The Five Pre-swing Fundamentals -- They can be easily remembered:

P.G.A. – Posture.  Grip.  Alignment.

Stance and Ball-Position
account for the 4^th and 5^th pre-swing fundamentals
 

With proper pre-swing fundamentals, anyone of us can become as fundamentally correct at address as any top PGA or LPGA Touring Professional.  Any golfer can accomplish the next 5 pre-swing fundamentals that I discuss below.  Being fundamentally correct at address will give ourselves the greatest potential to make the best possible swing that we possibly can!

Even the great Tiger Woods has taken plenty of lessons throughout his entire life.  Shown here is Tiger working with one of his former instructors, Butch Harmon.

"You just have to stay in the moment.  Golf is one shot at a time.  You cannot live in the past.  You have to play the shot at hand.  That's what I've always done."
~Tiger Woods

By setting up correctly prior to making a swing, we can avoid putting ourselves "behind the 8-ball" right away.  Let’s admit it, golf is a difficult game to play well, consistently.  So, let’s not make it any more difficult by having poorer pre-swing fundamentals before we even start to swing the club!

Posture – Good posture at address sets a golfer in a dynamic, athletic position, which will help aid in consistent shot-making.  Many in-swing flaws can be traced back to a poorer posture at address.  With the aid of a golf club (see picture to the left) you can help to establish better posture more quickly.

Initially, with good posture, at address, the butt-end of the grip should point closely towards your belly button and/or belt buckle (somewhere in that waist-high area). Consequently, the butt-end of the grip should also be pointing towards a certain "zone/area". This "zone/area" should be somewhere between the center of your chest and your left armpit area. Hence, the butt-end of the grip would then be pointing slightly left of your belly button and/or belt buckle, which would additionally mean that the butt-end of the grip is also pointing towards you at about waist-high. When setting up to the golf ball in that manner, you have created a very solid starting position, which will help promote a more proper impact position as well.

Your feet should be approximately shoulder width apart (from the outer points of your shoulders to the inner points of your heels) for the longer clubs, and respectively narrower for the shorter clubs.  Your knees should be slightly flexed -- no excessive bending.  Your back should be straight, consequently tilted.  The tilt should come from the hip joints themselves, and not from your back itself -- where the possibility of excessive tilt could occur.  Your rear end should be up, and out – due to properly tilting from the hip joints.  Your chin/back of neck should be relaxed and in an "up" position.  Also, with correct posture, your hands should be directly underneath that of your chin (see Tiger's picture to the left, below).  With proper weight distribution on your feet -- in terms of a percentage -- you should be 50-50 (evenly balanced among both feet) with your weight at the "balls/middle" of your feet.  Moreover, another nice check to see if your posture is correct, you should notice that your arms would be hanging parallel to that of your upper leg.  In conclusion, with correct posture at address, you should have a "springy" feeling -- as if you were about to jump off the edge of a pool.  Lifting and taping your heels on the ground -- prior to swinging -- will ensure this.

NOTE:  KEEP IN MIND THAT BENDING EXCESSIVELY FROM YOUR KNEES IS INCORRECT -- BECAUSE IT USUALLY CREATES MORE OF A "BASEBALL-ISH", OR ROUNDED, TYPE OF "CIRCULAR" SWING SHAPE.  ADDITIONALLY, IF YOU ARE TILTED TOO MUCH FROM YOUR BACK, THAT COULD CAUSE FOR IMPROPER TURN/COIL.

TO ENSURE THAT YOU ARE PROPERLY SPACED -- FROM THE BUTT-END OF YOUR GRIP TO YOUR BODY -- TRY THIS:  While in your address position, "freeze", and simply remove your right hand from your golf club -- but continue to remain in your "frozen" address position -- that's very important!  Now, with your right hand removed from the grip of the club itself, open up your hand fully (with your palm facing up) -- and spread your fingers wide apart -- so that your fingers are now pointing directly towards your intended target.  I call this the "4-finger hand gap" drill.  You are now seeking to see if you are adequately spaced -- so that your hands are directly underneath your chin.  You now want your "baby" finger to be placed at the edge of your pants (basically touching your zipper) and your index finger to be touching the butt-end of the golf club/grip.  This, when done correctly, is putting someone into a very ideal position -- as far as proper spacing is concerned.  Try this in a mirror a few times.  I recommend a mirror because it's the simple case of wanting to see what we're doing.   Usually, what we see and what we think we are doing are not necessarily the same!

Grip – Good golf starts here!  One of the great golf instructors of all time, the late Harvey Penick, once said, "Bad grip, bad swing".  How true!  The placement of the hands on the club is critical for good shot-making.  Keep in mind that we are all individualistic.  Some of us have small hands and/or fingers, and some of us larger.  The type of grip that you choose, whether it be overlapping, interlocking, or the ten-fingered type (mostly used for juniors with smaller hands/fingers) is total personal preference – just as long as the hands are positioned correctly!

The grip of the club should rest diagonally across the fingers of the left-hand.  When correctly done, it should rest at the position in your hand where the end of your baby finger goes into your hand.  From there, it should then rest diagonally downward, to where it consequently rests across the middle pad of your index/"pointer" finger.

Next, curl your fingers around the grip lightly.  When you close your left-hand, your thumb should be just to the right of center on the grip itself.  Also, the end of the grip should be underneath the pad of your left-hand.  The left-hand "V" (the formation between the index finger and the thumb) should be pointing towards your right ear.  Now, with your right-hand, the grip itself should rest across the middle of your fingers.  When the right-hand closes, the fingertips are on the club.  The right-hand thumb and forefinger should touch each other on the left side of the grip.  The right-hand "V" should now be pointing towards your right shoulder.  The "V's" of both hands should now be pointing towards your right ear and right shoulder respectively – closely paralleling one another – like railroad tracks.

NOTE:  IF THE GRIP ITSELF GETS TOO MUCH INTO THE PALM OF EITHER HAND (AS OPPOSED TO THE GRIP BEING CORRECTLY HELD MORE IN THE FINGERS), THEN YOUR GRIP WILL BECOME WHAT IS TERMED  "WEAK" – WHERE THE "V's" ARE NO LONGER POINTING TOWARDS YOUR RIGHT EAR AND SHOULDER -- AND ARE POINTING MORE TOWARDS THE LEFT SIDE OF YOUR BODY.  FOR MOST, A WEAK GRIP WILL CAUSE MANY PROBLEMS.  THE MAIN PROBLEM BEING THE INABILITY TO SQUARE UP THE CLUBFACE THROUGH IMPACT; CONSEQUENTLY LEAVING THE CLUBFACE OPEN AND THUS CAUSING A SLICE.  THEREFORE, A WEAK GRIP/HAND POSITION IS HIGHLY UNADVISABLE.

Click picture to enlarge

Click picture to enlarge

Alignment – Very, very important.  For example, someone may have an excellent golf swing, like say, Tiger Woods, but if they are aligned/aimed incorrectly, what’s the use of having such a good golf swing?!  Having good alignment is critical to good shot-making.  If your alignment is off, and you then get yourself squared up, I guarantee you will feel like your alignment is "wrong".  Trust it -- proper alignment -- and become more aware of it.  If your aim/alignment is off, then it will certainly affect the shape of your swing, and obviously the end result – where the ball is going!  To help with your alignment, place one club down on the ground -- along your intended target line.  Place another club down, along your feet-line.  Both clubs should now be parallel to one another -- like railroad tracks.  This square and parallel set-up position with both your body and clubs along the ground, is referred to as the golfer being aimed "parallel left".  This will give you a very good idea of what proper alignment should look like, and just as importantly, what it should feel like.  The term "parallel left" simply means that in relation to our intended target line, anything "inside" or closer to us, from that target line position, would be considered left of the target line, hence, a golfer is aiming "parallel left".  To check yourself for good alignment, "freeze" yourself in your address position, and try placing a club along your shoulders.  If you noticed that the club along your shoulders is slightly left of your intended target, then you are aimed correctly – "parallel left".

NOTE:  YOUR BODY LINES – FEET/TOES, KNEES, HIPS, FOREARMS, SHOULDERS, AND EYES -- SHOULD TYPICALLY ALL BE PARALLEL TO THE TARGET LINE AT YOUR ADDRESS POSITION.

Stance – This simply refers to the placement of the feet – how/where they are placed and their distance apart.  Typically speaking, about shoulder width is an ideal width for the longest club in your bag, usually your Driver/1 Wood.  Then, respectively, as the club length shortens, so can the width of your stance.  This of course does not mean that the shortest club in your bag, usually your Sand Wedge, would dictate having your feet so close that they are almost touching each other.  The width of stance should narrow gradually and respectively.  However, there may certainly be variations in someone's stance.  A wide stance is not ideal for a golfer who has difficulty shifting their weight to their right side in the backswing.  A narrower stance can usually be better for the golfer who over-swings at the top of their backswing -- as a narrower stance tends to tone down the extent of their arm swing.

NOTE:  Be aware that YOUR Stance does NOT necessarily refer to one’s aim or alignment – the shoulder line will make a much better reference to aim or alignment!

Ball Position – Last, but not least, another critical pre-swing fundamental!  Ball position does matter in the golf swing!  (See the picture below of Tiger Woods' ball positioning for his various clubs).  Most of us would greatly benefit by positioning the shorter clubs towards the center of our stance.  Basically, for ball positioning, having the ball directly off the left heel/arm pit for the Driver/1 Wood would be ideal.  Then, respectively back -- towards the center of your stance -- as the clubs get shorter.  Additionally, depending upon the lie of your ball, one that is sitting up in the rough, you would want to play the ball more forward in your stance – closer towards your front/left foot.  Conversely, a lie that has your ball sitting down on a tighter lie, you would want to play the ball more towards your back/right foot -- to encourage more of a descending blow down into the ball.  Granted, we all have different swing tendencies -- as far as the shape of our swing and how we approach (our club path) into the ball -- on the downswing.  However, having your ball positioned correctly in your stance can help make you perform better.  For those of you that either slice or pull the ball (which is very, very common -- approximately 80 to 85% of the golfing world hits these types of shots), I would safely bet that your ball position is played too far forward in your stance -- which is not helping you as far as that slice or pull is concerned.  For those of you that fall into that category, try moving the ball back in your stance, past center, and closer towards your right foot.  Try hitting some balls like this a few times with a shorter iron, like a 7-iron, and see what happens.  It should help promote a better swing shape for you -- where the club will be approaching more from the inside of your target line on the downswing -- more of an "inside-out" swing path.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that moving the ball back in your stance may not guarantee better results.  HOWEVER, moving the ball position back in your stance should help promote a much better, and needed, swing plane/shape for you!

Click here for golf tips on "Understanding Swing Plane/Swing Shape"

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