that once you follow this routine, your golf game will change and your eyes will be opened to new possibilities for your golf game.
But you can still get a head start by watching them now while you're waiting for the DVD to arrive...
See the video analysis of Tiger's golf swing: Tiger's swing
Learn more about Golf Swing Control: Golf Swing Control Site Map
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