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!

Even the great Tiger Woods has taken plenty of lessons throughout his life.  If he is taking lessons, then you and I sure can!

"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 good athletic position, which encourages more consistent shot-making.  Many in-swing flaws can be traced back to a poorer posture at address.  With the aid of a golf club along your back (see picture to the left) you can help to establish better posture more quickly.

GOOD posture!  Click pictures to enlarge.

At address, with good posture (see pictures above), 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:  BENDING EXCESSIVELY FROM YOUR KNEES IS INCORRECT -- BECAUSE IT USUALLY CREATES MORE OF A "BASEBALL-ISH", OR ROUNDED, "CIRCULAR" SWING SHAPE.  ADDITIONALLY, IF YOUR BACK IS TILTED TOO FORWARD TOWARDS THE BALL, THAT COULD CAUSE FOR AN IMPROPER TURN DURING YOUR BACKSWING.

Additionally, notice how the back/spine is straight, however, tilted forward towards the ball.  Also, there is a proper amount of knee flex (not any excessive knee bending), along with a very athletic position as far as the weight being on the balls of the feet.  Lastly, another nice check-point for good posture is having the arms and upper legs relatively parallel to one another.

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.  A WEAK GRIP TYPICALLY CAUSES MANY PROBLEMS -- THE MAIN PROBLEM BEING THE INABILITY TO SQUARE UP THE CLUBFACE THROUGH IMPACT -- CONSEQUENTLY LEAVING THE CLUBFACE OPEN AND CAUSING A SLICE.

Click picture to enlarge

Click picture to enlarge

Click picture to enlarge

Alignment – Very, very important.  For example, someone may have an excellent golf swing, but if they're aligned/aimed incorrectly, what’s the use of having such a good 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 a club or teaching rod down on the ground -- along your intended target line.  Place another club or teaching rod along your toe-line.  The clubs or teaching rods 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 you, from that target line position, would be considered left of the target line, hence, you are 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 (FEET) does NOT necessarily refer to YOUR aim / alignment – YOUR shoulder line will BE THE BIGGEST INDICATOR FOR PROPER aim / alignment!

Ball Position – Last, but not least, another critical pre-swing fundamental.  Ball position does matter in the golf swing!  (See the picture on the left of my ball positioning for my 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 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 -- with one that is sitting "up" in the rough -- you'd 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'd want to play the ball more towards your back/right foot -- to encourage more of a downward descending blow 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 will translate into better shot-making.

For those of you that either slice or pull the ball (which is very, very common -- approximately 85% of all golfers hit these types of shots), I would safely bet that your ball is positioned 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.  Only as a drill -- where you position the ball intentionally too far back in your stance -- it should help promote a better swing shape for you, where the club will probably 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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