Every golfer has searched for a magic tip. One swing thought. One YouTube video. One drill that finally makes everything click. The truth is that good golf isn’t built on secrets. It’s built on fundamentals.
After teaching thousands of golf lessons, I’ve found that nearly every swing issue can be traced back to one of five areas. If you improve these fundamentals, you’ll hit the ball more solidly, become more consistent, and enjoy the game much more. Let’s break them down.
The starting point for me is the grip. It is the only thing that holds the club and controls the take away and the club face. Starting with the club being placed more in the finger tips than the palm. Feel a grip pressure at a 4 on a scale of 10. On the range practice hitting shots with different grip pressures. Feel the difference of a 1 out of 10 vs a 10 out of 10. You will feel how much more naturally the club swings and helps square the face up with a relaxed grip.
The next step is an athletic set up. Start with feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent. The weight should be under the balls of the feet to start feeling athletic. Your arms should hang under your shoulders. When fully set up you should feel athletic and balanced.
One of the biggest set up issues that creates swing flaws is alignment. People struggle to align their body correctly. This creates multiple issues including club path and club face issues. The quick way to check your alignment is use driveway markers or alignment sticks to check where you are aiming. Start with an alignment stick pointing directly at your target. Then place a second alignment stick parallel to the first stick where your feet will be pointing. Use these sticks every time you practice at least for a few swings. This will help your eyes adjust to the proper positioning for alignment.
The next fundamental is one of my favorite. It is BALANCE! I like to think back to PGA, LPGA, and even amateur golfers playing. I don’t ever recall a player holding their follow through and hitting a bad shot. Finish in control and hold that follow through until the ball lands. This will help ensure a controlled and consistent tempo and swing.
The most important fundamental for the golf swing is CLUB FACE control. The club face can determine up to 85% of where the golf ball goes! Learning to have a club face that is square to your target will help eliminate the off line shots and penalty strokes. When warming up use a wedge or short iron to hit 50% half swings. During these swings focus on the club face returning to square and pointing at your target. Dont worry how far the golf ball goes, use this warm up drill to focus on a square club face and starting the ball on target.
Spend the next few practice sessions focusing on your fundamentals; proper grip, setup, alignment, balance and club face. Check out the video below of my instagram @Jebvgolf for a great video talking about an easy preshot routine to ensure proper fundamentals every swing.
